Soriano's Elbow

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- The Braves aren't sure exactly when Rafael Soriano will be cleared to begin pitching. But at the same time, they don't seem overly concerned about the fact that their closer has recently been bothered by a sore right elbow.
"We're always at the mercy of keeping guys healthy," Braves general manager Frank Wren said when asked about Soriano's elbow. "But I don't think it's a concern right now."

Before Wednesday's 4-1 win over the Indians at Chain Of Lakes Park, Braves manager Bobby Cox said he wasn't worried about Soriano and that he expected him to begin throwing again in the next couple of days.

When Soriano didn't appear in the first few exhibition games of the season, the Braves said he was battling stomach problems. Once tests showed his stomach problems weren't being caused by ulcers, there was some speculation he simply wanted to make his debut later in March -- like many other closers have done in the past.

Soriano, who became Atlanta's closer late last August, looked strong during the early days of camp, and there isn't any reason to think he was injured before the Braves signed him to a two-year, $9 million contract in January.
Once Soriano's stomach began feeling better, he told the Braves he was feeling the discomfort at the top of his elbow.
"If had just been the elbow injury, he'd have probably missed three or four days and then been ready to go," Wren said. "He was throwing the ball good."
As a reliever, Soriano doesn't need much time to build his endurance for the start of the regular season. If he's able to make his exhibition season debut next week and then work once every three days, he could easily make five or six appearances before Opening Day.

"He will have way more than enough [time]," Wren said.