Shields and the disabled list

It’s becoming more and more clear why Angels setup man Scot Shields has struggled with his control this year. The solution has proven harder to nail down.
Manager Mike Scioscia said he has considered placing Shields on the 15-day disabled list to allow tendinitis in his left knee to calm down. The problem with that: Shields had two months in the off-season to rest his knee, but the injury persisted and has bothered him all season.
“We’re monitoring it closely,” Scioscia said. “Scot doesn’t feel he needs to be shut down, but we might have to monitor his workload a little bit.”
For now, Shields is wearing a brace on his knee and pitching with the injury. He was replaced by Jose Arredondo after two walks and two erratic warmup pitches in the ninth inning Saturday night. In the eighth, Shields blew his third save this year.
Shields has been one of the American League’s best relievers for five straight seasons, but he has walked more batters (14) than he has struck out (12) this year and he is 1-3 with a 6.73 ERA.
Shields said he didn’t want to leave the game Saturday and declined to blame the injury for his struggles.
“It’s something I can pitch through,” he said. “There are no excuses. I’m just pitching like crap.”