De La Rosa 'not quite ready'

ANAHEIM -- Sean Burnett's return to the Angels' bullpen was timely and effective on Friday night against the Royals, but Dane De La Rosa, the club's 2013 workhorse, is "not quite ready" to join Burnett and Co., according to Angels manager Mike Scioscia.

De La Rosa, out since April 13 with shoulder joint irritation, worked one inning on Friday night for Triple-A Salt Lake against Fresno, yielding a home run to Darren Ford while facing four hitters, striking out one. De La Rosa has a 4.05 ERA for the Bees.

"His velocity is about where it's been," Scioscia said. "He's at a little bit of a plateau. Right now he's not quite ready. I don't know how long it's going to take."

Burnett was thrown into the fire by Scioscia, who summoned the veteran lefty to face Eric Hosmer in the seventh inning of a 6-1 victory. Hosmer grounded out to second to end the inning.

"I think it was important Sean Burnett got in a game and got a key out," Scioscia said. "He came out of it fine. He had good action on his sinker."

Signed for two years and $8 million in December 2012, Burnett made only 13 appearances last year before undergoing elbow surgery in August. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2004.

After a setback in Spring Training, Burnett made six rehab appearances for Double-A Arkansas, throwing 5 1/3 innings, before returning to the Angels' roster.