DOWNTOWN — Admitting that he’s been bothered by a sore elbow since the end of spring training and that it has lessened his ability to pitch in recent outings, Cardinals reliever Russ Springer went on the 15-day disabled list Saturday morning with an inflamed nerve in his right elbow.

“Time to let it cool off a little bit,” Springer said moments ago. “It’s not a surgery-type thing. … We’ll let it totally cool off.”

To take Springer’s spot on the roster and his place on the right side of the bullpen the Cardinals recalled Kelvin Jimenez from Triple-A Memphis. Jimenez was the last player cut from spring training before the team finalized its opening-day roster. It’s likely that rookie Kyle McClellan will slide into the seventh-inning role Springer has held for the last season, or that Jimenez and Anthony Reyes will increase their appearances from the bullpen.

Today Reyes and lefty Randy Flores are considered “hot,” manager Tony La Russa said. 

Springer faced three batters Friday night and all three reached base, including a solo home run to open the seventh inning by Washington’s Cristian Guzman. That outing, which Springer left with two runners on base, followed Wednesday’s ninth inning when Springer needed 32 pitches to get three outs.

The righthanded reliever had surgery on the elbow several seasons ago to transpose the nerve that is now yelping.

Springer said the weather hasn’t done him any favors, as the nerve first became irritated in Springfield last weekend and only grew more ornery through this week. He rebutted the notion that Wednesday’s long inning tripped the inflammation from irritation to a DL-caliber injury.

The ache in his elbow has caused a loss of strength in his forearm and his hand, and because of a tingling sensation related to the inflammation he doesn’t have a good feel for his pitches.

Springer won’t pick up a baseball for a week. But the expectation is he’ll return when the required 15 days have elapsed.

“I can’t get big-league hitters out, not throwing 86 mph because I can’t feel the ball coming out of my hand,” Springer said. “All I’ve got to do is calm it down.”

More in Sunday’s paper and on STLToday.com.

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