St. Louis placed Bud Smith on the disabled list Thursday with a mild strain in his left shoulder. Smith hasn't performed at his established level this spring. He has pitched progressively worse in each of his three starts this season, so that in his last start he was only able to last 4 IP while allowing 6 H, 1HR, 3 BB and only striking out Nick Neugebauer.

After experiencing fatigue in his shoulder following his last start, he returned prematurely from the team's road trip on Monday so that doctors could take a look at the shoulder. Reportedly, he does not have any structural problems in his arm and should be capable of returning to the club at the end of his DL time. As the move was retroactive to Monday, he will be eligible to rejoin the team May 7th.

The time on the disabled list will give Smith's shoulder the opportunity to rest and heal. Despite their starter shortage, St. Louis doesn't want to risk the chance that he could incur structural damage by pitching through this without rest. The Cardinals also couldn't afford to wait and see if Smith would be ready to pitch again after missing only one start. Considering the present state of their pitching staff, the team needed to call up a replacement for Smith if he was unable to make his start.

St. Louis recalled Gene Stechschulte to replace Smith on the roster. His skills are a little weak across the board in that he allows both too many hits and walks without accumulating good strikeout totals. The 28-year-old righty is purely a reliever and won't be used to start a game.

Matt Morris and Darryl Kile are fortunately still in the rotation as the #1 and #2 starters. In a little over a week, Josh Pearce has gone from starting at AAA to the Cardinals #3 starter. Travis Smith is scheduled to start today's game and will likely remain in the rotation unless he performs terribly. At this point, a series of relief pitchers will likely cover all other games until someone returns from the DL.

Baltimore placed Jason Johnson on the DL Thursday with a fracture in the middle finger of his right hand. Johnson injured the finger when he banged it on the dirt of the mound while he was practicing his mechanics during a workout.

Johnson started slow this spring, going through a dead-arm phase. He was beginning to bounce back naturally, but this forced time on the DL should give his arm additional time to rest and recover. He won't pitch for at least two weeks and Baltimore doesn't expect him back in less than a month.

Sean Douglass will take his place on the roster and in the rotation. Douglass will turn 23 on Sunday. The right-hander spent most of last season in AAA aside from 4 major league starts. While he his AAA walk rate was a bit high, he struck out almost a batter an inning. He allowed slightly less than one hit per inning.

Baltimore also called-up RHP Travis Driskill, a 30-year-old minor league veteran. With the exception of 1998 when he pitched in Japan, Driskill has spent the last five seasons in AAA. Last season pitching for AAA New Orleans in the Pacific Coast League, he had a K:BB of 4.4 in 179 IP with a K/9 of 7.3 and only allowed 175 H. He hasn't yet been scheduled to start, but he certainly deserves a chance with numbers like these.

Brian Roberts was sent down in order to make room for the second pitcher. The 24-year-old second baseman was rushed through AA and AAA to the majors last season without sufficient development time. While he appeared to have good plate discipline in his brief appearances at both levels, the sample size was really too small to give an accurate picture. His strike zone judgment took a hit when he reached the majors. However, it was a lack of available playing time that caused his demotion this season, rather than poor performance on his part. Baltimore didn't want him in the majors if he wasn't going to receive regular at-bats. He should benefit from the additional minor league experience and has very good speed upside, especially if his previous plate discipline re-emerges.

The Orioles haven't had the injury problems of St. Louis, but their rotation has undergone some changes this season. Last week Rodrigo Lopez replaced Josh Towers as the #4 starter. Towers was moved to the bullpen after three poor starts in which he allowed 8 HR in 19.1 IP. I suspect the 25-year-old will either return to the rotation or be sent to the minors.

The 26-year-old Lopez missed most of last season with shoulder tendinitis. His minor league record shows good strikeout numbers but a tendency to allow both too many hits and walks. While he struck out multiple batters in his three 4-inning relief sessions in the majors this year, Lopez was unable strike out a batter in his only start to date. He'll probably have to improve upon his initial performance in order to maintain his spot in the rotation.

Due to lingering shoulder tendinitis, Chris Carpenter returned to the DL on Thursday. Toronto activated Carpenter from the DL on Saturday, but his shoulder is still sore. Now that he is back on the disabled list there is no timetable for his return, though the Blue Jays may be more cautious after obviously rushing the process the first time.

Toronto called up RHP Mike Smith to replace Carpenter on the roster and in the rotation. Smith spent last season in AA and could really use a season at AAA. However, he has a lot of potential. Last year in 93 IP, only allowed 80 H and 26 BB while striking out 77.