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Thornton shut down with sore left elbow

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- White Sox reliever Matt Thornton has a sore left elbow that precluded him from practice, manager Robin Ventura revealed on Tuesday.

The left-hander underwent a precautionary MRI that confirmed inflammation in his pitching elbow and will be held out of workouts for the time being, Ventura added.

"We've got to be careful, especially with Johnny [Danks] and like today, we held Mattie out," Ventura told the media after Tuesday's session. "Just stuff that guys come in and they may be a little tender. You just slow them down if they feel any kind of discomfort, just slow them down and take them out of drills and give them a few days to where you can re-evaluate and see where they're at."

Danks is rebounding from last year's left shoulder surgery and hasn't pitched in a game since May, but has thrown a couple of bullpen sessions since camp opened last week. Thornton was 4-10 with a 3.46 ERA and three saves in 74 appearances, all of them out of the bullpen, last season. He was seen moving slowly in the outfield on Tuesday by members of the media, who asked Ventura if there was any issue.

"He just said he didn't feel right. We have so much time down here, it's safer to slow him down and get him out of drills and make sure he's comfortable before he continues on," Ventura said. "You're concerned every time a guy has that. I'm not sure what level he's at, but again, the beauty of being down here so early is that you can give him the time off and he can catch up and there's nothing wrong with it."

Read More: Chicago White Sox, Matt Thornton