Catching up with Atlanta Braves prospect, pitching savant Mike Soroka

iI covered the Rome Braves this past season and spoke with Mike a few times throughout the year, from a formal interview to post-game takes, and I wanted to catch up with him this winter.

Talking with an Atlanta Braves prospect like Mike isn’t really like talking with other players.  So many times you interview a player and get short/safe answers. You know, the cliche stuff. And that’s certainly no discredit to a lot of those guys who operate that way.

Heck, if I played, I’m not sure I would talk to anyone given the state of journalistic integrity and Twitter these days.

But when you talk with Mike Soroka, you’re not just talking to a baseball player. You’re speaking with a true student of the game. He’s not just a young guy with a promising career. He’s someone who is continually learning from others and someone who has the utmost respect for his profession.

Mike, first of all, thanks for speaking with me. You were just part of an historic Rome Braves team. Rome won its first championship.since 2003 and has just been deemed the Minor League Team of the Year by Baseball America.

From my perspective, it looked like you guys weren’t just playing incredibly well, but you guys were also having fun. Tell me about the team’s chemistry in 2016.

He asked me, “Is pitching defense? Or is it offense?” I said “offense” after connecting the dots.

MS – Yeah. That’s definitely what ended up making us the deciders for the team of the year.

Everything was going our way in the second half. We grinded it out pretty well in the first half and then things just started coming together. Everyone was there to play. Everyone was there to have fun. And it wasn’t like we were putting pressure on ourselves really. We were going to play the game hard, we were going to play it the right way and get things done and that’s what we did.

We went on a couple of big win streaks and next thing you know, we’re battling for a spot, with a couple of clutch home runs here and there. Everybody worked together and we all played our part. There wasn’t one weak link.

You were part of a pretty darn good starting rotation in Rome. Four first-round draft picks. Did being a part of such a strong pitching staff have an effect on you?

MS – Yes, I think so. Regardless of who else is around you, you’ve got to do your best every fifth day. But just the fact that it was one good start after the other made it easy to get into a rhythm and get on a roll.

It was like starter after starter was turning in a gem. It was like, “alright Kolby’s going to go out there for seven innings with a bunch of Ks. And then Max is going to go up there and strikeout 13.”

The bar was set high, which was encouraging. And we had some friendly competition.