The Angels have placed lefty starter/reliever Darren Oliver on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left triceps. Oliver has pitched in 3 games (1 start) for the Angels this season and he is 0-0 with a 2.35 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. The Angels have recalled rookie righty starting pitcher Matt Palmer to replace Oliver in the starting rotation. Palmer won his debut with the Angels working 6 innings and allowing 6 hits, walked 3 batters and gave up 4 earned runs. Don’t expect miracles out of Palmer who would essentially be the #10 or #11 starter on the Angels if all of their pitchers were healthy.

The Angels have placed righty reliever Kevin Jepsen on the 15-day disabled list with lower back spasms. His injury could have easily also been called whiplash due to his pitching this season. Jepsen has pitched in 5 games (0 starts) for the Angels so far this season and he is 0-2 with a 19.29 ERA and a 3.43 WHIP. He has allowed a stunning 11 hits and has walked 5 batters in only 4 2/3 innings for the Angels this season. The Angels have recalled 24-year old righty swinging infielder Brandon Wood to replace Jepsen on the roster. Wood has played in 7 games in AAA-ball this season and he is 9 for 26 (.346 avg, 1.356 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 4 homers and 8 RBIs. The Angels should get Wood right into the lineup as they are having problems scoring runs this season.

The Angels have placed righty starting pitcher Dustin Moseley on the 15-day disabled list with right elbow tightness. Moseley has pitched in 3 games (all starts) this season for the Angels and he is 1-0 with a 4.30 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. The Angels have recalled 24-year old righty reliever Rich Thompson and lefty reliever Dan Davidson from AAA to replace Moseley and Guerrero on the active roster. Thompson has worked 1 2/3 shutout innings this season in his only appearance thus far for the Angels. He also pitched in 3 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball this season and he was 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. Davidson worked 1 shutout inning in his debut for the Angels. He has also pitched in 3 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball this season and he was 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. The Angels don’t know yet who will start in Moseley’s place when his turn in the rotation comes up.

The Angels will be without Vladimir Guerrero for at least 1 month with a torn pectoral muscle. Guerrero has played in 8 games this season for the Angels and he is 8 for 32 (.250 avg, .658 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. Gary Matthews will get the most time in the outfield replacing Guerrero. He has played in 6 games for the Angels this season and he is 3 for 17 (.176 avg, .476 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. The Angels will miss Guerrero’s bat big time.

With John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar all starting the 2009 season on the D.L. the Angels were worried about their starting rotation. But, through the first four games Angels’ starting pitchers have compiled a 2-0 record with a 1.07 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. Joe Saunders, Jered Weaver, Nick Adenhart and Dustin Moseley all have pitched well this season. It will be interesting to see what the Angels do now that Nick Adenhart has passed on. The hope here is that his spirit pushes the other Angels’ starters to work as hard as he did when he was alive.