TEMPE, ARIZ. — All-Star pitcher Ervin Santana was diagnosed Sunday with a sprained ligament in his throwing elbow and will open the season on the disabled list, a potentially significant setback for a team already thin on starting pitching.
Santana, 26, projected as the Angels' No. 2 starter after a 16-7 record and a 3.49 earned-run average in 2008, experienced tightness in the elbow after pitching an inning in an intrasquad game Tuesday.
Santana, who signed a four-year, $30-million contract in February, underwent an MRI test, the results showing the sprain of the medial collateral ligament. He will he held out from throwing indefinitely, and no timetable has been set for his return.
"We don't anticipate it being something that's going to set him back for any appreciable part of the season, but we're certainly going to take it slow and work him back to where he needs to be," Manager Mike Scioscia said.
"We're going to get a better read as we move along. But from where we are now and where he would need to be, the start of season is going to be a little bit of a stretch. We don't anticipate this being much longer than that."
Santana seemed to be in a state of denial early Sunday morning. Asked how his elbow felt, Santana said, "Everything is good." Asked whether he underwent an MRI test, he repeated, "Everything is good."
Later in the day, after Scioscia met with reporters, Santana acknowledged the inflammation in his elbow was significant, but not as bad as what he felt in 2004, when he sat out half of the season because of an elbow strain.
"I was worried before talking to Dr. [Lewis] Yocum," Santana said. "I thought it would be worse. I thought I'd need surgery. But after he checked the MRI, he told me it had calmed down."
Santana threw a career-high 219 innings last season, striking out 214, walking 47 and holding opponents to a .237 batting average. He also made four winter league starts in the Dominican Republic, throwing 16 innings, but Scioscia said Santana did not have any health issues entering camp.
"I don't think there were a lot of symptoms that he came in with," Scioscia said. "I don't think it's much different than what happens with a lot of guys."
Once Santana begins playing catch, it will take several weeks to build up the arm strength and stamina needed to join the Angels' rotation, so it is possible he could sit out much of April.
