Michael Soroka’s comeback story is one that many baseball fans followed this season. However, the Atlanta Braves pitcher’s time in the big leagues was short-lived, as the team announced it optioned Soroka to Triple-A Gwinnett.
Soroka made two starts for the Braves, returning from a nearly three-year absence following two torn Achilles tendons. He allowed nine earned runs across 9.2 innings in those starts, striking out five batters while walking six.
A pitcher struggling after not facing live big-league hitting for more than two years shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. The Braves can afford to let Soroka work through his kinks in Triple-A given their lead in the division, but a small part of Atlanta’s brass probably hoped he could return to form in the wake of the long absences of Max Fried and Kyle Wright.
What’s concerning is Soroka’s struggles in the minors before being called up on May 29. In eight starts this season with Gwinnett, Soroka has a 4.33 ERA. His strikeout-to-walk ratio (35:11) is better than what it is with the Braves in two starts, but it’ll cause concern if he’s unable to get deep into starts at the minor league level.
Michael Soroka showed ace potential during his rookie season in 2019. A couple of unfortunate injury breaks steered his career in a different direction, but at 25 years old, Soroka can turn his career trajectory around. The Braves seem more than willing to give him time to figure it out but could be asking him for some big innings later this season.