Angels’ Bobby Wilson goes on concussion DL

Bobby Wilson knew something was wrong when, while catching the second inning against the Seattle Mariners Monday night, he said he “felt like I could fall asleep right there behind home plate.�

Wilson took a foul ball off the facemask in the first and was replaced by John Hester in the bottom of the second. Tuesday, Wilson was put on the seven-day concussion disabled list and replaced on the roster by catcher Hank Conger, who was recalled from triple-A Salt Lake.

“It was the same feeling I had the last time,� said Wilson, who suffered a concussion in a plate collision with Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira in his first big league start on April 23, 2010. “My face felt like it was on fire. I was drowsy, fatigued, in a fog.�

The seven-day concussion DL was created in 2011 to give team doctors and injured players more flexibility to address head injuries.

“In my day, if you got your bell rung, you took a deep breath and went out for the next play,� said Manager Mike Scioscia, a longtime Dodgers catcher. “I spent the night in a hospital with a concussion once and played the next day. That wouldn’t be the best course of action today. You have to be cautious.�

Conger was batting .325 at Salt Lake but was put on the DL because of a right elbow sprain on April 23, an injury that sidelined him for five weeks. Conger returned to action Thursday and started Tuesday night against Seattle.

College try

The trend toward drafting college players instead of high school players continued Tuesday for the Angels, who used 12 of their first 13 picks on college players, seven of them pitchers.

Under scouting director Ric Wilson, who replaced the fired Eddie Bane after the 2010 season, the Angels used 23 of their first 29 picks in 2011 on college players.

“Our system is not loaded anymore,� Wilson said, “so we wanted to jump-start it by getting some of those better players who won’t need as much development.�

The Angels surrendered their first- and second-round picks as compensation for signing Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson and didn’t pick until the third round, when they took Florida Atlantic closer R.J. Alvarez, who was 5-0 with an 0.72 earned run average and eight saves and has touched 97 mph with his fastball.

Baseball’s new draft rules prescribe bonus amounts for picks in the first 10 rounds. The Angels have been allotted $1.645 million for their top eight picks, with recommended bonuses ranging from $416,300 to $125,000.

The team’s fourth-round pick, second baseman Alex Yarbrough, hit .380 with 43 runs batted in for Mississippi, and its fifth-round pick, right-hander Mark Sappington, had a 1.78 ERA and 101 strikeouts for Rockhurst (Mo.) University. The only high school player selected was Andrew Patterson, a catcher from Alabama.

Short hops

Second baseman Howie Kendrick, mired in a .188 slump (16 for 85) in which he has no extra-base hits and 20 strikeouts since May 11, did not start Tuesday night. … Mariners ace Felix Hernandez was scratched from Wednesday night’s start because of lower-back pain. Right-hander Hector Noesi will pitch the series finale.

[email protected]