Jul 23, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Michael Soroka (34) throws to the Cincinnati Reds during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images Brad Mills-Imagn Images

How D-backs Righty Has Changed as a Pitcher

Originally posted on Arizona Diamondbacks on SI
By Alex D'Agostino | Last updated Dec 21, 2025 10:00 AM ET

Arizona Diamondbacks' newly-signed right-hander Michael Soroka is a different pitcher now than he was as a younger, less mature arm. That maturity showed up when the D-backs examined him.

Manager Torey Lovullo praised the 28-year-old in that regard when speaking about the signing on Arizona Sports 98.7's Bickley & Marotta.

"He's a pitcher. He's just not a chucker. He's not going to go up there and live on two pitches, which he did early in his career. He's figured out the art of pitching, understand how to get out, understands how to follow the game plan. And that's what we need to do here in Arizona," Lovullo said.

Soroka himself acknowledged that personal growth in his introductory press conference. He spoke about his mentality on the mound, and later the change in his overall approach to opposing hitters.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Michael Soroka Discusses His Approach

"The way that I used to be able to feel on the mound was that there was nobody in the box that was going to beat me. And obviously you get beat at times. That's the game of baseball. But no matter if I'd just given up a home run or I'd retired the last 17 guys, I felt like the next guy in the box was an out," Soroka said.

"So ultimately, as far as mentally goes, that's where we finally started to get back to, and that's what I felt like back then was that it didn't matter what pitch I chose, it was better than what he was going to bring."

But the biggest change in Soroka's approach is what stands out. The righty said he's begun to trust his pitches more inside of the strike zone, rather than living off chases.

"It came to attacking a little bit more and trusting stuff in-zone. You need to be in-zone and you need to have stuff that you can trust in-zone," he said. "I'm really, really excited to really kind of get back to using a lot of that stuff and not just feeling like a thrower out there."

Soroka has also added multiple pitches to his arsenal, allowing him to not live and die by one or two different offerings.

That type of deep-arsenal, in-zone approach might sound familiar to D-backs fans. Soroka said the quiet part out loud in that regard, citing long-time (and newly-returning) Diamondback Merrill Kelly as an example he hopes to learn from.

"I think he's one of, if not the best as far as command and being able to throw anything at any time and keep things in the proper zone. I'm excited to get to learn from him and really glad that they worked [a deal] out," he said.