Colon Goes on the Disabled List

Putting your Cy Young Award-winning pitcher on the 15-day disabled list, as the Angels did with Bartolo Colon on Wednesday, would hardly qualify as positive news, but the Angels seemed more relieved than concerned about their ace after an MRI test revealed inflammation in Colon’s shoulder, not another tear.

“It appears to be scarring related to the injury from last year,” General Manager Bill Stoneman said. “The information I got says there’s ... no new tears. I took that as good news.”

Long reliever Hector Carrasco will start in Colon’s place today against the Twins, and the Angels recalled Kevin Gregg, who threw 10 scoreless innings in three games at triple-A Salt Lake, to replace Colon on the roster.

Colon was knocked out of the playoffs last October by a slight shoulder tear and spent the winter rehabilitating. The right-hander appeared sound in spring training, pitching for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, but he admitted being hesitant to cut loose his fastball in his first two starts, when he gave up 10 earned runs and 15 hits to the Mariners and Yankees for a 12.86 ERA.

Colon seemed to turn a corner Saturday in Baltimore, when he gave up one earned run and eight hits in seven innings of a 3-2 loss and his fastball consistently hit 96 mph on the Camden Yards speed gun.

But Colon, who had been on the DL once in nine previous big league seasons, began feeling discomfort after the start, and after throwing in the bullpen in Minnesota on Tuesday, he was examined by an orthopedic consultant for the Twins.

The Angels chose to be cautious, putting Colon on the DL. The question now is whether this will be a recurring problem or a precursor to a more serious injury.

“You don’t ever know for sure,” Stoneman said. “It looks like he’ll be back on May 1 -- we’re certainly hopeful of that.... You never like to see a guy bothered by any discomfort, but on the other hand, we recognize that when you heal from a small tear, scar tissue builds up. Sometimes you’ve got to work through it. He’s going to be going through some rehab so he can pitch again.”

Carrasco, who signed this winter as a starter but was pushed to the bullpen when the Angels signed Jeff Weaver, found out during batting practice that he would be starting today.

“I’m excited,” Carrasco said. “But I hope Bart is OK and gets back soon because we need him to pitch.”

Stoneman said he considered recalling Jered Weaver, who is 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA in two starts at Salt Lake, but no more so than he considered others -- Chris Bootcheck, Dustin Moseley, Jason Bulger and Greg Jones are all pitching well in triple A.

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The Angels will have the 25th pick in the first round of the June draft, but they won’t pick again until the third round. The Angels lost their second-round pick to Washington as compensation for signing Carrasco.... Juan Rivera, out since Monday because of a rib cage injury, is expected to be available for this weekend’s series in Oakland.... Wednesday night’s 12-10 loss to the Twins marked the first time the Angels have lost when scoring 10 runs or more since Sept. 3, 2000, when they lost to the Chicago White Sox, 13-12.