Brendan

Donnelly

It is not bothering the right-handed reliever who pitched a scoreless inning in last night’s 1-0 loss to the Blue Jays.

Doctors intend to transfer cartilage from his ear to plug a hole within the nose. It will be the fourth surgery performed on his nose, which was was broken in 20 places after he was hit by a fly ball during batting practice in March.

Had the Devil Ray relievers been able to keep their two-run deficit intact, Donnelly would have pitched the ninth for a save opportunity. But Mike Scioscia said Donnelly would not automatically be the go-to guy in save situations in Percival’s absence. The manager said matchups and freshness would determine who gets the call, meaning that anyone from Ben Weber to Francisco Rodriguez could assume the closer’s role on any given day. “Donnelly’s stepped up great,” Scioscia said of the reliever with a 0.36 earned-run average, “but what if he comes in and gets two outs in the eighth and pitches the ninth? Who’s going to close the next day? Is it going to be Donnelly again? Maybe not. “Right now I don’t know if we really have to slot one guy there. If a guy can step up and start to throw the ball well, we’ll consider how we look at the roles in the bullpen.”

Opposing hitters are batting .103 against Donnelly, who has stranded all seven runners he’s inherited and has struck out 20 hitters. Awesome ratios aside, there’s little reason to own Donnelly. He doesn’t have any wins or saves, and he’s not in line for either.

Donnelly faced just one batter and struck him out. He should work again on Saturday or Sunday.

Donnelly is expected to get into a game toward the end of the week. He’ll be ready for Opening Day.

Donnelly could need up to six weeks to recover the procedure, according to two surgeons familiar with the nature of his injuries. Since he’d need at least a couple of weeks after that before he’s ready to come off the DL, it doesn’t appear that he will return until late May or early June.

Donnelly suffered a broken nose on March 9 and pushed too hard to make it back afterwards, resulting in complications. He should be back after the first week of the season, but he isn’t going to rush things this time.

Donnelly had three nose surgeries during the spring after incessant bleeding problems. He’ll be re-examined in a week before increasing his workouts. Don’t expect him back before late May at the earliest.

Donnelly, who has not pitched this season due to complications stemming from a broken nose, would likely pitch a few times in the California League before moving up to Triple A by the end of the week. He could be back with the Angels as early as May 11th. Ben Weber (7.43 ERA) could be the odd man out when Donnelly returns to action.