Los Angeles Angels’ Dan Haren Hits the DL

Dan Haren is not used to this.  He’s never been on the disabled list in his career.  The 31-year old righty has

pitched in 283 games and logged over 1800 innings, but had never ben on the DL until now.  The Angels announced last night that Haren will be placed on the 15-day DL with stiffness in his lower back.

Haren has been struggling this season with a 6-8 record to go along with a 4.86 ERA.  In his career, Haren is 113-92 and has an ERA of 3.66. His best year with the Angels was his first year in 2010.  Haren posted a 2.87 ERA in 14 starts.

The Angels recalled Kevin Jepsen to fill the roster spot.  Jepsen is 27 and has spent parts of five seasons with the Angels.  He’s pitched in 156 games and has a career ERA of 5.01 ERA.

The Angels are 45-37 and 4.5 games behind the Texas Rangers in the American League East.  Haren’s injury won’t help, but it could;t have come at a better time.  With the upcoming All-Star break, Haren will be given plenty of time to rest his back without missing too many starts.  He will be needed down the stretch if the Angels are to make a run at the juggernaut Rangers.  According to the Associated Press, Haren seems to agree with the timing.

"“There’s definitely a lot of inflammation and it was just causing the stiffness that I’ve got to try to knock out,” Haren said. “It’s not really even a pain-management thing, as much as it is just getting back to physically throwing the way that I’ve thrown for however many years in the big leagues. So rather than keep going out there at about 70 percent or so, I thought it was good timing for me to take a step back and try to get back to 100 percent for the stretch run.”"

Haren is a three-time All-Star but was not selected to this year’s game for obvious reasons.  He has pitched for four teams in his ten-year Major League career.  This will be his third season with the Angels.

For more on the Angels, be sure to check out Halo Hangout.