Kansas City, Mo. ? The Kansas City Royals placed outfielder Joey Gathright on the 15-day disabled list Thursday because of a lingering shoulder injury and recalled outfielder Mitch Maier from Triple-A Omaha.

Gathright has been bothered by a bone bruise in his right shoulder this season. He tried taking pain medication after the All-Star break, but the injury didn’t improve.

Royals manager Trey Hillman said it was likely Gathright wouldn’t do much for a few days before starting rehab, but didn’t expect him to be out more than 15 days. The speedster is hitting .251 in 82 games with a team-leading 21 stolen bases in 25 attempts.

“He keeps fighting against it and it’s a situation where it’s really not going to get any better,” Hillman said. “It’s not like he can get an injection or anything because it’s bone on bone. He’s going to keep irritating it, so we put him on the DL so he can heal.”

The 26-year-old Maier was hitting .316 with nine homers, 41 RBIs and 24 doubles in 85 games with Omaha. A former catcher and third baseman, Maier impressed Kansas City’s coaches with a solid spring training and had played well in center for Omaha.

He was in the starting lineup Thursday night against Tampa Bay, though Hillman wasn’t sure how much the team would use him just yet.

“We’ve discussed him several times because of his performance in spring training, his athleticism in the outfield and the fact he can keep the ball hit,” Hillman said. “He’s probably not going to come up and hit 20 home runs between now and the end of the season, but he might. It’s more of a matter of how he can get acclimated to the big league pitching and roam the outfield.”

Maier is making his second trip to the big leagues. The 30th overall pick of the 2003 draft, he spent 12 days as a September call-up for the Royals in 2006, going 2-for-13 in five games.