Braves old friend Michael Soroka could emerge in new role

MLB: APR 09 White Sox at Guardians

A Braves fan favorite could be on the cusp of a career resurgence. As Mike Petriello of MLB.com outlined, Michael Soroka, the reliever, could end up being a more popular free agent this offseason than most people anticipate.

Last offseason, Alex Anthopoulos was faced with the difficult decision to trade Soroka because he was out of options and was never going to contribute in Atlanta’s rotation. He ended up in Chicago and joined the White Sox’s rotation.

Soroka posted an unsightly 6.75 ERA across nine starts while allowing opposing hitters to accumulate an .856 OPS. Granted, the White Sox were putrid and never helped him out, but the pitcher formerly known as the Maple Maddux was a shell of himself.

Following three seasons of injuries, which included a pair of Achilles ruptured, Soroka finally got through a season relatively healthy in 2023. But the normal offseason leading into the 2024 campaign didn’t do him any favors.

It looked like Soroka was never going to make it back to the heights he reached with the Braves in 2019. That was until he moved to the bullpen, which is eye-opening because the White Sox were the worst team in baseball, and he still couldn’t carve out a role as a starter.

However, once in Chicago’s relief core, Soroka found something, something to the tune of a 2.75 ERA and 39% strikeout rate, which is up there with the best bullpen arms in the game.

  • 42% // Mason Miller
  • 39% // Soroka <–
  • 39% // Edwin Díaz
  • 38% // Josh Hader
  • 38% // Jeremiah Estrada
  • 37% // Aroldis Chapman

What changed? Well, of course, with any starter going to the bullpen, velocity generally increases, but more than that, Soroka went away from his patented sinker and towards a fastball-slider combination.

“But once he moved to relief, the sinker dropped to 11%, with the four-seamer (43%) and slider (41%) taking precedence. And in those three September games, things really accelerated: 55% four-seamers, 44% sliders, and one single changeup. He was a two-pitch pitcher. The formerly-prominent sinker? Nowhere to be found. Not even one,” Petriello writes.

There might not be a more gritty player in baseball than Michael Soroka. What he’s come back from during his young MLB career is nothing short of astonishing. It doesn’t surprise anyone in Braves Country that he will scratch and claw at whatever role is available to him in the league.

Here’s to hoping Soroka becomes the next great reliever, and hopefully, it’s with the Braves. Atlanta certainly needs to add a couple of relief arms this offseason with Joe Jimenez out for 8-12 months, and other key pieces like A.J. Minter and Jesse Chavez testing free agency. Soroka will get a lot of looks from big league clubs this offseason because of the adjustments he’s made, and a reunion with the Braves isn’t as ridiculous as it may have sounded a few months ago.

Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire

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