GLENDALE, Ariz. — White Sox right-hander Michael Soroka experienced incomparable highs and lows with the Braves, from making the majors at age 20 to becoming the franchise’s youngest All-Star pitcher to going years without an appearance.
As a prospect, he was deemed wise beyond his years. Now, at age 26, he’s encountered more than what many veterans see across their lengthy careers.
That’s why a new start is welcome.
Soroka was a non-tender candidate this past offseason. He was out of options, and the Braves weren’t inclined to guarantee his salary and assume he’d have a place on the 26-man roster, given where they were and all that’d unfolded with the player.
In November, the Braves included Soroka in the unique 5-for-1 trade for White Sox reliever Aaron Bummer.
“I knew it kind of depended on what was going on in the rotation,” Soroka said during a conversation with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I think it was still very set in my mind that I belong as a starter, currently. I still believe that’s where I need to be, starting. That’s a conversation we’d had after the trade happened with (Braves president of baseball operations) Alex (Anthopoulos). He echoed the same thing, said we had a piece in Aaron Bummer that we really wanted, and we made the move we thought we had to.”
Soroka, a fan favorite, had been with the Braves since they drafted him No. 28 overall in 2015. He once was viewed as the grandest prospect in their pitching-focused rebuild.
“You have some emotions when you first get traded,” Soroka said. “Everybody has them, especially when it’s an organization you’d been with for eight or nine years. There are a lot of people who remain the same for a lot of those years. But the part that got me most was how excited I was to be here with a team that sees what I see in myself and sees what I think I can be in pretty short order here. There are some things I felt like were clicking at the end of last year that I was really coming into. They’re focused on helping me build on that and learn some new things. So far, it’s been a great atmosphere around here.”
The White Sox aren’t a destination franchise. They’ve had a rough time in recent years, though under general manager Chris Getz they’ve intentionally remade their clubhouse with better-regarded veterans. This rebuilding team is perfect for Soroka, a rebuilding player.
The patience the Braves couldn’t afford, the White Sox have plenty to give. After everything Soroka has endured, a clean slate, mentally and physically, is a good outcome.
“I feel like we’re in a situation a bit like the Braves in about 2018,” Soroka said. “That was the year when I don’t think they were expected to even come close to making the playoffs, ended up winning the division that year. You had a lot of guys who had something to prove and a lot of guys who feel like they have more to give to this game.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Anthopoulos was the first to inform Soroka he’d been traded. Soroka described their ensuing discussion:
“It was a friendly conversation,” he said. “I’m glad he called me. I’m glad that’s how it went down for me. I know a lot of guys hate hearing things through social media and other people. It was nice to have that conversation with him. It wasn’t overly long, but it wasn’t exactly brief either. We talked about some good things that happened over the years, and he also still believes in me to figure it out one day. That meant a lot. I’m looking forward to showing that sooner than later.
“It’s just something that happens in this game. Eventually you get to that point where you start to move around a little bit until hopefully one day you figure things out and stay in one place until you decide to hang it up.”
Soroka’s tale will stick with Braves fans forever. His promising career was disrupted by a series of injuries. First, he tore his Achilles on Aug. 3, 2020, while running to cover first base. He would undergo his first of three Achilles surgeries after that, which included another procedure after Soroka re-ruptured the tendon 10 months after his original injury while simply walking at the stadium. It was his first day walking without a boot.
The right-hander had numerous setbacks during his comeback attempt, requiring an immense display of mental fortitude. Finally, 1,029 days since his last MLB outing, the Braves summoned him to face the lowly A’s in Oakland in May last year.
Soroka surrendered four runs in six innings. He made one more start in Arizona, struggling, which led the Braves to send him back to Triple-A Gwinnett while they were trying to capture baseball’s best record.
“At that point in May, they felt like they had a better option,” Soroka said. “I’ll be transparent and say there were definitely some things I was trying to figure out at that point. But I would never choose to say, ‘No, leave me in Triple-A for another month and let me figure things out.’ Obviously, I want to be in the big leagues.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Braves, who handled Soroka cautiously, once expressed hope that when Soroka returned, he’d be ready for consistent starts. That never happened. He made only five more major-league appearances. He seemed to be progressing during three July outings, but the Braves opted to send him back down upon acquiring Yonny Chirinos.
“I felt like I’d come up, beaten up the strike zone,” Soroka said. “I threw three really efficient innings against the White Sox out of the bullpen. I know that’s a little different, but I think I threw 33 pitches and 27 strikes or something (30-25). You hear from the people who are watching you, ‘That’s you. That’s what we were missing in May.’ I thought I battled well in Milwaukee in that (July 21) start. Got beat by (Willy) Adames in the sixth inning. I hadn’t made a start in I don’t know how many days. You have to go out there and not let all of that affect – give you excuses. I felt like I did a good job of that.”
Soroka surfaced only once more in the majors, leaving a Sept. 5 outing against the Cardinals after three innings because of a forearm injury that ended his season. Before that, he excelled for Gwinnett in August. He had a 2.77 ERA with a 34 strikeouts to eight walks over five outings. He was named International League pitcher of the month. He’d rediscovered his confidence.
“The difficult part was I felt near the end of the year, I’d figured it out,” he said. “I’d figured out how to compete to the best of my ability to that point. And I spent a lot of those innings in Triple-A. So obviously that was difficult. But I’m not going to let that ruin all the happy days I did have in that organization all the way up.”
On that final sentence: While Soroka was disappointed with how it ended, he cherishes the relationships built with the Braves and the fans’ continuous support. “It doesn’t cloud my judgment at all to move to a new team and see all the people who are (still) there,” he said. “It’s not a fun place to be bitter. Not much can be learned from a place of bitterness.”
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Still, it was a frustrating conclusion. The last few months were challenging for a competitor. While the Braves cruised to another division title, their former All-Star and opening-day starter was relegated to the minor leagues. Soroka decided to make the most of it.
“So for me, it was tough going down and realizing, ‘Let’s just go win pitcher of the month for August in the International League, and it’s all I can do,’” he said. “I learned a lot of things that month, too, that I’m willing to take into this year.”
Soroka mentioned two specific starts: He pitched a seven-inning, complete-game shutout in drizzly Charlotte on Aug. 12. In the next outing, he struck out nine Durham Bulls in 4-2/3 innings.
“It was like, ‘OK, I feel like I can really contribute to this team in the big leagues,’” he said. “I kind of let go a little bit. It was like, ‘All right ... I’m going to try to feel this certain thing today, feel loose and easy the way I used to do it.’ And I kind of found that. I’m not guaranteeing that will be an every-day thing that all of a sudden I’ve figured it out. There’s still tons for me to learn and get better at.
“But those were the tough ones to swallow, when I felt like I was wasting a lot of really good bullets in Triple-A. When you come up and have success in the big leagues, and you think you belong there, it’s tough to be anywhere else. I think any competitor would say the same thing.”
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
And that’s why this was deemed best for all parties. The Braves have a new wave of pitchers coming, in addition to their current star-studded rotation. Soroka can finally put all the past baggage behind him and turn his attention to the future. He’s a free agent following the season.
Asked how beneficial this reboot could be, Soroka provided his perspective.
“The cool part (of a clean slate) is that, especially with the White Sox fan base for the most part, the Braves were obviously a big team and I had my time, but it was three or four years ago,” he said. “This sport forgets. So it should. That’s how competition is derived. We’re always trying to compete with the kids coming up, just like I was. At some point, everybody in the big leagues was a prospect, and that’s their time to hold that.
“What I’m getting at is: You get here, some people don’t know what you’ve been through, which can be a blessing because you’re not answering questions about it all day. It gets to a point you want people to stop asking, ‘How’s your ankle?’ ‘How’s your shoulder?’ It almost puts you in a frame of mind that you’re thinking maybe it isn’t OK, and all this kind of stuff, that you have reasons to have doubt. You’re not going to avoid that. Any time you have issues, it’s a topic of conversation. It’s nice to have a place where it’s just building today for tomorrow and be as good as we can be. Everybody has taken that to heart here. It does feel like it’s actually in the past now.”
The Braves play at the White Sox during the season’s first week. It’s possible Soroka’s first outing with his new club will be against his old one.
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