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Vargas could be out 4-6 weeks with blood clot

ANAHEIM -- Angels left-hander Jason Vargas was placed on the disabled list with a blood clot on Friday, with Jerome Williams taking his rotation spot to start Saturday's game and Billy Buckner called up from Triple-A Salt Lake to serve as a long reliever. Vargas' estimated recovery time is four to six weeks -- two weeks of inactivity after undergoing surgery to remove the clot, then another two to four weeks to rebuild arm strength -- but that is not yet solidified.

Vargas will seek a second opinion at UCLA Medical Center on Monday on the blood clot that resides in the armpit area just below his left arm. At that point, he'll decide whether to have surgery.

"I started to feel a difference in the way my [left] middle finger felt three or four days before my last start [on Monday]," Vargas said. "It didn't really affect anything; we just treated it as it was. It didn't really get a whole lot better, so we decided to take a look at it and found a blood clot in there. It's good that we got it recognized early."

Several pitchers have missed significant time due to blood clots. The Tigers' Jeremy Bonderman missed the last four months of the 2008 season after having surgery to correct a blood clot, then had further complications that delayed his return until June 2009. The Rockies' Aaron Cook had a blood clot that forced him to remove a rib and kept him out for about a year from 2004-05. And the Angels' own general manager, Jerry Dipoto, had a near-death experience with a blood clot that moved to his right wrist in 1998.

But Vargas' clot isn't deemed to be anywhere near that serious. Because they found it early, it hasn't spread and he likely won't require blood thinners to rehab from it. The Angels' medical staff believes it can be resolved "in a short amount of time," manager Mike Scioscia said.

How short, though, remains to be seen.

And the news is nonetheless a major blow to a starting rotation that ranks 21st in the Majors in ERA and already had to stomach the loss of ace Jered Weaver for seven weeks. Vargas, the American League Pitcher of the Month for May, is 6-4 with a 3.65 ERA in 14 starts.

"There's no doubt he can go and pitch with it right now if he had to," Scioscia said, "but along the lines of a person's well-being, and as further tests were done just to see what was causing the sensation he had, they discovered something there that needs to be addressed. He was throwing the ball great. But that's not the issue. His issue is trying to take care of this so he can keep going forward."

Alden Gonzalez is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Gonzo and "The Show", and follow him on Twitter @Alden_Gonzalez.
Read More: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Jason Vargas