In 2018, a young right-handed pitcher made his MLB debut for the Atlanta Braves and caught fans’ attention after performing well across five starts. This pitcher took a gargantuan step forward in 2019, pitching to a 2.68 ERA across 29 starts. He ultimately finished sixth in National League Cy Young voting and second in NL Rookie of the Year voting. What looked like the beginning of a legendary career in Atlanta for Mike Soroka was derailed due to injuries, however.
Since 2019, Soroka has pitched in a total of 10 games. He failed to appear in a contest in 2021 or 2022 due to injuries. In 2023, Soroka made six starts and appeared in seven total games. Soroka was traded to the Chicago White Sox after the 2023 campaign and is looking to stay healthy with his new ball club.
Soroka recently opened up on the Braves-White Sox trade, via Gabriel Burns of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“I knew it kind of depended on what was going on in the rotation,” Soroka said. “I think it was still very set in my mind that I belong as a starter, currently. I still believe that’s where I need to be, starting. That’s a conversation we’d had after the trade happened with (Braves president of baseball operations) Alex (Anthopoulos). He echoed the same thing, said we had a piece in Aaron Bummer that we really wanted, and we made the move we thought we had to.”
Can Mike Soroka bounce back after Braves-White Sox trade?
Soroka is still only 26 years old. He is a pitcher with no shortage of talent on the mound.
In all reality you can say this about any player but it is especially true for Soroka, but staying healthy will be of the utmost importance. Soroka has displayed the ability to perform well at the big league level. Injuries have unfortunately been far too common in his career.
Soroka will look to find a way to stay on the mound after getting traded from the Braves to the White Sox.
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