Royals closer Joakim Soria called manager Ned Yost out to the mound in the fifth inning of Sunday’s game and complained of soreness in his elbow. Soria was immediately pulled from the game and will be re-evaluated this week.
The two time All star has an 18.9 ERA and has given up seven runs in 3.1 innings, but said other than feeling tired, which many pitchers are early in spring training, he said he felt fine up until two pitches before he called for Yost. “I’ve been feeling pretty good this spring. I’ve been working hard,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. I have to wait now. I have to wait to see what they’ve got for me.”
Soria had Tommy John surgery in 2003 and has never experienced pain in his elbow since. “Since I had my Tommy John surgery I haven’t had anything like that. I don’t feel like it’s that bad. Before I had the Tommy John surgery all my strength went away. This time it hasn’t. Obviously [today] I was not finishing my pitches and I didn’t have my command. We’ll see how it feels in the next few days.”
The Royals are already without setup man Blake Wood who is out 10-14 days with a sore elbow.