Orioles put RHP Gonzalez on 15-day DL, recall Burnett

Gonzalez is 2-2 with a 4.58 ERA in six starts this season, and is suffering from a thumb blister.

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

The Baltimore Orioles placed Miguel Gonzalez on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with a right thumb blister.

Gonzalez is 2-2 with a 4.58 ERA in six starts this season. The right-hander left his last start May 3 against the Angels after six innings because of a blister.

The Orioles pushed Gonzalez back from his scheduled start Thursday, hoping he would be ready Saturday. But the blister hasn't healed enough to allow him to pitch.

"It's a callus with a blister underneath and both of them came off,'' manager Buck Showalter said. "So he's down to some pretty raw skin.''

The move is retroactive to May 3 and Orioles have off days Monday and Thursday, so Gonzalez will miss only one or two starts if he can come off the DL on May 19 to face Tampa Bay.

"We feel confident doing it this way that we can hopefully put it behind us and get him ready to make that start,'' Showalter said.

To fill out the 25-man roster, Baltimore recalled right-hander Alex Burnett from Triple-A Norfolk. Burnett was claimed by the Orioles on waivers from Toronto on April 12.

Burnett went 1-0 with a 0.96 ERA in six relief appearances with Norfolk. He was 4-4 out of the bullpen last year with Minnesota.

Showalter didn't say who would start in place of Gonzalez on Saturday, but said Steve Johnson is an option. Johnson, who was placed on the DL on March 31 with a strained muscle near his right rib cage, is on a rehabilitation assignment.