3) With Soroka’s future uncertain, the Atlanta Braves may need another starter.
Mike Soroka has been waiting a long, long time to make his Atlanta Braves re-debut since tearing his Achilles tendon on August 3rd, 2020, and completely re-tearing it on June 24th, 2021. Before his injury, he was comfortably one of the best pitchers in the National League with his career 2.86 ERA.
However, there’s no guarantee that Soroka comes back as the same guy. Tearing your Achilles tendon once is hard enough to return from, but when you do it twice and miss two whole years of throwing in the big leagues, the odds really start to stack against you.
The Braves haven’t given up on Soroka, though. He pitched in six rehab starts toward the end of the season for the first time in two years before being shut down. He might start the 2023 season in triple-A, but he could play a role on the big league club early in the season.
How will the Braves cope if Soroka isn’t ready?
Obviously, Soroka’s success is based on a quite few contingents as stated above. For that reason, the Braves are likely to explore the starting pitching market to acquire another starter.
This area will be one of the most difficult for Alex Anthopoulos to address. The starting pitching seriously struggled in the NLDS, but you have to like Max Fried, Kyle Wright, Spencer Strider, and Charlie Morton as a rotation going into 2023. That doesn’t exactly create a huge need.
On top of that, they have an array of minor league pitching that themselves will be vying for a spot in the rotation in Bryce Elder, Kyle Muller, Jared Shuster, and even former starter Ian Anderson. Internally, the Braves will have options.
On the other hand, Jake Odorizzi may become a free agent. Even if he accepts his player option for this season and remains a Brave, which is probably the most likely scenario, most would agree that he isn’t good enough to be starting every five days with his 4.40 ERA, 2.9 BB/9, and 4.27 FIP.
There is also the possibility that the Braves deal with injuries as they did late in the season.
Which free agents could the Braves be interested in for the rotation?
The chance remains, then, that the Braves go all-out and acquire an ace to give them what would likely be the best rotation in all of baseball.
If you believe the rumors or take stock in the fact that his childhood team was the Braves, Jacob deGrom, who is opting out of his contract with the Mets, is an option. With his career 2.52 ERA, 1,607 strikeouts, and two Cy Young awards, he would instantly become Atlanta’s best starter.
Another option is Carlos Rodon of the San Francisco Giants. Also a free agent, Rodon finished 2022 with a 2.87 ERA, 2.25 FIP, and 237 strikeouts. He is certainly a legitimate ace as well.
The Braves’ recent $20 million extension to Charlie Morton bodes well for their willingness to pay big money for a starter. However, I expect they are more likely to go down the route of a reliable veteran like Nate Eovaldi, Jose Quintana, future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, or even likely AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, who the Braves reportedly were close to signing in 2021.