LOS ANGELES (AP) -The Dodgers’ pitching staff took another hit Wednesday when Randy Wolf, one of three starters with at least eight victories, went on the 15-day disabled list because of soreness in his left shoulder.
Wolf joins starter Hong-Chih Kuo, who was demoted to the minors last weekend and went on the DL on Wednesday. Right-hander Jason Schmidt is already out for the season after elbow surgery, and reliever Yhency Brazoban is sidelined because of a strained right shoulder.
Wolf (9-6) will have an MRI on Thursday and will miss his next scheduled start Sunday. He departed after three innings against Atlanta on Tuesday because of tenderness in his shoulder.
“Going into yesterday, it was the worst it’s been,” he said. “I really haven’t thrown 100 innings since 2004, so it could be the result of that. There’s a level of frustration because I know there’s probably nobody in the world that does more shoulder exercises than me.”
Wolf has not completed a full season since 2003. He returned to pitching for Philadelphia in June 2006 after missing more than a year because of Tommy John surgery. The left-hander signed as a free agent with the Dodgers during the offseason.
“I learned a lesson from what happened with my elbow. You’re kind of afraid of the truth,” he said. “No reason to create any demons, just wait and see what the MRI says and go from there.”
Wolf’s shoulder has been bothering him for the last month. He thought it might loosen up once he started pitching Tuesday, but that didn’t happen. The soreness kept him awake the last two nights.
Dodgers head trainer Stan Conte said there was discussion about placing Wolf on the DL.
“We don’t think it’s that severe,” he said. “It’s been creeping up the last couple of starts. He didn’t look right throwing (Wednesday) and his velocity was down.”
Manager Grady Little suggested that Wolf “may have withheld some stuff from us in order to be out there.” But Wolf denied that he didn’t fess up to the training staff.
“If there was any holding out, it might have been yesterday,” he said.
Reliever Joe Beimel remained in the hospital Wednesday while undergoing further tests after complaining of heart palpitations during batting practice Tuesday.
The left-hander has no history of heart problems and initial testing did not show a cause, a team spokesman said.
“To talk to him on the phone, there’s nothing wrong,” Little said. “I think a lot of people get them from time-to-time.”
Kuo, demoted to Las Vegas on Sunday after his third consecutive poor start, went on the major league DL Wednesday retroactive to Saturday. An MRI showed irritation in the back of his left elbow. He will rest and rehabilitate over the next seven-to-10 days.
“A lot of unfortunate things have come about,” Little said. “Hopefully, all of the cases will turn out to be OK.”
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