The Atlanta Braves addressed the clear need in their outfield over the offseason by signing Jurickson Profar, but did not make a single notable addition to address their starting rotation. The top three, consisting of Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, and Reynaldo Lopez, is undoubtedly awesome. When Spencer Strider comes back from the injured list, he adds a fourth outstanding arm. The back end of the rotation, however, is problematic, to put it lightly.

The favorites to round out the rotation figure to be Grant Holmes and Ian Anderson, as they are both out of options. Holmes was excellent for Atlanta last season but has just seven starts in his brief MLB career. Anderson also has had some MLB success but hasn’t been any good at the Major League level since 2021 and hasn’t even thrown a single MLB pitch since 2022.

The Braves relying on Anderson in particular, a pitcher who had a 5.00 ERA when last seen in 2022 and has dealt with injuries ever since, is a bad look by itself. But old friend Mike Soroka did his best to make a bad situation worse in his spring training debut.

Braves gamble choosing Ian Anderson over Mike Soroka looks even worse

Soroka, now with the Washington Nationals after signing a one-year, $9 million deal this offseason, twirled a gem in his first appearance of the spring, not allowing a run in three innings to go along with three strikeouts. The right-hander allowed just one base runner and did not surrender a hit while displaying increased velocity.

Michael Soroka fired off 3 scoreless today as he gave us a glimpse of his stuff as he transitions back into being a starter

His velocity was up a tick and his slider exhibited much more depth and sweep than usual. I think it might be considered a slurve now! pic.twitter.com/kjG6JGVCRu

— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) March 1, 2025

Most often, spring training isn’t worth overreacting to, but it’s hard not to get excited about Soroka based on what we saw on Saturday. The 27-year-old faced a St. Louis Cardinals team that had several of its regulars in the lineup and dominated while showcasing better stuff than we’ve ever really seen from him. Soroka also continued to build off of what was a strong finish in 2024.

The right-hander got off to a slow start in his first and only season with the Chicago White Sox, but he posted a 2.75 ERA in 16 appearances in relief and struck out an absurd 60 batters in just 36 innings of work. Soroka has to prove that success can translate back over to the rotation, where he struggled while returning from injury, but his first spring test proved that he is more than capable.

There were reasons for Atlanta to overlook Soroka given his injury history and the fact that they traded him after the 2023 campaign, but at just a $9 million price tag, why wasn’t he considered when the alternative is a guy like Anderson, who has shown much less recent promise? Even if Soroka ends up struggling as a starter, he proved he can dominate in relief — another area where the Braves could use an upgrade.

Soroka felt like a clear upgrade over Anderson even when he was a free agent, and this start only adds more evidence to back up that claim.