SAN DIEGO (AP) - The Los Angeles Dodgers placed reliever Brian Wilson on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Monday, with inflammation in the ulnar nerve in his right elbow, and recalled right-hander Jose Dominguez from Triple-A Albuquerque.
“That nerve has got to calm down a bit,” manager Don Mattingly said before Wednesday night’s game against the Padres. “He threw today. As long as that goes good he, he throws a ball tomorrow. Stan (trainer Stan Conte) just keeps kind of building from there.”
Mattingly said he’s not sure how long Wilson will be out, but added, “I don’t expect it to be like anything crazy.”
Wilson, who had reconstructive surgery in April 2012 while with San Francisco, said he felt a twinge in his elbow when he was warming up Sunday. He came in to start the eighth with the Dodgers leading 1-0 and allowed three runs in the Padres’ 3-1 win.
Mattingly said that in a spring training game on March 10, Wilson threw a pitch that caused concern with pitching coach Rick Honeycutt. After a visit from Mattingly, Wilson remained in the game and allowed two runs on two hits in two-thirds of an inning before he was lifted when he hit his 15-pitch limit.
Wilson did not pitch again until March 15, the day before the Dodgers left for Australia, where Los Angeles swept two games from Arizona.
“He obviously threw the ball well in Australia and got his outs,” Mattingly said. “If we had known more in spring training, we may have made some different decisions. He had a game in spring training where we got a little bit of a sign. We watched him for a few days after that. It wasn’t a total surprise when he didn’t come out the right way.”
Mattingly said Wilson “just kind of got behind” in spring training. “He has been trying to catch up by adding on and losing location, trying to throw harder and change things a bit. Maybe that’s where the irritation comes from. We are going to be more conservative moving forward this time of year.”
Wilson was 2-1 with a 0.66 ERA in 18 games with L.A. last season.
Dominguez had a 2.16 ERA in nine appearances with the Dodgers last year, his first big league season.
Mattingly also said that outfielder Matt Kemp is on track to be activated from the disabled list on Friday, and that Josh Beckett is scheduled to pitch for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on Friday night as he works his way back from the DL.
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