The Atlanta Braves’ Canadian right-hander is still progressing, but the prior hope of a return around this week… not happening. Others have better news, though.
That shoulder setback suffered by Mike Soroka as he was getting back into baseball shape insured that the Atlanta Braves would have to do without one of their frontline starters for a while longer.
Now we are finally getting some parameters on what that new schedule might mean:
Mike Soroka isn’t expected to pitch for the #Braves at the @MLB level before June, as I reported on @MLBNetwork today. While the recent MRI showed no structural damage and Soroka could begin throwing soon, he’ll need a usual “spring training” progression. @MLBNetworkRadio
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) April 27, 2021
Taken all together, this does amount to good news, though it is also certain that the Braves will monitor Soroka very closely once he does begin throwing again, as any further shoulder concerns could certainly be a signal of something worse… and something that could very well shut him down for the rest of the year.
So while this news does indeed represent a hopeful sign, it’s also fair to suggest that “June” represents a best-case scenario for the 23-year-old.
Other Braves Pitching News
With that, there’s still more injury-comeback news today, and news that is certainly welcoming to hear:
Max Fried will throw to live hitters on Thursday and then will likely be activated to start on Tuesday or Wednesday against the Nationals.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) April 27, 2021
Chris Martin will throw one more bullpen and two more sim games before possibly being activated at some point next week.
Max Fried was added to the injured list on April 14 with a right hamstring strain. That means he was eligible to return as early as the 24th, but clearly his injury dictated both some additional time to heal and some time to get back into pitching shape.
Chris Martin has been out a week longer — April 7th (and hasn’t pitched since the 4th) thanks to numbness felt in the fingers on his pitching hand that was traced back to an inflammation issue in his shoulder.
Still, this is an excellent report — the chance for a return from a shoulder problem in under a month is definitely good news,
It’s tempting to think of his (relatively early) comeback and apply this to Soroka’s situation, but it would be wrong to do so as there are numerous differences involved.
Right off the bat, Martin is 11 years older and a reliever — never mind that the injuries are not manifesting themselves in the same manner. So even as it’s good to see that Martin may actually be back in action quickly, his journey back isn’t nearly as long as Soroka’s will be.
When Soroka is finally activated, he’ll need to be fully stretched out and ready to compete at the highest level — while we know he’s capable of doing this, we can’t forget that he has a total of just 13.2 major league innings since the end of the 2019 season… and that’s why we have to look at a June return appointment as “optimistic”.
All that said: the Atlanta Braves are starting to get healthy, and that can’t happen soon enough. Hopefully this trend continues and the rest of the club stays whole in the meantime.