Teen pitcher in a Brave new world
For Soroka, 2016 was a learning experience — and resounding success
Pity his scrapbook, bursting at the seams, buried by benchmarks.
On opening day, he’s the starting pitcher for the Rome (Ga.) Braves. Always an honour.
Mid-season, he’s named to the South Atlantic (Single-A) League’s all-star showcase.
The campaign concludes in the finest of fashions — with his club winning the championship.
Amazing stuff (frequently the two-word description of his mound offerings). And all this? The summer Mike Soroka turned 19, his first full season of professional baseball.
“It really was a special year,” says the Calgarian who, after a Florida Instructional League assignment in Orlando, arrived home this week. “All in all, I’m happy with my year, but I’m never really satisfied.
“I’ll try to have a better one next year.”
Soroka, tellingly, singles out only one portion of his season — a stretch in the middle stages when he struggled, but ultimately, overcame.
“I think the most important thing for me this year is that I learned who I was as a pitcher even more,” the right-hander says. “What I am on the mound. What I can and cannot do. Mechanically, I learned that much more. Just finding that happy medium of being able to do it every day.”
Any way it’s sliced, 2016 was a resounding success:
From his 9-9 record in the Sally League — only nine pitchers recorded more wins;
To the 3.02 earned-run average — eighth best;
To the 125 strikeouts — 12th; To the 1.13 WHIP — sixth;
To, especially for him, the 143.0 innings — sixth most — then another 15 from the post-season’s two starts.
“For the first year out of high school, that was quite a bit (of work) … so I’m very thankful my coaches let me go,” says Soroka, a product of the PBF Redbirds’ program in Calgary. “That’s one thing I was really proud of this year. It’s going to be one of my strengths moving forward. It’s going to be one of the things I have to do to separate myself — eat innings. Teams love that.”
Sometimes statistics — and they’re overwhelmingly thorough in baseball — don’t capture all of the progression.
Soroka, for instance, willed himself to better manage his game days.
Anxious, he’d always had issues eating.
“It’s not like I was sick to my stomach or throwing up, but
I just wasn’t hungry,” says Soroka. “Every fifth day, you can’t eat in the mornings. So it was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore. I’ve got to find a way to chill out.’ ” Which he did.
Now Soroka, who as a 2015 first-round pick, commanded a $1.97-million signing bonus from the Atlanta Braves, continues to exceed expectations. He hasn’t stopped growing — 225 pounds on his nearly 6-foot-5 frame — and, presumably, his fastball hasn’t topped out at 95 miles per hour. Double-A is a possibility next summer.
With promise, though, comes push.
Two days after being minted as a champion — an achievement, he claims, that was toasted by the squad’s under-agers with Welch’s grape juice — he went back to work. This time, in Flagler Beach, Fla., for a unique camp.
The participants? One dozen organizational plums.
The leaders? Three Navy SEAL veterans.
The chores were rather challenging. Such as speed walking 20 kilometres with bags of sand added to their backpacks every couple of kilometres. For the last hour, they weren’t allowed to speak.
“Mentally … you catch yourself thinking, ‘ When is it done? When are we going to stop? When are we going to rest?’ ” says Soroka.
“You’re kind of in your own head a little bit. Which is what it’s like when you’re out on the mound. You’re the only one out there. You’re the only one that can make a difference.”
From there, he dutifully reported to Instructional League. Completing that three-week stint, he headed home. Finally.
Because of his all-star game commitment — one perfect inning, by the way — and because of the Braves’ extended playoff run, he’d enjoyed no in-season breathers.
He hadn’t seen Calgary since February. But after arriving home Sunday, after enjoying a belated Thanksgiving dinner with family Monday, he is keen to continue his baseball pursuits.
Morning workouts begin in two days.
From the Braves’ brass, he got permission to resume throwing in one month, instead of the standard two.
( Which reminds Soroka. Last winter, he was playing catch with Deron Mayo — yes, that Deron Mayo — at WinSport. Complaining that incoming pitches were too hot, the Stampeders’ linebacker stood aside. Soroka decided to throw into the padded wall. The first toss sailed through a window. A closed window.)
So — with the baseball season still in progress (of course, he’s watching closely), with spring training months and months away — the kid is nevertheless gearing up for 2017.
“I’m good to go again,” says Soroka.
“I’m already itching to get back at it.”