CHICAGO -- Jose Contreras was placed on the 15-day disabled list prior to Sunday's series finale against the Royals, and Ozzie Guillen was not a happy man.

The White Sox manager certainly didn't find a problem with Contreras being temporarily shelved -- a move made retroactive to July 18 -- due to right elbow tendinitis. Instead, Guillen seemed bothered by Contreras' attempt to pitch through the injury without informing the club.

"I don't want to say upset, but I was a little disappointed when one of my players is hiding this stuff from us for no reason," Guillen said. "I don't want any of my players to go out there and be in any kind of pain and try to be a hero, then all of a sudden I don't have them."

Contreras' injury apparently originated from absorbing a line drive by the Cubs' Ronny Cedeno off of his right forearm on June 27, and according to White Sox athletic trainer Herm Schneider, the soreness or stiffness continued due to pitch selection. On Sunday, Contreras said the after-effects from the line drive had all but disappeared and that the soreness just above his right elbow was something different.

According to Contreras, the pain becomes most evident when he throws the split-finger fastball because of the specific grip. He also felt soreness when throwing his slider during a Saturday bullpen session.

Further confusing the matter for Contreras is that his fastball has shown velocity in the 93- to 94-mph range.

"It's not serious, but I don't have control of the ball," said Contreras, who added he will take three days off from throwing. "It's all over the place."

"How you gonna be able to put a degree on it or something like that?" added White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper, when asked if Contreras' injury was more serious than a basic stint on the disabled list. "It's bad enough that he's not able to go out there and pitch for us. This is a rarity. He doesn't seem to think it's serious, but he's not a doctor."

Contreras' absence leaves at least one turn to be filled in the starting rotation, coming this Tuesday against Texas, and it looks as if Clayton Richard will get the call. WLFI, a television station in Richard's hometown of Lafayette, Ind., reported Sunday night that the southpaw was informed of the move late Sunday afternoon. If Richard gets the call, he will replaced Adam Russell on the roster, who was sent down after Sunday's game vs. the Royals.

With Richard having pitched 78 of his 82 career Minor League games as a starter, he figures to take the mound for the second contest with the Rangers. Richard, who started for the U.S. team in the Futures Game and was selected to the U.S. Olympic baseball team to play in the Beijing Olympics in August, has a 6-0 record with a 2.37 ERA in six starts for Triple-A Charlotte.

D.J. Carrasco was one of the spot-starting candidates, but he hurled three innings of scoreless relief on Sunday when John Danks struggled. Guillen said after Sunday's game that Nick Masset would make his second start of 2008, but Richard seems unlikely to work in relief. His regular turn in the Charlotte rotation would have been Monday.

General manager Ken Williams' search for a veteran reliever to strengthen the bullpen or another starter or possibly both could pick up because of Contreras' malady. Then again, a healthy Contreras still holds Guillen's confidence, and Guillen believes Contreras will bounce back after this period of inactivity.

But Guillen isn't taking anything for granted after this recent miscommunication with Contreras.

"The way he talked to me, I don't believe what he said," Guillen said. "I said, 'We have a meeting before and you told me [you were] fine and ready to go,' and then three hours later, he can't pitch.

"I want my players to be honest with me. If you go out there and you are hurt, you're not going to produce the way you should be producing. I think when you fight through something you can't, that's not helping anybody.

"That's why he was handling it the wrong way," added Guillen. "If he's not healthy, nobody is that good. I don't mind players playing with pain, soreness. When you're hurt, you have to be careful about what you're doing out there."