Mike Soroka was the Atlanta Braves’ best pitcher in 2019
The Atlanta Braves starting pitching staff was tumultuous and inconsistent at times during the 2019 season, but one man stood out as the ace of the staff now and hopefully for a very long time.
Max Fried was a pleasant surprise for the Atlanta Braves this season and will be a fixture in the rotation for many years to come.
Dallas Keuchel showed flashes of the version that won him the Cy Young Award in 2015.
But let’s be real: these two guys were not Mike Soroka in 2019.
If there was such a team award, Soroka would no doubt be the Atlanta Braves Cy Young award winner this season, as he established himself as one of the preeminent starting pitchers in all of baseball.
The first time all-star went 13-4, with a 2.68 ERA, 1.111 WHIP and 3.45 FIP. He was second on the team in baseball-reference-WAR at 5.6… counting the position players.
In his lone playoff start, Soroka, who is now barely 22 years old, was brilliant: allowing one earned run over seven innings.
What was particularly encouraging for Soroka this season was his ability to move on from the shoulder issues that plagued him last season and throughout Spring Training this season.
He proved to be durable, starting 29 games and throwing 174.2 innings, which was over 20 innings more than his previous high in professional baseball.
There was a time when Soroka was a legit threat to the National League Cy Young Award, but Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer seem to be the clear favorites, with Hyun-Jin Ryu also in the mix.
For the first time since perhaps Tim Hudson and maybe further back than that, the Braves have a true anchor to their starting rotation for the next decade.
Just a guess, but I’m expecting that Soroka will be in contention plenty for the ‘real’ award in years to come: the trophy that goes to the league’s best pitcher.