Atlanta Braves: Mike Soroka continues to be disrespected despite excellence

Mike  Soroka has been one of the best starting pitchers in all of baseball in 2019 carrying the Atlanta Braves rotation, but you wouldn’t know it based on the media.

A recent poll among MLB.com reporters failed to include Atlanta Braves ace Mike Soroka in their top six in the NL.

The results of that poll had Hyun-Jin Ryu first followed by Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom with Stephen Strasburg, Clayton Kershaw, and Kirby Yates receiving votes.

Nothing against all of those pitchers who are having great years, but that is a big slap in the face to Mike Soroka.

Soroka is 22-years-old and is leading the starting rotation for a division-leading team in the Atlanta Braves.

The righty has been outstanding all year with a 2.41 ERA in 141.2 innings pitched with a WHIP of 1.08 and 112 strikeouts to 33 walks.

He ranks third in the NL in ERA, eighth in WHIP, third in WAR, and has the lowest OPS and SLG against by hitters as he’s allowed the fewest home runs (8) by any qualified starter in a season where everyone is hitting home runs.

Soroka is not a strikeout pitcher so he’s not going to have the sexy strikeout and K/9 numbers as others on that list, but that shouldn’t diminish what he’s done as a ‘pitcher.’

I know the Cy Young isn’t the Most Valuable Pitcher award, but think about where the Atlanta Braves would be without Mike Soroka.

You could easily say he’s been the most valuable starting pitcher in all of baseball in 2019.

And I know wins don’t matter as much for pitchers in today’s game, but Soroka has had some bad luck and could easily have 13 or more wins.

And I’m not saying Soroka deserves to win the NL Cy Young this year, certainly guys like Ryu, Scherzer, and deGrom are very deserving.

But for him to not even be mentioned as a top candidate is just poor research by the people at MLB.com. And it’s not just them, other outlets are disrespecting Soroka as well.

And it’s not just for the Cy Young, Soroka gets disrespected in the NL Rooke of the Year talk as well.

Before Fernando Tatis Jr. went down with an injury all of the talk was about him and Pete Alonso.

Now everyone talks about it being a foregone conclusion that Alonso will win it. And he probably will because the numbers he’s putting up are ridiculous, but we’re also in the middle of a year where offensive numbers are inflated.

Which, in my opinion, makes what Soroka has done even more impressive.

I’m just really tired of the national disrespect that Soroka is getting because he’s not as flashy as others. What he’s done this year is nothing short of spectacular.

Hopefully he can finish the season strong and lead the Atlanta Braves in the postseason to put everyone on notice.