Paxton placed on DL; Mariners call up Luetge

SEATTLE -- Rookie left-hander James Paxton was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday as the Mariners recalled reliever Lucas Luetge to take his place on the 25-man roster.

An MRI on Wednesday confirmed Paxton strained the lat muscle behind his left shoulder during Tuesday's 5-3 victory over the Angels, when he was taken out of the game with none out in the top of the sixth after throwing his 60th pitch of the night.

The 25-year-old said he's not sure when he'll be allowed to begin throwing again, as trainers are putting together a rehab plan.

"We're kind of still in the assessment stage right now," said Paxton, ranked as Seattle's third-best prospect. "We'll re-evaluate after those 15 days and see where I'm at. I wasn't sore this morning and my strength was really good. I was feeling pretty good about it, but we just want to be careful with it right now."

Paxton is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two starts this year and 5-0 with a 1.75 ERA in six career starts after coming up last September.

"It's tough," he said. "I was feeling good out there. It's not the ideal situation, but I'm just going to deal with it and get ready to go."

Manager Lloyd McClendon said veteran right-hander Chris Young will take Paxton's spot in the rotation for Sunday's series finale with the A's at Safeco Field.

Young is the Mariners' fifth starter but was moved temporarily into a long-relief role when his start was skipped due to postponement of last Friday's game in Oakland because of poor field conditions.

The Mariners have several options for filling Paxton's spot on a longer basis. Taijuan Walker is making his second Minor League rehab start Wednesday for Double-A Jackson and is close to being ready to return from a Spring Training shoulder issue.

Blake Beavan was also moved up a day to start Wednesday for Triple-A Tacoma.

Luetge, 27, will fill Young's spot in the bullpen for now. The left-hander began the season in Tacoma where he gave up two runs in an inning Sunday in his initial outing. He was 1-3 with a 4.86 ERA in 35 games over three stints with the Mariners last season and is 3-5 with a 4.40 ERA in 98 relief appearances since joining Seattle as a Rule 5 Draft selection in 2012.