Cox encouraged by Moylan and Soriano’s progress

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. — The sidearmer and the enigmatic, sometimes-surly setup man both pitched well Sunday, more encouraging news for manager Bobby Cox and the Braves.

For Cox, there probably wasn’t a more important question entering spring training than whether relievers Peter Moylan (the sidearmer) and Rafael Soriano would be ready at the beginning of the season, or at least soon after.

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AP

Derek Lowe started the game for the Braves against the Astros Sunday.

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On Sunday, the surgically repaired right-handers gave Cox more reason for optimism.

Moylan pitched a perfect eighth inning with one strikeout, and Soriano’s fastball was clocked at 94 mph in a scoreless sixth inning during the Braves’ 3-2 win against the Houston Astros.

Cox reiterated the significance of having the two right-handers and lefty closer Mike Gonzalez all healthy in a formidable back-of-the-bullpen trio that could effectively shorten games to six innings.

“It complements the starting rotation so much,” Cox said of the bullpen he envisions.

Soriano allowed one hit and had no strikeouts or walks in his second appearance of the spring.

The hard-throwing Dominican was a dominant setup man and part-time closer in 2007, but spent much of last season on the disabled list. He pitched in just 14 games between three DL stints before having nerve-transposition elbow surgery Aug. 28. A bone spur was also removed.

Soriano was slowed in the early weeks of camp by what was termed an upper respiratory infection, and he took a cautious approach after he resumed throwing. Asked Sunday morning if he believed he’d be ready for opening day, Soriano said, “Yeah, I think so.”

Cox said after Sunday’s game that with three weeks left in this unusually long spring training, he fully expected Soriano to be ready when the season begins April 5.

He seemed less certain about Moylan, though Cox believed he would be ready soon after the season began, if not on opening day. He had ligament-transplant elbow (aka “Tommy John”) surgery just over 10 months ago, and the operation usually requires a 12-month recovery period for pitchers.

Moylan is ahead of schedule in his recovery, and has had none of the typical setbacks many pitchers encounter, such as pain from scar tissue tearing. He’s pitched in three spring training games, on each of the past three Sundays, and also threw two side sessions last week without incident.

He’ll likely step up the frequency of his appearances soon, but Cox said it’s too early to know if Moylan will be on the opening day roster.

“It depends how many pitchers we can carry,” said Cox, who won’t need a fifth starter until April 19, and thus can carry either an extra reliever or extra position player for the first two weeks of the season. “You’d sure like to have [Moylan]. Got to be careful, though.”