SAN DIEGO — Dodgers right-hander Darren Dreifort was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with a sprained ligament in his right elbow.
Dreifort is scheduled to undergo an MRI exam on Tuesday in Los Angeles. There's concern about this injury because he sprained the same ligament that was repaired during reconstructive surgery March 14, 1995. That surgery sidelined him for the entire season.
Dreifort, who was given a $55 million, five-year contract in the offseason despite his sub-.500 career record, said there's no reason to get worked up since the team doesn't yet know the severity of the injury.
"I'm not in any hurry to get in an MRI machine, I'll tell you that right now. I've been in there a lot of times," said Dreifort, who has a history of elbow and shoulder injuries.
"Sure, I'd like to know what's going on," he said. "Once I get in there and if they find out that it's nothing, all the better. No reason to get all caught up in that right now, because we don't know."
Dreifort said he's experienced stiffness in the elbow this year, "and yesterday was worse than any other day."
Dreifort (4-7, 5.13 ERA) left Friday night's game against San Diego after striking out Ben Davis leading off the sixth inning. The Dodgers noticed a drop in the velocity of his pitches.
"I'm going to wait till Tuesday to see what the prognosis is, put my uniform on today, sit on the bench and do what I can to help the team win," said Dreifort, who has a career 43-52 record and a 4.38 ERA.
To replace Dreifort on the roster, the Dodgers activated infielder Tim Bogar from the disabled list. Bogar had been out since June 14 with a strained right hamstring.
The Dodgers likely will recall Eric Gagne from Triple-A Las Vegas to make Dreifort's next scheduled start on Wednesday at Los Angeles against San Francisco.
Gagne was optioned to Las Vegas June 12. Before his demotion, he was sent to the bullpen after a couple of poor starts.