Broxton activated as Bell heads to disabled list

ST. LOUIS -- The Reds activated reliever Jonathan Broxton from the 15-day disabled list, as expected, on Tuesday. Broxton had been out of regular-season action since he tore the flexor mass tendon in his right forearm in August and needed surgery.

Broxton will soon be expected to step into the closer's role until the injured Aroldis Chapman is able to return.

"I'd love to be able to get him into a game where he can just start an inning and get his feet wet," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "If I could, I'd like to get him into a game that wasn't the ninth inning for his first game. He definitely will be our closer once we get him re-acclimated to being here. That might be maybe one outing."

Broxton made two rehab assignment outings for Double-A Pensacola and worked two scoreless innings.

To make room for Broxton on the 25-man roster, the Reds placed reliever Trevor Bell on the 15-day DL with right elbow inflammation. Bell has allowed five earned runs over two-thirds of an inning in two appearances this season. That included two runs and four hits in Monday's 5-3 Reds loss to the Cardinals.

Bell told the team he was feeling sore after the game.

"He had a little bit of sensation or soreness that first time he pitched against St. Louis in Cincinnati," Price said. "It went away almost immediately. He said he could have pitched the next day in New York. It started to get sore again [Monday]. We didn't know that until after he was removed from the game."

Bell, who made the club as a non-roster player out of camp, has been sent to Cincinnati to be examined by team medical director Tim Kremchek.

"His velocity was consistent," Price said. "He threw a lot of strikes with his fastball and off-speed pitches. He just got hit. As far as stuff, there were no mannerisms that suggested he had any issues from what I saw. We weren't expecting that by any means."