Atlanta Braves Right Hander Mike Soroka
Who Is He?
Soroka was the 2nd pick of the Braves in 2015 as the 28th pick overall in the draft in the 1st round out of high school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. His draft year showed an amazing year, he threw 10 games, totaling 34 innings with a 3.18 ERA and a 1.12 with a 5/37 BB/K between the Braves’ GCL and Danville teams.
The Braves saw enough to send Soroka directly to full season Rome to start the 2016 season, and he’s been nothing short of tremendous so far this season, making 5 starts, throwing 27 innings with a 1.33 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and 3/29 BB/K.
Next: Soroka's scouting report
Scouting Report
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Soroka has 3 starts available to view thus far this sesaon. In total, in those starts, he’s thrown 15 innings with 10 hits allowed, 2 runs allowed (1 earned), 2 walks, and 17 strike outs.
Soroka is listed as 6’4 and 195 pounds. He actually looks a bit bigger than that, with thick legs in his build. I really like his motion. He has an easy, repeatable motion, basing him on his thick legs as he stays tall and balanced in his motion until he explodes toward the plate with a low 3/4 delivery.
Soroka’s fastball sits in the low 90s, but it can touch 94+ with very good movement. He throws a four-seam and two-seam fastball with nearly the same velocity, which adds to the difficulty of hitters in expecting how the pitch will finish as the pitch moves well. He has an exceptional change up with plenty of sink that plays well off the sinking fastball. He throws a breaking pitch that he admits is more of a slurve than a true curve or slider.
The sinker has tremendous late dive down and to the corners on each side of the plate. His four-seam fastball acts nearly as a cutter with sharp horizontal movement late. The change has more of a straight sink than the corner sink that the sinking fastball uses, but he works it well on both sides of the plate. I was much more impressed with his slurve than I thought I would be. It does behave like a hard slider or a sharp-breaking curve, so it’s understandable to have his description of the pitch. He worked it very well starting at the hitter’s belt and having it end up just below the knees, and while I didn’t get any velocity readings in the game I was watching, the visual velocity as I watched had it looking very similar to his change up in speed.
Next: Future outlook
Future Outlook
Soroka has tremendous repeatability in his mechanics, and it shows in the exceptional command he’s shown in his pro career. He’s walked an incredible 3.2% of hitters in his pro career so far, a number that would be among the absolute elite in the major leagues. At the same time, he’s struck out 26.6% of hitters using his exceptional movement. Soroka has already shown the Braves scouts highly intelligent for taking the risk on “over-drafting” him as he was projected to go in the 2nd-4th rounds before the Braves grabbed him in the compensatory 1st round last year.
Next: Braves Minor League Database
Soroka is a great example for those who insist that a guy who can’t hit upper 90s with a fastball can’t be an elite pitcher. His performance so far is possibly as good as any pitcher in the minors for the Braves this season. He should move up to Carolina quickly, and if he continues this excellence, he’ll have a shot of even a late-season call-up to Mississippi.