With the ace of the Atlanta Braves, Chris Sale, out indefinitely with a fractured rib cage, the club that is barely treading water will now have to rely on a starting rotation that has made a combined 182 starts in their career.
While the Spencers (Schwellenbach and Strider) have a good track record in their short careers, Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder, and a 20-year-old Didier Fuentes don't inspire a lot of confidence for a club that needs to win now.
There is one starter within the Braves division that made help bridge the gap while Chris Sale is out, however. While former Braves All-Star Michael Soroka's overall numbers aren't exciting, the righty could benefit from a better defense and coaching staff in Atlanta compared to what he currently has with the Nationals.
Michael Soroka has a career-high 10 strikeouts through 5 innings 👏 pic.twitter.com/OHzpEAaYhh
— MLB (@MLB) June 22, 2025
Why Alex Anthopoulos needs to re-acquire Michael Soroka now
Despite a strong-turned-mixed-bag start on Sunday, Soroka is still one of the worst starters in baseball with at least 50 innings. His 5.06 ERA ranks 115 out of 134 pitchers, while his 0.4 fWAR ranks 108th out of 134.
On the surface, he does not seem like a pitcher who the Braves front office should go out of their way to acquire. However, looking into his numbers, Soroka has likely been hurt by some bad defense and poor management leaving him in too long.
After Sunday, Soroka has made 10 starts. In the first five innings of his nine starts, the 27-year-old had managed a 3.49 ERA. In seven of these 10 starts, Davey Martinez allowed the righty to go back out for the sixth inning, and Soroka has been shelled in this inning.
The righty now has a 22.85 ERA in the sixth inning, thanks in part to Jose Ferrer allowing a grand slam to Max Muncy against the Dodgers that scored three of the runs Ferrer inherited from Soroka.
The solution for Soroka's sixth inning woes feel fairly straightforward: just don't let him pitch the sixth. Unfortunately for Soroka, the Washington Nationals manager hasn't gotten that memo.
Soroka also has the unfortunate privilege of pitching behind one of the worst defenses in the game. At -16 OAA, the Nationals are the third-worst defense in baseball, ahead of just the Athletics and the Orioles. Meanwhile, Atlanta currently ranks 7th in the majors with 12 OAA.
Even before striking out 10 Dodgers batters, Statcast's expected numbers were far more favorable to the righty. He had a 3.40 xERA, which sat in the 70th percentile, and an xBA of .228, which sat in the 72nd percentile. Soroka has also had an excellent breaking ball, which the Nationals might be underutilizing.
The righty signed a one-year deal this offseason, worth just $9 million. The Nationals, who are now four games back of the third-place Braves, are likely sellers, and a pitcher like Soroka likely won't command a huge haul because of his one-year deal. For instance, Franke Montas, who had a 5.01 ERA before being acquired by Brewers at last year's deadline, netted the Reds just Jakob Junis, Joey Wiemer, and cash. Neither player is still with Cincinnati.
While Soroka's intial numbers don't look pretty, his increase in strikeouts look like a real deal and should be a excellent target to keep the Braves afloat in Sale's absence.