The Angels have placed starting catcher Mike Napoli on the 15-day disabled list with a hamstring injury. This will hurt the Angels as Napoli has given them a nice power bat behind the plate. Napoli has played in 62 games this season for the Angels and he was 49 for 194 (.253 avg, .805 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 9 homers and 31 RBIs. Jeff Mathis will likely take over as the starter until Napoli returns to action. But Mathis will need to start hitting to keep the job. He has played in 10 games this season for the Angels and he is 2 for 21 (.095 avg, .238 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI. The Angels have recalled 27 year old Ryan Budde from the minors to back up Mathis. The Phillies selected Budde in the Rule 5 Draft but they gave him back to the Angels as they didn’t have room for him on their roster. Budde has played in 50 games this season in AA+AAA ball and he is 48 for 166 (.289 avg, .798 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 4 homers and 28 RBIs.

Firstbaseman Kendry Morales has been sent back to AAA. He didn’t get much of a chance to prove himself this season as he only played in 20 games. In those games Morales was 11 for 45 (.244 avg, .759 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 2 homers and 7 RBIs. The Angels have recalled righties Marcus Gwyn and Greg Jones to help out in the bullpen. Gwyn is a 29-year old relief pitcher who has never pitched in the major leagues. Gwyn has pitched in 37 AAA games this season and he is 1-0 with 13 saves, a 2.78 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. In 45.1 innings he has allowed 48 hits, walked 14 batters and whiffed 46. Jones is making a return engagement to the Angels. He pitched 3 innings for them in April and he allowed 5 earned runs. The Angels are hoping that he will be much better this time around. Jones has pitched in 32 games in AAA ball this season and he was 4-1 with 3 saves, a 3.94 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. In 48 innings in the minors he has allowed 55 hits, walked 12 batters and whiffed 36.

The Angels have placed Bartolo Colon on the 15-day disabled list with a sore elbow. This was bound to happen at some point in the season as Colon chose rehab over surgery for a torn right rotator cuff. He has started 16 games this season for the Angels and he is 6-6 with a 6.72 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. In 85.2 innings Colon has allowed 116 hits, 15 homers, walked 27 batters and whiffed 67. The Angels will likely replace Colon in the starting rotation with Dustin Moseley. Moseley has pitched in 33 games this season (2 starts) for the Angels and he is 4-1 with a 4.06 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. In 51 innings this season he has allowed 49 hits, walked 15 batters and whiffed 23.

The Angels have traded reserve catcher Jose Molina to the New York Yankees for soon to be 26 year old righty reliever Jeff Kennard. Kennard in 1-4 with a 2.73 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP so far in the minors this season. In 31 games he has pitched 52.2 innings and he has allowed 49 hits, walked 17 batters and whiffed 47. Molina wasn’t playing too well this season for the Angels. He played in 40 games for them this season and he was 28 for 125 (.224 avg, .512 OPS) with 9 runs scored and 10 RBIs. In 373 games over his career for the Angels Molina was 232 for 977 (.237 avg, .614 OPS) with 95 runs scored, 15 homers and 98 RBIs. Jeff Mathis will replace Molina as the Angels backup catcher. Mathis has played in 7 games this season for the Angels and he is 2 for 13 (.154 avg) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. Mathis will probably be better than Molina was as he is a highly thought of prospect in the Angels system.

The Angels have placed Howie Kendrick on the 15-day disabled list with a broken bone in one of his fingers. He has played in 51 games this season for the Angels and he is 58 for 195 (.297 avg, .755 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 4 homers and 18 RBIs. The Angels will use Maicer Izturis to start in Kendrick’s place until he is ready to return. Izturis has played in 40 games this season for the Angels and he is 30 for 122 (.246 avg, .635 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 1 homer and 17 RBIs. Brandon Wood has been recalled and he will likely get some playing time for the Angels until Kendrick returns. Wood has played in 5 games for Angels and he was 2 for 15 (.133 avg) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI.