The story of Mike Soroka is nothing short of heartbreaking. After nearly winning the Cy Young award as a 22-year-old rookie, he suffered a devastating Achilles injury in just his third start of the shortened 2020 campaign. It was one of those injuries where you knew he wasn’t going to come back anytime soon, and shortly after the game, it was confirmed that he tore the ligament.
A torn Achilles used to be a death sentence for athletes, but modern medicine has made it relatively straightforward to recover from. Unfortunately, there’s always going to be the risk of re-injury — a risk Soroka found out early in 2021 when he was arriving to the ballpark. Out of nowhere, he was once again announced out for the season, quickly underwent the same surgery, and was heard from sparingly the rest of the year. At just 24-years-old, there’s no doubting that Soroka will attempt to make a return to the mound, but will it be with the Braves?
Soroka is entering his second year of arbitration, which is scheduled to pay him around $3 million next season. That’s not a ton of money, but it’s quite a bit when considering he may not throw a pitch in 2022. To be honest, this thought never even crossed my mind, but Mark Bowman brought it up today in his piece regarding the Braves offseason. Among non-tender candidates, he included Soroka. Here’s what he had to say:
Everyone hopes Soroka constructs a great comeback story and eventually rejoins Atlanta’s rotation. But the uncertainty he faces while attempting to come back after tearing his right Achilles twice, creates reason to question whether the Braves should commit nearly $3 million to him again.
It doesn’t seem like Bowman knows anything that we don’t, so hopefully, this is nothing more than speculation, but I do find it a fair question.
Earlier in the year, when I talked to Dr. Mark Drakos, an orthopedic surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery, regarding Soroka’s injury, he told me that recovery results are not nearly as promising the second time around. He also suggested there’s more to the story than the Braves are letting on, saying, “I have never heard of someone re-rupturing from walking.”
When it comes to all things, the Braves are a pretty tight-lipped organization, so there’s a good chance we never know the complete story. From the outside, it certainly doesn’t seem like there is any bad blood between the two sides, which is why I expect the Braves to work out a deal with Soroka and give him one last opportunity. With that being said, there seems to be a legitimate chance — even if it is a small one — that the Braves non-tender the player that was considered their ace of the future just a couple of years ago.
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