Braves right-hander Mike Soroka recently felt discomfort in his right Achilles and will have to undergo exploratory surgery, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.
While it’s unknown how long this procedure will shelve Soroka, it’s yet another brutal injury blow to one of baseball’s most promising young hurlers. Soroka impressed during his first major league action in 2018 and was even better in 2019, when he logged a 2.68 ERA over 174 2/3 innings and earned an All-Star nod. Unfortunately, the 23-year-old has barely taken the mound since then.
Just three starts into the 2020 campaign, Soroka tore his Achilles and had to undergo season-ending surgery. Soroka wasn’t ready for the start of this season as a result, though the hope was he would make his 2021 debut sometime in mid-April. However, Soroka’s shoulder began to act up that month, and he has been slow in recovering from that issue. Still, indications before Wednesday were that Soroka would return in June; now, though, it looks as if this latest setback could prevent that from happening.
The Braves fared quite well without Soroka during a division-winning 2020 in which they advanced to the NLCS, but they haven’t carried that success over to this season so far. They’re just 17-18 and three games out of the NL East lead, thanks in part to a Soroka-less starting staff that owns the league’s eighth-highest ERA and sits fourth from the bottom in fWAR. Ian Anderson and Huascar Ynoa have done well to keep runs off the board across a combined 14 starts, though 2020 star Max Fried, Charlie Morton, Drew Smyly and Bryse Wilson have struggled in that regard.
woah
remember when most of us were clamoring for Trevor Bauer, plus resigning Melancon, Greene and O’Day?!…ahh good times, ignorance is bliss
Ignorance is the uniform you wear
Bauer leads the NL in Ks, 2nd in IP & has a 2.50 ERA
I’m sure the Braves are super happy they didn’t land him..
And always at the top in pitch counts, extrapolating all those extra pitches is another 450 chances per season he blows an elbow out…
Man, I’m really starting to think Soroka would be better off if the Braves just let him take the year off and stop trying to even practice. At least that way he can focus on next season and you know if he gets re-injured it won’t be due to him pushing too hard to get into game form. I’m okay with him working out and staying in shape but it seems like he shouldn’t be taking a mound or trying to pitch or run in any competitive way. He had a shoulder injury and missed time early in his career. Then the achilles injury happened. Since that 1st achilles injury he has re-injured his shoulder and now re-injured his achilles without even taking the field. I’m worried he’s gonna be one of those guys constantly hurt with weird injuries. Not many pitchers come back from an achilles injury like he had. Adam Wainwright did but to be honest immediately after that surgery Wainwright was never the same pitcher. He was still very serviceable and above average but it was obvious he was never going to contend for a Cy Young again. I think the Marlins offered Realmuto to the Braves for a trade package centered around Soroka. That was after he had only sustained his 1st shoulder injury. I remember thinking, “Maybe the Braves should do this. Shoulder injuries are bad and maybe Soroka will be one of those pitchers that can’t stay healthy.” Another shoulder injury and multiple achilles injuries later it seems like I might have been right. The Braves could have done that and extended Realmuto (on what seems like a reasonable contract he eventually signed with Philly) while also saving the $16 million they have spent on the also currently injured Travis d’Arnaud. Soroka is great when he’s on but these injuries are scary. On top of that it’s not like these are the kind of injuries that can be fixed with the common Tommy John surgery. What do you guys think? From here on out who would you rather have on your team? Mike Soroka and Travis d’Arnaud or JT Realmuto?
hard to to say wanio’s decline was all because of his achilles, when that happened he was close to his mid 30’s, soroka young enough he can bounce back. still not good he is having his achilles looked at again, i wonder if he pushed himself to hard in the offseason to get back and never let it fully heal.
@Brit he’s 22 he’ll be fine. He’s not a power pitcher anyone who takes the time off he did throwing would have a grouchy shoulder. As for the Achilles plenty of other pitchers then waino have successful come backs.
Waino knew his delivery & stuff and more importantly what it took to get ML hitters out, and adjusted once his body stopped inhibiting his ability to execute pitches.
Its fair to say a 23 yr old doesnt have that knowledge quite yet. Sorka should just take as much time as it takes to heal, its his career on the line..
I was thinking maybe they should re attach his ballz
More like Mike Sore-oka.
Soroka is an old school pitcher, hope he recovers
Mets about to pull away. Prayers out for Soroka
You got jokes
Metsfan22 has become my favorite commenter, ngl. I tip my cap to his relentless pro-Mets spin
The Mets are only three games up in the division despite the Braves playing way under potential to this point. They’ll be wishing they had buried Atlanta when they had the chance.
I’m not agreeing with Metsfan22 but you realize the Mets have also been underperforming offensively right ? Using that as a reason for not winning when the team in 1st is also underperforming doesn’t make much sense to me. Also the Mets and Braves have yet to play eachother so that opportunity to “bury” the Braves hasn’t happened yet lol
You don’t have to play head-to-head to bury a team. You simply have to win a bunch of games while the other team isn’t. Hovering right around .500 is not going to bury a team…and the Mets have been hovering right around .500 for the most part.
Playing a team is the best way to bury them! Also it’s may, a team has to be really bad to be buried at this point imo. The Braves are a good team but so are the Mets, this should be fun to watch come Monday.
Obviously sweeping a team helps you get some separation but the fact that the Braves were 12-16 last week and the Mets are still only three games ahead of them proves that they have missed an opportunity. Freeman and Ozuna are not going to hit in the low .200s all season long. Fried will not have an ERA over 8 all season long. Martin and Greene will help solidify the back-end of the bullpen. Things will even out.
Lindor Dom and others aren’t going to suck all year. Carrasco syndergaard lugo Nimmo and Davis aren’t going to be hurt the whole year. Everything you’re saying is an excuse that the Mets have also felt with. The Mets will probably win the division for the simple fact the the pitching is way better. Especially the bullpen.
The Mets have had “better pitching” for years and they haven’t made the postseason since 2016. The Braves have won the division three years in a row. Don’t get ahead of yourself.
Mets are playing good ball against bad teams. They have had a fairly easy schedule so far, but they’ve capitalized on that. That’s what good teams do. Phillies are only 1 game back though, and have more in the W column. Braves are just 3 out. Marlins right there. Nats seem to be falling a bit, but we’ve seen them go on runs before. The division is fun despite under performances all around.
You’re clueless. Mets offense has been among the worst, yet they are 18-13 anyway. Only a slight improvement in the offense and they’re gonna run away with the division. Braves pitching is god awful. It won’t hold up.
Ron Darling said it today, while the Mets offense is underperforming, the pitching has been exceptional. The offense will improve, but the pitching (outside of deGrom) will not continue at this pace. Still, I think the Mets will be at or near the top all year. But anyone counting the Braves out is foolish.
Atlanta’s pitching is far better than what they’ve shown. I don’t expect much from Smyly but Ynoa and Anderson have been good to this point and Fried and Morton will come around.
The Phillies are 4 from the Mets in the L Column and the Braves are 5. Mets have a bigger lead than it seems.
That’s assuming that the Mets win all those games they haven’t played yet. They probably won’t win every single one of them.
@MetsFan22 You’re not wrong, but let’s look at this win streak. Mets swept the Diamondbacks, then swept Baltimore. Both at home. It’s tough to sweep anyone, so the Mets deserve full credit, but they aren’t exactly tackling titans right now. If the Mets start winning series against good teams (which is very possible) then I’ll start getting worried that they’ll be running away. Right now, the Mets are playing good ball against bad teams.
Exactly. The Mets are 8-2 in their last 10, which is definitely impressive…but they could just as easily go 4-6 or 5-5 in their next 10. Baseball is a streaky game.
@von to piggyback on your point the best nym did against the cards was a split and much as i hate saying this should of took 3/4. we’re only a 1/3 into the season and div play hasn’t really started so let’s tap the brakes a bit on nym (phils too) winning the division. i say let’s revisit this topic around the asb and see how nym (and the rest of the east) are doing.
@brodie I definitely don’t think the Phillies are winning the division. Haha. Too many holes in this team and they’re only in it because the Mets and Braves aren’t lighting the world on fire right now. But I agree with your point. Way to early to be popping champagne for any team, I just don’t understand how any Mets fan can be counting the Braves out in May after the last few years,
They clearly don’t remember that the Braves were 18-20 at one point in 2019 and finished 97-65. It’s a long season.
Never said the phils where going to win but for the first time since 11 there is promise and direction and I can see the phils sneaking into the wc. This div is going to be a dogfight and I see this division coming down to the last week to figure out a winner. Alt is scuffling right now but in 19 so was wash and look what they did. all alt needs is one good week right now and there back in it. heck 2 weeks ago my birds were mediocre now they won 15/18 hard to say alt can’t do the same.
@brodie Completely agree.
just ignore the times we beat you then.
Why do you keep saying “ALT”? It’s “ATL”…as in “Atlanta”, not “Alternative.”
@dark i’m not we should of taken that series but you guys beat us to split, hence why i’m saying you can’t sleep on the phils. yes they have holes and i feel there a year or 2 away but i really can see the phils being that dark horse team this year.
Y’all aware Fried has a sub 2.00 ERA since returning from the DL? To say that the Braves HAVE awful pitching is dumb. Even Morton around 4.50 is fine for a #4-#5 guy with those three in front.
@alc47
Have they actually been underperforming? Probably somewhat, but I’m not convinced it’s by all that much.
’16-’20 mets ranked 12th to 14th in runs. So their starting point was a little above average. &, really, what did they add to their offense?
– Lindor.
I think he’ll come around. But: he tailed off in ’19, wasn’t very good last year, more of the same to this point. It’s not overly far fetched to envision a Hayward type situation.
– McCann.
He’s really only had ~ 100 games of being a good hitter/catcher/player. I cringed when some of my fellow Yankee fans were clamoring for him.
– Villar & Pillar
I will let that just speak for itself.
Now I don’t follow the mets. (Proper childhood, etc). So I won’t claim to be some type of expert on them. But setting aside my disfavor of the mets, I honestly don’t think they are all that much (any?) better of a hitting team than previous iterations. I just really don’t see them as a top 10 scoring ballclub.
Phillies won a clutch game today!
I cringed reading this tbh, it just reminds me of a typical homer Yankee fan. It’s actually amazing how opinionated y’all are when it comes to the Mets but yet somehow none of your fan base “follows” the Mets. But yea look at every player individually on the Mets and they’re all underperforming.
Usually the truth does make you want too look in another direction
What Duck said is correct, the offence isn’t a juggernaut and never should have been seen as one….
But that’s alright if the pitching stays healthy, there’s more than one way to skin a cat
I like the Mets roadmap this year, there’s a lot too be excited about, but I wouldn’t count on a top 10 offence seasons end even after some of these slumps are snapped out of
mmmmmm…
It appears there is certainly a “typical homer” involved in this but I don’t think it is me.
The only reason I knew where the mets ranked is due to a certain mets fan that comes on Yankee threads here & muddies them up with assertions that the mets have an “elite offense” (amongst other things). So you can thank him for that 40 seconds of research I did a couple months ago.
& – to be clear – I never said the mets suck. Or even that their offense does. Merely that they haven’t been a top 10 offense & I don’t believe they will be in ’21.
Was – I felt – clear as to why that was my belief.
You guys are in first place.
You’ve a much improved ballclub.
But in the end, you are probably not going to win a lot of slugfests.
Deeeeep breath, bro. In with the good air, out with the bad.
I actually think they are – more than likely – a playoff team. But – as you point out, @Cap – that is due much more to their pitching than to their bats.
If he’s wearing a mask, he’s getting only bad air.
Oh, I dunno about that.
I have a bunch of camo gators in different prints that I use for waterfowl & spring turkey hunting. I hardly notice them at all.
I’ll take my own risks but I’d not care to see someone else getting sick on account of me.
Ya know?
12-18 last week?! That’s a lot of wear on a pitching staff!
Interesting. I see you left out that the Mets are already 6-3 vs the Phillies. The current 2nd place team.
i will say this in ducky’s defense, yes he is a hardcore nyy fan but he is also a bb fan and he is brutally honest about all teams, and is really hard on his own team. also i don’t think what ducky said about the nym is far off. nym have a good team but they also have some holes and some players atm or either over/under performing, and this is coming from a guy that doesn’t follow the east and trying to be objective.
@48 that’s my bad i was trying to get my point out before i lost it and f’ed the abbreviation.
Wait til degrom blows his arm out
Ihatethebattery why even say something idiotic like that ? Degrom has been the face of baseball on the pitching side. It would be terrible for baseball if something like that happened.
nothing in that comment implied desire for it to happen, and unless this guy is a genie or something hin saying this means nothing.
Mets will self impose shortly. Numbers still are bad that will catch up to them.
I believe you mean “self-implode” but I do agree that they can’t be taken seriously until they prove that they can keep it up for an entire season.
Exploratory surgery seems like an odd concept these days with CAT Scans and MRI’s.
It is actually just normal surgery except the doctor dresses up like Indian Jones.
Not to be confused with arthroscopic surgery, where the doctor dresses up like a scorpion.
So close.
I know it is just a typo, but I think Indian Jones could be a nice diversity reboot of the character. Get a Bollywood guy as the star and cast a white kid as Short Round and go from there.
Often “exploratory surgery” is the term used when they go in and clean up what they can get at vis a vis loose bodies, and see better what is going on because the images are obscured and/or there’s poor definition due to how someone’s unique body is constructed.
We all have more or less the same parts in more or less the same places, but, sometimes structures can be packed tighter together or overlap each other to where you don’t see. Could also be scar tissue in there messing with things.
I know there’s some spots in MRIs that I’ve had where readings were inconclusive or diagnoses used words like ‘possible’
tough break atl hope it’s nothing serious and he gets things cleaned up and he’s back out on the mound by the a.s. break. still going under the knife for any reason is not good
Thank you for this, an actual on-topic, well written, and logicak comment!!
That doesn’t happen here often, but love to learn new things, so thank you again!!
thanks bro i try plus when soroka is healthy and dealing he is fun watch really hope he gets back soon.
Ugh 🙁
Soroka has the most interesting assortment of pitches that I’ve seen in the game today, and he commands them all.
Terrible news. U never like to see this. I say put him on the shelf for the entire year and just trust the rest of the guys! LET WILSON PITCH!!!! Stop mismanaging him!!! I mean heck! Smyly is terrible, let him be your long reliever or get creative to find Wilson more opportunities! He’s got the stuff to be a solid mlb pitcher, now let him figure it out and let us fans know what he’s actually got! Stop the up and down to the minors bull and pitching him in short rest! Let’s gooooo!!!
Agree. Wilson needs to get more starts. He is still raw and he is still very young. But we have seen enough to know that Wilson has the potential to be a solid member of the rotation. I think he is a #3 or #4.
Another comment about Wilson. When he first came up to the bigs, like 4 years ago as one of the 10 youngest players in MLB (not kidding), he mainly threw a FB and slider with good command of both.
Turns out that his FB/slider/command was good enough to get minor league hitters out at all levels (hence his fast rise to the majors) but not good enough to get ML hitters out consistently. Wilson’s FB peaks at about 95, averaging ~94. His slider doesn’t break a lot but it does consistently break horizontally (vertical break is better like the slider Ynoa throws).
I’ve noted recently that he has added more pitches and throws the slider less often. I looked up his player card on Brooks Baseball to see what he throws. He now throws a sinker and changeup, mixing in a rare curve.
To be successful, Wilson has to throw more than a FB and slider. His FB is avg. I think his slider is slightly below avg for the majors (not minors). He can still throw those pitches and he does but he needs to keep hitters guessing more with additional pitches. As he gets more comfortable with the sinker/change and controls them well, I think he could peak at a #3 in rotation.
Can we please just get one World Series title out of all this talent we keep developing? We’ll always have 1995 but it’s becoming more and more ancient each year. We need a championship for this generation.
Not good for the Braves.
Post of the season !
Well, the only good news of this is that I was able to Mute Metsfan22.
Brutal.. Helluva of a good young pitcher…Hope he still makes it back in 2021..
Terrible news for Braves fans as well as all fans of the game. With major injurys to pitching staffs everyday I really don’t know how anyone could predict a team’s chances for playoff contention. Pitching depth has never been so important than today.
The genius AA, is out scouring the world for pitching help. Lots of dumpsters to yet check out.
Ryan Dumpster, I mean, Dempster retired. Maybe AA can coax him out of retirement.
Incredible a spike getting stuck in the mound could derail his entire career
This is why I hate when people always say that there’s always next year. You never know with injuries and free agents. This team needs to win it all as soon as possible. If they don’t win at least one championship then this whole rebuild cannot be considered a success.
(response to 48team)
uh, did you just compare the Braves to the Tigers, Rockies and Pirates? I don’t think we can take you seriously. And the Braves really aren’t under performing. Their starting pitching is bad and needs to turn it around big time or they are nowhere near what anyone, other than BA projections, thought they were. More similar to the Phillies than Mets as both teams relay on out hitting you night in and night out. While yes, the Mets could have been better by a bit, sitting at 18-13 with excellent pitching and lighter than expected hitting puts them in a bit better early shape than the Braves, no? Long season and I expect the Braves and Mets to battle it out once the weather warms up with the Phillies and Nats harassing everyone and the Marlins bats proving they are in desperate need pf spending money (was at the Marlins-Dbacks game last night – that line up is putrid)
Someone had stated that “no one is getting buried in May” but the comment seems to be gone now. Obviously the Braves are far better than those teams.
“ And the Braves really aren’t under performing.”
Their offense has been underperforming, although parts of it are starting to heat up.
The season was finished anyway. It was a lost season since day 1 as I said. Hopefully AA is fired
You’re fired.
I’m not the type to mute people, but if a radio station (remember those?) played the same song over and over, I’d change to a different station. You’re tempting me.
truth hurts, huh? I know it does.
Losing comes with turn over so its not all bad.
I really hope Bobby Cox jr( snitker is fired) clean everything Bobby Cox related out of that organization
It just looks so bad that this organization only has one championship (in Atlanta) after all these years. Forget dynasties. Even if they had won three titles all 10-15 years apart each time it would look so much better.
why would you want to fire aa he took an organization that was in disarray and had 13 high celling players removed, and multiple draft picks taken away during there rebuild. aa has since made alt a watchable winning team, it’s not his fault that alt players fold in oct (braves beat themselves in 19 not the cards). also as fans we often forget that gm’s/pbo’s have bosses and set limits on what they can spend on players. yes aa could do a little better but who out there looking for a job is going to better than aa?
Most of the Talent was already there when AA got there, don’t give him too much credit. I would agree that firing him is premature for sure, as you mention he has a budget he has to work within.
lol wasn’t trying to give him a lot of credit just came off that way but i do remember when he took over alt was kinda hot mess with the whole draft bonus thing. i was just trying to say man has done a great job righting a sinking ship. imo alt playoff woes is mental they more often beat themselves than there opponents, tbh i think aa needs to get some bench guys that have played on ws teams that help them get over that hump. like when chc went out and got lester or zobrist and motte.
After that first loss, the season was over for sure.
Elite talent, can’t stay healthy. Here is to hoping his career gets back on track.
So long as Snitker keeps putting Jacob Webb and Luke Jackson into tied or close games the Braves will never put together a decent run. Never seen a team want to lose so bad.
Hopefully Chris Martin and Shane Greene will start making those appearances instead.
Agreed. Can’t wait till we have those options available
Martin is supposed to be back tonight but Greene has to have a “Spring Training” at AAA before he’s activated.
1-1 game guess who is warming up? Luke Jackson….
And Luke Jackson blows the lead again. Why can’t anyone call Snitker out on this BS
So bad. It’s an absolute joke at this point.
Jacob Webb needs to be called out too for his failure to cover home and first the last 2 appearances he made. Luke Jackson on the other hand must have some dirt on AA for him to remain a part of the braves bullpen.
All I can think of is that Luke Jackson is apparently the funniest guy in the clubhouse. You’d have to be one hell of a comedian to convince your teammates that constantly blowing games is funny. Keep in mind he was the first reliever to get issued a contract by the Braves following his nearly 7.00 era showing last year. Dude is garbage
I’ll be one of the first to want Jackson out but he is not the problem. People are pointing fingers at him, yet Minter is just as bad as him. The bullpen is general is bad.
I agree. Luke has his problems, but Minter can’t hold leads at all and is only hurting this team. Minter gave up the lead today and Will Smith just can’t pitch if it’s not a save situation. Braves just got swept by the jays twice in less than 2 weeks. Only bright spot, is Chris Martin was his usual lights out self today.
Acuna and Pache both left today’s game with injuries.
That name has always reminded me of Mike Sirotka. Let’s hope his career doesn’t look like it too.
If this costs him this season and any time next year, he’s officially injury prone. Hate it for him in particular because the scouting reports on him coming up always marveled at how well he knows and takes care of his body as far as workouts and nutrition.
2016 | “Wise beyond his years, he takes things like nutrition and conditioning seriously.”
Also a reminder of the other end of the early-career extensions. Fortunately, Soroka still won’t be arbitration eligible, thus avoiding a tough decision for at least another year.
The Braves did not improve their roster this year . On the contrary it is lacking depth, of course signing Morton was a good move, Smyly, the jury is still out. But then you have the loss of O’Day, Melancon, Greene unsigned for over a month, Martin injured, the bullpen is lacking the depth of 2020, and the Braves are also missing a reliable bat like Markakis, or someone with some power like Duvall. Pache needs more time at AAA based on his season so far.
Reliable bat like Markakis? His OPS+ numbers the last two seasons were 96 and 82. He was reliable at being a below average hitter with no power. Sure he used to be good, but he added no value to the team last year.
Still better than what Pache will ever do in his career.
Exploratory implies they aren’t sure what they’re looking for. That, in itself, is scary
Hope he can recover. Achilles injuries seem to be tough to recover from
It could also be for something like I just was diagnosed with – a broken bone spur on the heal. It is killing my Achilles and they are going to have to open mine up eventually.
Man, I really like their chances IF they make it to the playoffs. But getting there may be the hardest part. Jethro Tull’s alter-ego showed he has ice water in his veins. But over the course if 162 they need much greater depth and right now I don’t know if they have it. It’s very young depth at this point. They may need to be buyers at the deadline unless they’re completely out of it cuz if they get there I like their chances.
Oh just an exploratory procedure on his Achilles, I thought it was something serious like a bruised pinky finger on his non-throwing hand. Even worse would have been some lower body soreness that’s brutal.
The only good news after today is that we don’t have to play the Blue Jays again for the rest of this year unless we meet in the World Series. I’ve never seen us play so horribly against one team…especially when we’re supposed to be a legitimate contender.
Blue Jays definitely made the Braves look bad. No wonder the Braves hid Smyly from them. Hopefully things turn around quickly for the Braves. This is getting old.
Agreed. We had been 5-1 in our last six games, which could get us on track, but there’s nothing great about 5-4 over nine games. Even just one win in this series would have made a huge difference.
Hope he will rehab alright.
Is there an update on Soroka?
yeah, I’m wondering if there is any hope to see him even start a rehab by July 4.