Mike Soroka leads impressive crop of pitching prospects for Braves Future Stars
ATLANTA — Four pitches into his first appearance on SunTrust Park’s mound, Mike Soroka stared down perennial All-Star threat Freddie Freeman with two runners, Ender Inciarte and Ozzie Albies, already taking their leads in his peripheral vision.
The 20-year-old right-hander put the Atlanta Braves’ first baseman in a two-strike hole with a combination of fastballs and a breaking ball — and then buried a second slider in the dirt. Freeman’s bat stayed on his shoulders.
“There’s always going to be things to learn along the way. And you see that right away, you see that with some of the better hitters,” said Soroka, one of the franchise’s premier pitching prospects and Tuesday night’s starter for the Braves Future Stars. “Threw a couple sliders down (to Freeman) that he just didn’t bite on that a lot of guys would in the minor leagues. It’s stuff like that that you definitely have to get used to.”
Atlanta’s waves of minor-league pitching unofficially crashed upon big-league shores for one March night, led by the 6-foot-5 Canadian product who Brian Snitker jokingly attempted to hide from upper management in order to stash him for the Opening Day roster. Kolby Allard, the projected twin crown jewel of the organization’s 2015 draft class, relieved Soroka in the second inning. The night’s remaining relief corps: Kyle Wright, Kyle Muller, Ian Anderson, Joey Wentz, Touki Toussaint and Bryse Wilson. In total, five former first-round picks, one second-round pick and one fourth-round pick — the foundation of the deepest farm system in baseball — threw off SunTrust’s mound for the first time.
However, Soroka, learning curve and all, earned the starting nod.
Even a certain Hall of Fame manager took notice.
“At 19 all year in Double-A, which is saying something these days. We don’t push them that fast. He was good enough to be pushed,” Future Stars manager Bobby Cox said. “ … He’s a young kid that throws strikes with good quality stuff. (He’s) got a great changeup working for himself, a good slider. In the spring he was throwing 95 (miles per hour) so he’s even gaining velocity right now.
“He won’t be down (in the minors) long.”
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Soroka was unable to escape his lone inning unscathed thanks to a wild pitch, but his first 330 pro innings have established him as a top-tier prospect knocking on the major-league door. He owns a career 2.91 ERA with a 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio despite climbing to Double-A Mississippi three years removed from high school.
Soroka, joined by fellow teenager Allard in his rapid ascent, was more than five years younger than the Southern League average; they are the only two qualified teenage pitchers to post a sub-3.50 fielding-independent pitching at the Double-A level in the last seven seasons. With another well-beyond-his-years campaign in 2018, Soroka will likely find himself back in this exact same location later this year.
“The maturity that he has combined with the talent that he has on the field, he’s always trying to better himself. Always trying to improve his game. And he’s got the stuff,” catching prospect Alex Jackson said. “He’s a very consistent guy. He likes to go out there and work hard and do his thing. He keeps improving every day.”
Regardless of the exhibition tag on Wednesday’s game, the moment meant something to Soroka, who had pitched in the Toronto Blue Jays’ Rogers Centre as an amateur and Marlins Park in last year’s Futures Game but never in his future friendly confines. Soroka’s father drove up in his rental car from Orlando to sit behind the Future Stars’ dugout. The prospects arrived early and took in the sights together. His phone continuously buzzed in his locker during a mid-game interview.
“It’s a new experience especially because it’s a place that you’re hoping to call home soon and for a while after that,” Soroka said.
The organization’s pitching future is rapidly gaining ground on the present.
Julio Teheran, Mike Foltynewicz, Sean Newcomb and Luiz Gohara represent controllable starters already at the major-league level, but none have established themselves as frontline arms yet. Max Fried headlines the next group of on-the-fringe Triple-A arms including former upper-level prospects Aaron Blair and Matt Wisler.
However, the Braves have seen the volatile nature of young arms up close during their rebuild; it's the very reason they continued to draft and trade for more. Soroka, Allard, Wright and Toussaint are closing the gap. Anderson, Wentz and Wilson could follow soon after. Wave after wave.
Soroka is the most polished of the group, a player who impressed teammates and coaches alike throughout spring training. He looks the part of a rotation mainstay for a contender. He dissects opposing lineups with a three-pitch arsenal and plus command. And it's not farfetched to assume he will be standing at his own locker in the home clubhouse if there's a 2019 edition of this Braves Future Stars event.
On Tuesday night, the future and the present blurred together.
“I don’t feel like it’s necessarily about showing (the front office I belong), it’s a lot for yourself and self-confidence," Soroka said." But I feel like just being able to go out there and show them that you can compete, you’re not scared."
