Arlington, Texas — Brandon Jones is a quiet guy by nature, but he's playing awfully loud right now.

Six games into his call-up from AAA Richmond heading into Wednesday night's game, Jones was hitting .476 with his first major league home run and four RBIs.

After striking out twice in his first game June 11 in Chicago, Jones hit safely in each of the next five games, including four multi-hit games.

And, no, he wasn't doing that well in Richmond. He was hitting .263 (50-for-190) with two home runs and 25 RBIs in 54 games.

The Braves raised some eyebrows when they sent down Josh Anderson, who was hitting .318 through 11 games, to call up Jones. Both hit left-handed, though Jones does with more power. It came as a surprise to Jones, too.

"He did fine at Richmond, not great," manager Bobby Cox said. "He was hitting the ball great the last few games — took a shot at him. He's really coming around."

Jones had hit in three straight games for Richmond, going 4-for-12 with two doubles and five RBIs. So Cox was playing a hunch?

"You could say that," Cox said.

This is a lot more of what the Braves had in mind in spring training, when many assumed Jones would make the team in left field after a 100-RBI minor league season in 2007 and a September call-up. But Jones hit only .211 in 19 Grapefruit League games.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself," Jones said. "I wasn't really being myself. I was thinking about too much at the plate, instead of just going out and playing. I finally stopped thinking and now I'm just going out and playing."

A first for Cox: 4 lefties in bullpen

To make room for Mike Gonzalez on the roster, the Braves sent Phil Stockman back to Richmond on Tuesday night, which left them with four left-handers in the bullpen.

They've got Gonzalez, Will Ohman, Royce Ring and Jeff Ridgway, the other candidate to be sent down. Cox said this is the most left-handers he has ever carried in the bullpen but doesn't see it as an issue.

"They can all pitch short and long," Cox said. "Make pitches — it doesn't matter."

Cox said Stockman was the odd man out because of how little he's pitched. The 28-year-old Aussie had pitched in only six games in the past month. (He pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and four walks.)

"He's a young kid," Cox said. "He wasn't pitching much, and he needs to be pitching. He's missed a lot in his career with his [hamstring] problems. He needs to get back down there and throw."

Soriano unable to test elbow yet

Cox said he wasn't sure when Rafael Soriano would throw a bullpen session to test his sore right elbow. "I'm not even sure when he wants to throw," Cox said.

Soriano needs to throw at least one side session before he can be activated from the disabled list. He's eligible to come off Saturday, though that might be a stretch now.

Martin Prado, who's six weeks into his recovery from a sprained left thumb, started hitting some soft toss on Tuesday. He could be back in the batting cage as soon as Friday. His recovery was expected to be eight weeks.

Mark Kotsay, on the disabled list with a bulging disc, has been running and doing exercises to build up strength in his back, so he can start swinging the bat again. He said there's a chance he'll start swinging again during the Braves' next homestand.