PHILADELPHIA — It was perhaps overly ambitious to expect Mike Soroka to make it back to the Braves’ starting rotation this season after two years away for a twice-ruptured right Achilles, three surgeries and more physical therapy and rehab hours than most athletes will endure in a lifetime.
Soroka, who was still in great form before his Achilles strain in August 2020 in his third season of a short-season pandemic, was just that. And he’s such a great guy that it was impossible not to hope he would do it.
Remember when he made his debut in May 2018, at the age of 20, with a dominant first outing against the opposition. MetsNew York He made five MLBHe started before shoulder soreness ended his season’s first season. The Braves were especially careful with his unique talent and high upside.
As great a prospect as he was — he was elite, not just very good — Soroka was, and is, even more highly regarded as a teammate and person. Everybody who met him became a fan, and felt like a friend of this affable, whipsmart Canadian who has kept a pleasant disposition through the whole ordeal.
He had a 2.68 ERA and a 1.111 WHIP in his one full season of 2019, with 142 strikeouts, 41 walks, in 174 innings. His home run rate was also the lowest among MLB starters (0.7 per nine innings). He looked well on his path to becoming the next great Braves starting pitcher. If there was a ceiling on how good Soroka could become, you would’ve had a hard time in 2019 finding someone to claim it was anything lower than future Cy Young Award winner.
The Achilles then made a routine play that August. And he hasn’t pitched in a major-league game since.
