Soriano may face DL with strained side

Viera, Fla. —- Health issues continue to slow Braves reliever Rafael Soriano, who told team trainers that he strained a side muscle while pitching in Tuesday night’s game against Pittsburgh.

General manager Frank Wren said the severity of the strain wasn’t known, so it was too early to determine whether Soriano would be ready when the regular season begins April 5 at Philadelphia.

Soriano apparently didn’t say anything about the side strain until Wednesday at Braves spring-training headquarters, where most of the team gathered before busing to Viera for a night game against the Washington Nationals.

The right-hander made 14 appearances before nerve-transposition elbow surgery Aug. 28. He started slowly at the beginning of camp last month, bothered by an upper-respiratory illness that manager Bobby Cox said still lingered this week.

Soriano, 29, has pitched in only four games this spring, and his fastball has generally been several miles per hour below his former highs.

The side strain could force him to begin the 2009 season back on the disabled list.

“It’s very vague right now,” Wren said. “It depends on the severity of the injury. We just don’t know yet. If it’s minor, like Chipper’s, it could be four or five days, no big deal.”

Third baseman Chipper Jones left Team USA in the World Baseball Classic after aggravating an oblique-muscle strain in his right side March 15. He returned to the Braves lineup Tuesday and was in the lineup again Wednesday night.

“But if it’s a full-blown oblique or intercostal [pull], it’s a different story. We just don’t know yet.”

Soriano was charged with two hits and two runs in one inning Tuesday. He struck out the last three batters in the inning, relying more on 79 mph breaking pitches than fastballs.

The veteran routinely threw in the upper-90 mph range in his years with Seattle and during his first season with the Braves in 2007, when Soriano had a 3.00 ERA and career-highs in appearances (71), strikeouts (70) and innings (72).

The Braves gave him a two-year, $9 million contract after that season and penciled in Soriano as their closer for 2008. But elbow problems quickly sidetracked those plans.

He has a $6.1 million salary this season, and the Braves planned to use him as a primary setup man and backup closer.

Soriano had elbow soreness for most of 2008 spring training and went on the disabled list in the first week of the season, the first of his three DL stints last season.