Guardians place scuffling starter on injured list

The Cleveland Guardians have placed starter Cal Quantrill on the 15-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation, tweets Zack Meisel of the Athletic. Aaron Civale was reinstated from the IL to take his spot in the rotation. Cleveland also placed first baseman Josh Bell on the paternity list and recalled rookie infielder Brayan Rocchio from Triple-A Columbus.

Quantrill received an injection in his shoulder and will be shut down from throwing for a few days, per Mandy Bell of MLB.com (Twitter link). It’s unclear how long he will be out of action, though the shutdown could suggest he will miss more than the two-week minimum. While the Guardians will clearly be disappointed to lose one of their starters, the injury could explain some uncharacteristic struggles.

The right-hander has pitched to a 5.61 ERA over 11 starts this season. Quantrill had kept his ERA below or around 3.00 in each of the preceding two campaign's. This year’s velocity isn’t any different, but he is missing bats on a career-low 7.2 percent of his pitches. Quantrill’s past two starts have been particularly ineffective, as he respectively served up six and eight runs while failing to get out of the fifth inning in those outings.

In Quantrill’s place, the Guardians are welcoming back two veteran arms over the coming days. Civale starts Friday in Minnesota. It will be his first appearance since April 7. He missed just under two months with an oblique strain. Civale posted a 4.92 ERA in 20 starts last season.

Meanwhile, right-hander Triston McKenzie is listed as the probable starter for Sunday afternoon’s match-up with the division-leading Twins. McKenzie hasn’t pitched in the majors this season thanks to a spring training shoulder strain. He has made three rehab starts with Columbus, allowing five runs in 10 1/3 frames. McKenzie is on the 60-day injured list and will need to return to the 40-man roster. Cleveland will have to make a corresponding move in that regard on Sunday.