"J.J. Putz said he still has a long way to go.

That's a good sign, since Putz still managed to strike out Andre Ethier and James Loney in his first appearance for the White Sox since undergoing surgery last summer to remove bone chips from his right elbow.

Putz admitted after the Sox's 8-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers that he is being overly cautious.

"Any time I get a little sore, I kind of exaggerate in my head what it is," Putz said. "That's probably going to be the hardest part getting back from having surgery. But so far everything is working in the right direction."

Manager Ozzie Guillen said he didn't know that Putz, a power pitcher, threw a split-finger fastball. Putz used that off-speed pitch to earn one of his strikeouts in a scoreless third.

Meanwhile, the Sox will continue to protect Mark Buehrle's left arm that has hurled at least 200 innings in each of the past nine seasons. Buehrle will have his next start skipped and he won't make his next exhibition start until March 15."