Mike Soroka is Making History for the Atlanta Braves

Atlanta Braves fans were unsure if they’d get to see rookie phenom Mike Soroka pitch in 2019. Luckily, they have had the opportunity and he has surpassed all expectations so far.

Coming into 2019, Atlanta Braves fans were hoping they’d get to see Mike Soroka dominate once again and solidify the top of the starting rotation.

Spring Training started off promising as Mike appeared to be healthy and fully healed from his shoulder strain in 2018.

Unfortunately, that wouldn’t last too long as fans learned Soroka had irritated his shoulder while lifting weights and had to be shut down again. This was disheartening for fans who knew just how good and important Soroka was to this team.

Mike Foltynewicz and Kevin Gausman‘s injuries were shortly added to the list and Atlanta Braves fans were notably concerned about the state of the pitching staff in 2019.

Soroka Came Back Strong

After missing the first two weeks of the season, the Atlanta Braves young right-hander was ready to get back on the mound. He faced a tough task as he opposed a good Arizona Diamondbacks ball club.

Soroka struggled a bit early to find command but quickly found it to pitch 5 quality innings. He would only allow 1 earned run on 4 hits with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. While he was good, Soroka took a loss in his first outing due to the Atlanta Braves early bullpen struggles.

Since then, the Braves former first-round pick has pitched himself to a 4-1 record with a 0.98 ERA in 36 2/3 innings. He has allowed just 4 earned runs on 23 hits with 14 walks and 34 strikeouts.

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The 14 walks would normally be alarming to me but Soroka has barely missed the strike zone when he issues a walk. His command is only going to improve and he will learn how to entice opposing hitters to chase outside the zone.

Oh yeah, Mike Soroka’s 0.98 ERA? It’s only the best in all of Major League Baseball (unofficially). He doesn’t qualify for ERA because he’s only pitched 36 2/3 innings so far this season. He needs 6 1/3 more innings to qualify in this area.

#Braves rookie Mike Soroka’s 0.98 ERA would be the MLB leader by more than a half run if he weren’t 6 1/3 innings shy of the qualifying standard (1 inning per team game). He’s pitched 36 2/3 innings and the Braves have played 43 games.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) May 16, 2019

Will Mike Soroka be able to keep his ERA under 1? I don’t think so, but I do believe he has a chance to finish the season with an ERA around the 2.00-2.50 range.

Mike also has a legitimate shot at winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

Still not impressed by Soroka? MLB Networks, Jon Heyman, reported that Soroka’s 0.98 ERA is the fourth lowest by any rookie through six starts to begin a season. This places him amongst some great pitchers.

Mike Soroka’s 0.98 ERA is 4th lowest by a rookie in expansion era thru 6 starts.

Fernando Valenzuela 0.33 in 1981
Steve Rogers 0.88 in 1973
Zach Duke 0.92 in 2005
Soroka 0.98

The last Braves rookie w/ERA below 1 thru 6 starts was Dana Fillingim in 1918 (0.34).@EliasSports
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 16, 2019

The Canadian native is just that good at pitching. He changes speeds well and is able to command the ball to each side of the plate. This kid has one of the best changeups I have ever seen.

The late movement on this Mike Soroka changeup 😷 pic.twitter.com/uHYXQjvTPU
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) April 30, 2019

Just How Good Is He?

Even more impressively, the Atlanta Braves right-hander has allowed 1 earned run or less in 9 of his first 11 starts. When we said he’s doing something we’ve never seen in the history of the game, we meant it.

What Mike Soroka is doing right now is beyond amazing. It's something we've never seen in the history of the game. #Braves
— TomahawkTake (@TomahawkTakeFS) May 16, 2019

He is the only MLB pitcher in history to ever accomplish this.

Not convinced yet? Not to worry, we’re just getting started.

How has he been able to hold opposing teams to 1 run or less? Well, Soroka has not allowed a single home run since his MLB debut last May. That is 56 1/3 innings without allowing a home run.

With seven innings in last night's start, #Braves RHP Mike Soroka now owns a 56.1 inning homerless streak, longest in #MLB. Soroka allowed a solo-homer to Yoenis Cespedes in his major league debut on May 1, 2018 and has not yielded another.
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) May 16, 2019

That is simply amazing work from a starting pitcher in today’s game. He’s one of the few young pitchers who doesn’t rely on a 96-98 MPH fastball to get guys out. He is more concerned about getting movement and changing the batters eye level.

Soroka is absolutely amazing at inducing ground ball outs. According to FanGraphs, he ranks fouth amongst all MLB pitching in ground ball rate. Mike is able to induce a ground ball 56.3% of the time.

More from Tomahawk Take

That explains right there why he has allowed so few runs to cross the plate. Teams are continuing to make soft contact against the 21-year-old. Not only is he inducing ground ball outs, he’s also getting a good amount of swings and misses.

Mike Soroka currently possesses a K/9 rate of 8.35. If he’s able to continue this kind of success, Atlanta Braves fans can expect to find him on the 2019 All-Star team. I have no doubt in my mind that he can accomplish this.

Next to Max Fried, Mike Soroka has been one of the biggest surprises so far for the 2019 Atlanta Braves.

What are your thoughts on Soroka? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Braves Look To Continue Recent Success in San Francisco. dark. Next

Mike Soroka will take the mound again on Monday evening against the San Francisco Giants. His opponent is Andrew Suarez who will make his 2019 debut for the Giants. Game time is at 9:45 PM EST on Fox Sports Southeast.

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