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Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Mike Soroka makes first rehab start with the Rome Braves

By Jeff Schafer

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 01: Michael Soroka #40 of the Atlanta Braves pitches in the second inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field on May 1, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 01: Michael Soroka #40 of the Atlanta Braves pitches in the second inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field on May 1, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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Braves SP is exceptional in first rehab start

Atlanta Braves 20-year-old starting pitcher, Mike Soroka, was absolutely fantastic on Friday night in his first rehab start since being placed on the disabled list.

Soroka was placed on the 10-day DL on May 17th (retroactive to May 14th) with right shoulder inflammation.  When the injury news first broke, yes it was terrifying.

The Braves 3rd top prospect, by MLB Pipeline, was off to a great start to the 2018 season.  He began the season with the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers.  He started five games, pitched 26.1 innings, gave up 17 hits, five runs, five walks and 27 strikeouts.  With an ERA of 1.71 the Atlanta Braves promoted him to the big leagues.

The 6’5″, 225-pound righty brought a lot of hype with him.  The Braves selected him with the 28th pick in the 2015 MLB draft and he has flew up the minor league rankings.

Soroka made his MLB debut on May 1st against the New York Mets.  He pitched six innings, gave up six hits, one run, no walks and had five strikeouts.  Everyone loves a pitcher who doesn’t walk anybody!

The kid from Calgary, Alberta, Canada had two more starts with the Atlanta Braves before the injury.  He currently holds a 3.68 ERA with 15 strikeouts and four walks in 14.2 innings pitched.  His last start came on May 12th against the Miami Marlins.

The good news though, he’s on his way back!

He started for the Rome Braves on Friday night, going 3.2 innings pitched, giving up no hits, no runs, no walks and had three strikeouts.  He threw 45 pitches, 28 of them were strikes.

Prior to the game, AJC’s Gabe Burns said that Soroka was supposed “to go three or four innings, 60-65 pitches”.

Sure, you can argue the competition level that he was facing in Single-A, but still a wonderful performance from him.

When he was asked about his shoulder, he said “no, nothing at all.  I haven’t (felt anything) in quite a while so that’s awesome.”

So great, Soroka is rehabbing, Luiz Gohara is on his way back from Brazil!  Now what, right?

The Braves current starting rotation is this….

  1. Julio Teheran
  2. Sean Newcomb
  3. Mike Foltynewicz
  4. Brandon McCarthy
  5. Anibal Sanchez

The Braves current bullpen is this…

  1. Jesse Biddle
  2. Shane Carle
  3. Sam Freeman
  4. A.J. Minter
  5. Peter Moylan
  6. Miguel Socolovich
  7. Arodys Vizcaino
  8. Dan Winkler

The obvious choice just by looking at this will be moving Sanchez to the bullpen and doing something/anything with Socolovich.  I would think Soroka needs one or two more starts in the minors, so Sanchez will most likely still get the start on Sunday and maybe one more after that.

Soroka said in his post game interview that he’ll do a bullpen on Sunday and then discuss with the team to see what’s next.  What’s next may be next Saturday’s game in LA against the Dodgers!

Next: Atlanta #Braves and their bullpen woes

I will say this, very soon the Braves will have to make some decisions on the starting rotation.  With Soroka and Gohara coming back and Kolby Allard cruising through Triple-A hitters, we’ve got the kids ready!

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