The Angels have placed 25-year old righty reliever Rich Thompson on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. Thompson has pitched in 6 games (0 starts) this season for the Angels and he is 0-0 with a 1.86 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP. He has only walked 1 batter while whiffing 9 in 9 2/3 innings for the Angels so he was off to a good start with them this year. The Angels hope that Thompson gets well soon so he can get back to helping the bullpen.

The Angels have lost 31-year old righty starting pitcher Joel Pineiro for the next 6-8 weeks due to a left oblique strain. This is a huge blow to the Angels as they recently acquired Dan Haren to make the starting rotation one of the best in baseball from top to bottom. Pineiro has started 20 games for the Angels this year and he is 10-7 with a 4.18 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. The best case scenario has Pineiro coming back for the last couple of weeks in 2010.

The Angels have placed 26-year old lefty starting pitcher Scott Kazmir on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder fatigue. Kazmir has started 17 games for the Angels this season and he is 7-9 with a 6.92 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. He has given up 102 hits (17 homers) in 92 1/3 innings so far this season. Kazmir has also been pretty wild walking 49 batters so far this year. The Angels were smart to shut Kazmir down as a little rest couldn’t possibly hurt him as poorly as he has been pitching. The Angels have yet to announce who will be replacing Kazmir in the starting rotation.

The Angels have placed 2B/SS/3B Maicer Izturis on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left forearm and they have designated 32-year old lefty swinging outfielder Michael Ryan for assignment. Izturis’ injury really hurts the Angels as he was going to be the starting SS for a while due to Erick Aybar’s recent injury. Izturis has played in 30 games for the Angels this season and he is 24 of 103 (.233 avg, .691 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 2 homers, 15 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The Angels have activated Brandon Wood from the D.L. and he started at SS last night for the Angels. They need him to live up to his “ability” this time around or they need to get rid of him. Wood has played in 41 games this season for the Angels and he is 20 of 128 (.156 avg, .379 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 2 homers and 7 RBIs. Wood has whiffed an amazing 37 times this season while only walking 2 times. Michael Ryan played in 22 games for the Angels this season and he was 8 of 39 (.205 avg, .527 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs. Ryan is a victim of all of the injuries the Angels have suffered in the infield as the Angels called up 1B/3B Rob Quinlan to replace him on the roster. Quinlan has played in 17 games this season for the Angels and he is 4 of 31 (.129 avg, .375 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs. Quinlan is a much better hitter than he has shown this season and the Angels need him to step up.

The Angels have placed 31-year old righty reliever Jason Bulger on the 15-day disabled list with a sore right shoulder. Bulger has pitched in 22 games (0 starts) for the Angels this season and he is 0-0 with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. He has walked 15 batters while whiffing 23 in 21 2/3 innings for the Angels this year. The Angels have recalled 25-year old righty reliever Rafael Rodriguez to replace Bulger in the pen. Rodriguez has pitched in 24 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball this season and he is 3-3 with 8 saves, a 3.54 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He pitched in 18 games (0 starts) for the Angels last season and he was 0-1 with a 5.58 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP. He gave up 47 hits in 30 2/3 innings last season so he will have to be sharper than that if he’s going to stick around for a while with the Angels this time around.