When Michael Soroka was traded from the Atlanta Braves to the Chicago White Sox this offseason, it was supposed to be a career re-start for him.
Instead, it's turned into a nightmare, as the righty is 0-3 with a 6.48 ERA on the South Side. He's also currently on pace to make some unfortunate baseball history.
Per @JayHayKid of the 'Baseball is Dead' podcast:
Michael Soroka's current K-BB% of -2.0% (a 10.6% K rate and a 12.6% BB rate) would be the worst by a qualified SP in a single season since Mike Hampton in 2002 (-2.0%).
Soroka is still only 26-years-old, so there is time to rectify things but this season has been the continuation of a rough stretch for the Canadian.
Soroka made his debut in 2018 with the Braves and then promptly went 13-4 and made the All-Star team for Atlanta at the age of 21. However, multiple injuries to his Achilles' knocked him out of action for all but three starts in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and caused him to miss all of 2021 and 2022.
Soroka is a free agent after the season, so the White Sox have a few different options on the table. They can eventually remove him from the rotation because they aren't committed to him long-term, they could elect to let him keep starting in the hopes he figures it out and becomes a trade piece, or they could see if he figures it out so they can potentially bring him back next year.
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