Ted Lilly was placed on the disabled list retroactive to May 24 with inflammation in his left shoulder Monday. The left-hander figures to miss at least two starts, including his next scheduled outing Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Michael Antonini was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque to take Lilly’s spot on the active roster, but he will only pitch if the Dodgers need a long reliever tonight. Right-hander Nate Eovaldi is expected to be recalled from Double-A Chattanooga to make his first major-league start of the season Tuesday.
Eovaldi pitched only one inning out of the bullpen Saturday for the Lookouts, which served as the best hint that the Dodgers would need him on short notice.
“Since he’s not in the building,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said, “I shouldn’t be talking about tomorrow’s starter.”
Lilly said he first noticed pain in the shoulder after his start against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 18. The 36-year-old made his next start five days later against the Arizona Diamondbacks and was shelled for eight runs in 3 1/3 innings as the Dodgers lost, 11-4.
“When I felt the most (pain) is when I came out of (that) game,” Lilly said.
The injury wasn’t serious enough to warrant an MRI, but Lilly said he had a non-steroidal cortisone injection after the team returned home.
In his second full season with the Dodgers, Lilly is 5-1 with a 3.14 ERA –it was under 2.00 before his last start –and 31 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings this season. Lilly began the season on the disabled list with stiffness in his neck, but said this injury is unrelated.
“You get off to a good start and you have the expectations of trying to make the all-star team,” he said. “This definitely is going to make that a very difficult thing to do. I’m going to miss some time. I already missed one start early in the year. I don’t know what else I could’ve done differently to try and prevent it.”
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