ANAHEIM -- When Braves manager Bobby Cox had to determine how to create a roster spot for Charlie Morton to make his first career Major League start at Angel Stadium on Saturday night, he felt the right decision was obvious.
Cox's closer, Rafael Soriano, has basically been wasting a roster spot since coming off the disabled list, and that's why he's going to go back on it.
"We had to make a move and he can't pitch," Cox said. "We've been waiting."
Since ending a six-week disabled list stint on May 28, Soriano has made five appearances, and none of those have come since June 5. Since the Braves began this current road trip on Tuesday, the 28-year-old right-handed reliever has told them on a daily basis that his right elbow wasn't healthy enough for him to pitch.
Thus, it didn't come as a surprise when the Braves announced that they'd placed Soriano back on the 15-day disabled list Saturday, retroactive to June 6. He would be eligible to be activated to face his former Mariners teammates next Saturday. But because he has been battling elbow discomfort since the beginning of Spring Training, there are no guarantees that he'll be ready to pitch at that time.
"It drives me crazy because I don't know why this is happening," said Soriano, who has allowed four hits and issued seven walks, while recording 11 strikeouts in the nine innings that he's pitched this season.
Before signing Soriano to a two-year, $9 million contract in January, the Braves ran a series of tests that deemed the right-hander to be healthy. Three weeks ago, another MRI scan showed that his elbow discomfort wasn't a product of structural damage.
Angels team physician Lewis Yocum, who performed Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery on Soriano in 2004, visited the Braves closer before Friday's game and plans to look at the most recent MRI results again within the next week.
After making a career-high 71 appearances last year and knowing the Braves were counting on him to serve as their closer this year, Soriano opted not to pitch in the Dominican Winter League.
"I've been doing everything that I can to be ready for this season," Soriano said. "Then I got to Spring Training, and I don't know what happened."
With Soriano officially out of the mix again, Cox will continue to use a closer-by-committee approach that allowed Jeff Bennett to notch his first career save on Friday night.
The Braves still haven't provided indication about when Mike Gonzalez, who is returning from Tommy John elbow-reconstruction surgery, will be available. In his three appearances for Triple-A Richmond, the veteran left-hander has worked four innings, surrendered three hits and allowed one run.
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