Phillies Send Contreras to DL

The Philadelphia Phillies have placed reliever Jose Contreras on the 15 day disabled list with a strained right forearm.  The move is retroactive to June 20^th.

Thursday marks the second DL stint for the 39 year old this season.

Contreras began the season as Philadelphia’s closer, filling in for the injured Brad Lidge.  The right hander was perfect before his first injury sidelined him at the end of April.

Over his first 8 appearances this season, Contreras held opponents scoreless, only allowing 8 base runners in his 8 innings pitched.  He completed all 5 of his save opportunities and held hitters to a .148 batting average.

Even after his return from the disabled list, Contreras was able to maintain his spotless ERA for 4 more contests before his June tailspin.  He’s allowed 6 earned runs this month in only 3.1 innings, causing his ERA to balloon to 3.86.

Still, Contreras’ contributions combined with those of his teammates have resulted in the Phils having the league’s second best bullpen ERA.

Philadelphia has called up left handed reliever Juan Perez from Triple-A to replace Contreras.  The minor league veteran has logged 30.2 innings this season with an earned run average of 3.52.