When the Braves traded Michael Soroka to the White Sox, it was supposed to be a career reset of sorts.
Soroka has started seven games and gone 33.1 innings this year, recording an unsightly 6.48 ERA. The White Sox have a putrid supporting cast, but Soroka has still struggled to find his groove.
What hindered his performance in Atlanta last year has continued in Chicago — control. Soroka owns a 1.620 WHIP, and he’s on track for some unfortunate history.
With that being said, Soroka is showing some signs of life over the last couple of weeks. He’s coming off an outing in which he surrendered two earned runs over 4.1 innings. Nothing crazy, but Soroka got through four innings without surrendering a hit on just 33 pitches before falling apart in the fifth. Prior to that start, he went 5.0 innings of two-run ball against the Twins.
Braves Country will always be in Michael Soroka’s corner, no matter the results. Most believe that it must’ve been a very difficult decision for Alex Anthopoulos to trade a fan favorite like Soroka who had battled back from two devastating Achilles injuries, but the Braves weren’t able to offer him the opportunities he needs to potentially get his career back on track. The way Atlanta’s rotation has looked so far combined with Soroka’s up-and-down results, it seems there was never a scenario where he would have made his way back with Atlanta.
The calendar just turned May, so there’s plenty of time for Soroka to turn things around. More than anything, his primary goal should be to remain healthy. Pitching is a fickle craft. Going as long as Soroka did without toeing the rubber was always going to impact his return to the diamond. Hopefully, the more innings he sees, the closer he gets to the Maple Maddux that Braves Country fell in love with.
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