Angels left fielder Daniel Nava appears headed for disabled list -- again

Angels left fielder Daniel Nava is expected to be placed on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday after he suffered a left-groin strain and was pulled from Monday night’s 7-6 victory over the Dodgers in the fifth inning.

Nava, who will undergo an MRI exam on Tuesday, said he tweaked the hamstring while running toward center field to back up Mike Trout on a fly ball in the first inning. He appeared to aggravate the injury on a fifth-inning swing.

“I’ve never had that happen before, and I don’t know if it’s serious or not because I’ve never experienced anything in my groin,” said Nava, who missed three weeks of April and early May because of patella tendinitis in his left knee.

“It’s very frustrating. … I’ve only been back for a week, and I was starting to get things going a little bit. Hopefully it isn’t anything too serious.”

If Nava goes on the DL, the Angels will probably recall left-handed-hitting outfielder Rafael Ortega from triple-A Salt Lake. Ortega hit .294 in 14 games before being demoted May 6.

The Angels have placed eight players on the DL already this season, and that doesn’t include pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who has been slow to recover from elbow surgery and has been relegated to a rehabilitation assignment at Salt Lake.

The Angels will probably also recall a reliever from Salt Lake to bolster a bullpen that has combined to throw 59 1/3 innings, including four in Monday night’s win, in the last 15 games. That pitcher would likely replace infielder Jefry Marte on the roster.

“Our bullpen is exhausted,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Our rotation needs to get deeper into games, and when that starts happening, and we continue to swing the bats, we’ll get our bullpen in shape and put up wins. Right now, we’re putting up wins, but using a lot of pitching to do it.”

Twitter: @MikeDiGiovanna

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