The Rays today announced that reliever CJ Riefenhauser has been placed on the disabled list with left shoulder inflammation. Mikie Mahtook has been called up to take his place on the roster.

Once we get over the shock of seeing 12 (12!) players on the DL less than three weeks into the season, it turns out that this injury causes a huge problem in the bullpen.

The Rays now have no lefty relievers.

Riefenhauser was the only lefty in the ‘pen. To make matters worse, the only healthy pitcher in the minors that is on the 40-man roster is Kirby Yates and he is a righty. Enny Romero and Grayson Garvin, both lefties, are on the disabled lists of triple-A and double-A respectively.

In fact, when Drew Smyly returns on Friday, he will be the only left-handed pitcher on the 40-man roster who is not injured.

So the Rays are going to have to add somebody to the 40-man roster, whether it is a minor leaguer already in the system, or a player from outside either via free agency or trade. But in order to do that, somebody is going to have to be designated for assignment.

The only way the Rays will be able to avoid cutting a player is by either sticking with an all-right handed bullpen or moving somebody on the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL where players don’t count towards the 40-man roster. However, a review of the nine players currently on the 15-day DL doesn’t reveal any obvious candidates for the 60-day DL unless it turns out Riefenhauser’s injury needs surgery.

Injuries are often just bad luck. But at this point, the Rays have so many that they are now causing problems outside of just losing another player.