ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Angels may have the best
starting rotation in the American League, but they're going to be without their
best pitcher for at least the next 15 days.
Right-hander Jered Weaver (6-1, 2.61 ERA), who tossed a no-hitter on May 2, was placed on the
disabled list Tuesday with a strain in his lower back and won't be eligible to
return until June 13. That means he'll probably miss at least three starts,
including Sunday afternoon against the Texas Rangers.
The news comes at a bad time for the Angels, who activated outfielder Torii
Hunter from the restricted list and took a seven-game winning streak into their
game against the New York Yankees. LA faces the West-leading Rangers in a key
three-game series starting Friday night at Angel Stadium.
"As a starting pitcher, you live for games like this, especially against
the Yankees and obviously your rival in your division," Weaver said.
"It couldn't have come at a worse time."
The Angels called up Garrett Richards from their Triple-A affiliate at Salt
Lake, although manager Mike Scioscia said it was undecided whether Richards
will take Weaver's spot Sunday against the Rangers. The Angels have a day off
Thursday, so they can stay in their rotation without having to use Richards
until next week.
Scioscia said Richards would be available in relief Tuesday night.
Weaver injured his back after throwing just 12 pitches Monday night against the
Yankees. He underwent an MRI and said his injury was diagnosed as a strain with
some spasms. There was also inflammation in the area surrounding a disk, he
said.
"This is new for me," Weaver said. "I've never gone through
something like this."
For the next several days, Weaver will undergo ice treatments and massage in
the hope his condition settles down. At least that's what the Angels are
hoping.
"I think everyone believes this is going to be very manageable, and
hopefully it won't be too long," Scioscia said. "But there's no doubt
it's going to take a little bit of time. We definitely have to give him enough
time to see when he's ready to go back out there and get after it."
The Angels discussed not putting Weaver on the DL, thinking he might miss just
one start. But clearly, they believed a cautionary route was best to prevent a
recurrence.
"If it would've been later in the season and we were pushing the playoff
race, I don't think we would've gone the DL route," Weaver said. "But
now it's early enough in the season where we can get it back to 100 percent and
go about it that way. I think that's the best thing."
Richards, who turned 24 on Sunday, had a 5-2 record and 4.31 ERA in 10 starts
at Salt Lake. He endured one tough three-game stretch starting in late April
when he gave up 22 hits and 14 earned runs in 9 2/3 innings.
Last season, he pitched in seven games (three starts) for the Angels and was
0-2 with a 5.79 ERA. He joins a starting rotation that leads the AL with a 3.36
ERA and had a 2.38 mark on the recently completed 10-game trip.
"We got some other guys in the rotation that are pretty good, so I'm not
worried about those other guys stepping up and doing a great job," Weaver
said. "Garrett's got great stuff. I don't want him to get too comfortable
out there, but he's going to help out, no doubt about it."
That's all the Angels are asking from Richards.
"It's really unfortunate what happened to Weav," Richards said,
"but for me, I can't think about that kind of stuff. I have a job to do.
They called me up here to help the team and that's what I'm going to try to
do."
