Angels' Rodriguez to sit out despite normal X-rays

"We're concerned about how it will influence his delivery and the stress on his arm," Manager Mike Scioscia said. "This thing will heal, but we don't want to put him at any undue risk."

Rodriguez, who blew a save by giving up three runs Monday night, twisted his right ankle coming down the dugout steps before Saturday's game. The right-hander has also been pitching with a sore left ankle, which he sprained last August.

Rodriguez said his pain subsided after icing Monday night and Tuesday, and he played long toss and threw aggressively from 60 feet on flat ground Tuesday afternoon.

"I'm good enough to go back out there," Rodriguez said, "but I don't make those decisions."

Scioscia does, and his mind was made up Tuesday: For now, he will go with a closer by committee, with Justin Speier, Scot Shields and Darren Oliver pitching the ninth inning, depending on matchups.

"If Frankie is out for only three or four days, we can absorb that," Scioscia said. "We'll evaluate it on a daily basis."

If the Angels decide to put Rodriguez on the disabled list, they could recall a reliever from triple A or move starter Dustin Moseley back to the bullpen and insert triple-A starter Nick Adenhart, their top pitching prospect, into the rotation.

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Rodriguez said his left ankle, injured when he stepped in a hole on the Angel Stadium mound last summer, bothered him over the winter, which raises the question:

Why, if his ankle wasn't 100%, did the Angels allow him to throw 25 1/3 innings in the Venezuelan winter league, more than Rodriguez threw the previous two winters combined?

"He's always been straight-up with us as far as how he feels, and if he felt he was setting his ankle back, he would have stopped pitching," Scioscia said. "We monitor him very closely, and we were comfortable with it. He felt good when he came to spring training."

Rodriguez is convinced winter ball has contributed to his big league success, because he reports to camp in excellent shape, almost game-ready. So, the Angels have allowed him to play with certain restrictions, such as not pitching on consecutive days.