The New York Yankees career of high-priced free-agent relief pitcher Rafael Soriano has not exactly gotten off to a great start. It has now gotten even worse with the news that Soriano has been sent for an MRI on his sore pitching elbow.
You knew something was up with Soriano when he did not pitch the eighth inning Tuesday with the Yankees holding a 3-1 lead over Kansas City -- the inning and the type of game for which the Yankees signed him to a three-year, $35-million dollar contract to pitch.
Soriano apparently has been feeling elbow soreness since pitching in back-to-back games April 30 and May 1.
The veteran right-hander has not exactly made a smooth transition from closing for Tampa Bay, where he saved a league-leading 45 games a season ago, to setting up for Mariano Rivera in New York. His performance has been uneven, and included a meltdown in which he blew a 4-0 lead and refused to talk to reporters afterwards.
The Yankees can only hope they get good news from the MRI and that Soriano finally begins to settle in and do the job the Yankees brought him to New York to do.