Michael Soroka, 20-year-old phenom boost staff
When Michael Soroka took the mound for the Atlanta Braves in Oakland last Monday, it was the culmination of a nearly three-year odyssey to resume a still promising career.
Soroka, still just 25 years old, covered six innings against the A’s, allowing four runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts in a losing effort. That decision seemed a minor detail in the comeback story. He emerged healthy and somewhat relieved to have the first outing under his belt.
“Getting back out there, feeling the adrenaline and having some of my best friends behind me, I had a lot of fun out there,” Soroka said to Bally Sports following the start. “It’s nice to get back out there, feel all these things, and just enjoy this moment. I enjoyed seeing a lot of these guys I’ve known for two-years-plus and haven’t really gotten to go out there and pitch for them.”
The right-hander’s next test was set to come Sunday against one of the best teams in the National League. The surprising Arizona Diamondbacks entered the weekend with a share of first place in the NL West, the latest they have been able to lay claim to the top spot in their division since September 2018.
BRAVES PROMOTE YOUNG FLAMETHROWER
The Braves turned to one of their top pitching prospects in hopes of fortifying an overworked bullpen. A.J. Smith-Shawver continued his meteoric rise through the system when he was summoned to the big leagues prior to last Tuesday’s game in Oakland
It is the 20-year-old SmithShawver’s fourth level already this season, equaling Spencer Strider’s quick rise in 2021.
Despite his background as a starting pitcher in the minors, the Braves plan to break the hard-throwing Smith-Shawver in as a reliever. Much
like the club did with Strider in 2022, Smith-Shawver — who did even begin pitching primarily until his senior year of high school in 2021 — could work multiple innings on a more set schedule in order to keep him stretched out if needed.
The right-hander got off to an incredible start, beginning the year with three scoreless starts for High-A Rome before jumping to Double-A Mississippi in early May. He parlayed two strong outings there into a promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett on May 16.
Across all three levels, SmithShawver owns a 1.06 ERA in seven starts with 45 strikeouts against 12 walks and only 19 hits allowed in 33 total innings.
“I love his arm,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We saw him briefly that last couple of springs . ... Again, we’re going to need everybody before this thing is all said and done.”
Atlanta’s bullpen posted a 4.17 ERA in May while making 100 appearances, second-most in baseball. With that group further taxed by injuries in the starting rotation, Snitker recognized the relief corps was going to need some help to get through the dog days of summer.
“It’s just a situation where
everybody has got to help out, so you can keep everybody semi-fresh,” Snitker said. “It’s hard to do that, especially since we play all the close games it seems like all the time. There’s plenty of work for everybody and you need all of them down there. (We’re) trying to give guys enough rest to be successful and not beat anybody up. We can’t afford to lose anybody else.”
Smith-Shawver aims to become just the 12th Braves pitcher since the club moved to Atlanta in 1966 to debut before turning 21 years old.
BRAVES NOT SHIFTING APPROACH AFTER SHIFT
Among the rule changes
that Major League Baseball put in place for 2023 was limiting defensive shifts.
Instead of exaggerated alignments, all infielders must remain on the infield dirt and on their respective side of the second base bag.
While it has not led teams to make wholesale changes at the plate, banning the shift did create the opportunity for some balls to find their way in the outfield instead of the waiting glove of a repositioned infielder, many times on the outfield grass.
Atlanta hitting coach Kevin Seitzer played from 198697, a time when there was a greater emphasis on putting the ball in play and there were
fewer defensive shifts to take away potential hits. Seitzer has noticed some offensive gains from the rule change, even if Braves hitters are not drastically altering their approach in hopes of cashing in based on infield positioning.
“It’s more of a happy result, because they’re not changing anything that they’ve done in the past.” Seitzer said of Braves hitters reaching base on plays that would have been outs in years prior.
“More balls that are smoked up the middle are base hits, like they used to be back when I played.”
The data over the first two months of the season does show an uptick in batting average
for left-handed hitters in particular, though perhaps not as noticeable as expected when MLB announced it would severely limit where infielders could position themselves.
“I just love that a single is a big factor nowadays,” Seitzer added. “You’ve got a chance to put together a big inning. Instead of it just being a homer, you’ve got a chance to put together two, three, four base hits because there’s no shift.”
Singles aside, Atlanta remains one of the most powerful teams in MLB. After hitting 243 home runs in 2022 — second-most in franchise history — the Braves rank third in MLB with 92 home runs through 56 games this season.