Well, after what felt like an eternity, the Washington Nationals and General Manager Mike Rizzo have signed an MLB free agent. The move they made? The Nationals signed veteran righty Michael Soroka to a reported 1-year, $9 million deal, with the intention of having him be a starting pitcher.
This move comes as a bit of a surprise to me, as while Soroka was great as a young starter on the Atlanta Braves back in 2019, becoming an All-Star for the first and only time in his career and finishing as the runner-up in NL Rookie of the Year voting, he has not been the same since.
Now, I don't think him not being the same is any real fault of his own, as if anyone had to endure the types of battles with injuries that he's gone through, they'd likely share a similar struggle. 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.
Now that you're all caught up on Soroka's story, let's actually take a look at what he did last year. After being dealt to the Chicago White Sox in a deal for lefty reliever Aaron Bummer, Soroka would be moved to a bullpen role for the 2024 season, and the results were decent at best. He would post a 4.74 ERA and 1.381 WHIP, while making 25 appearances with 9 starts. Just by looking at the numbers he put up last season, it's honestly hard to understand this move for the Nationals, especially for that amount and for the role that they are planning to use him in.
Free-agent RHP Mike Soroka in agreement with Nationals, source tells @TheAthletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 19, 2024
For Soroka to be a starter, he will likely be taking the spot that was vacated by Trevor Williams in the rotation, and the club will be banking on the fact that he is a bounce back candidate and can get back to his 2019 form, which was the last time he had a significant workload as a starting pitcher. I also could see him being used as a hybrid between a starter and reliever this year, similar to Williams in 2023, in order to give an arm like Cade Cavalli a chance to work his way back into form following his injuries.
Overall, for $9 million, I'm not the biggest fan of this move, but perhaps if Soroka is able to bounce back and regain some of that 2019 form, he could be a solid deadline acquisition. I am glad that the team made a move, but am hoping this isn't the most money we spend on a single player this offseason. Hopefully for the sake of the fanbase, there are moves on the horizon.
What do you think of the Michael Soroka signing? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.