Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez goes on 15-day DL with elbow tendinitis

Reds place Volquez on DL

ST. LOUIS — Cincinnati Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez went back on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with tendinitis in his right elbow, a day after he lasted only one inning in his first start off the DL.

Reds medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek, who examined Volquez in Cincinnati, said the right-hander will not throw for 7 to 10 days. Manager Dusty Baker said Kremchek told him the pitcher will be “fine, big time.”

“It’s not bad news,” Baker said. “It’s the best news it could be for bad news.”

Baker said Volquez’s heavy workload might have factored into his injury woes. He worked 196 innings last year, then played in the Dominican Winter League to prepare for the World Baseball Classic.

“I was very apprehensive about the whole thing,” Baker said. “We weren’t crazy about him pitching at all.”

The Reds recalled right-handed reliever Jared Burton from Triple-A Louisville. Burton had been optioned to Louisville on Monday when Volquez came off the DL from back spasms.

Baker will have to come up with a starter for Saturday’s home game against the Cubs, which would have been Volquez’s turn.

“We’ve got an idea,” Baker said. “We may want to wait just in case something happens, and whoever it is you don’t want that person thinking about it for four or five days.”

Volquez left his first start since May 16 after allowing a run and two hits in the first inning Monday against the Cardinals, complaining of numbness in the pinky and ring fingers of his pitching hand. He’s 4-2 with a 4.35 ERA.

Baker said Volquez never mentioned numbness before Monday’s start, speculating that the pitcher might have believed he was experiencing normal soreness.

“If every time you felt something you sat down, most of us would never play,” Baker said. “But it set off an alarm because he had never said anything to us about it.”

Baker moved slumping Jay Bruce, 1 for 16 with one RBI in the first five games of a seven-game trip, to second in the batting order for Tuesday’s game against the Cardinals. Baker said Bruce needs to work on his pitch selection and believes that spot could be helpful.

“You can tell he’s getting frustrated,” the manager said. “Just because they’re supposed to throw you strikes doesn’t mean they’re going to throw you strikes. They’re teasing him out of the zone.”

Utilityman Jerry Hairston Jr. missed his second straight start with flu-like symptoms but Baker said Hairston was feeling better and would probably play Wednesday. Center fielder Willy Taveras was back in the leadoff slot after missing three starts with tightness in his right hamstring.