In the first game of the Washington Nationals' spring training split squad day on Saturday, one of the offseason additions that the club chose to sign in free agency made a big first impression. In fact, it was the very first free agent that the club signed this winter, in righty Michael Soroka.
In case you need a refresher, Soroka was once a pitcher in the Atlanta Braves organization that was seen as the future ace of their staff for years to come. After a breakout season in 2019, his first full season in the big leagues, where he made his first and only All-Star appearance of his career, things have been pretty rocky, as injuries have threatened to permanently derail his career multiple times.
Here is what I wrote after the news of his signing to a 1-year, $9 million deal broke back in December: "Back in 2020, he got the Opening Day nod for the Braves, but in just his third start of the season, he suffered a freak injury by tearing his achilles after throwing a pitch. If that wasn't hard enough, he would then suffer a setback on the same achilles while he was working on his comeback, and had to undergo another surgery...If you didn't think that was bad enough, he would suffer yet another injury just two months after he had that initial setback, this time completely re-tearing his achilles while walking into the Braves' clubhouse. Just unreal injury luck. After missing 2 full seasons, he finally made his return to an MLB mound in 2023 with the Braves, making just 7 appearances with 6 starts before being shut down due to inflammation in his shoulder."
However, we have been pretty positive about the signing of Soroka overall, and detailed how he could actually be a hidden gem, given how his full arsenal was seemingly limited by the Chicago White Sox last year, who had also shifted him to a relief role permanently. While my initial thought when the club signed him was that he was going to be a potential swing-man type of pitcher that could rotate between starting and relieving, it appears as if he is going to be a full-time starter, and Saturday, he showed that could be in store for him this season.
Soroka impressed, firing 27 of his 39 pitches for strikes, and cruised through 3.0 innings of no-hit ball, striking out 3 batters and walking just 1. Most importantly, his velocity was firing on all cylinders, as his fastball sat 94.9 MPH, which was even higher than the 94.0 he averaged out of the bullpen with the White Sox last year. It appears as if going forward, his spot in the rotation to begin the season should be pretty concrete, if it was not already, and it is going to be all about figuring out how to keep him healthy for the duration of the season.
Obviously, a lot can change, but for a signing that many people seemed to be pretty down on when it happened, this is certainly a very good start to his tenure in a Washington Nationals uniform for Soroka.
What did you think of Michael Soroka's debut? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.