{"id":9118,"date":"2024-11-16T15:50:07","date_gmt":"2024-11-16T15:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=9118"},"modified":"2024-11-16T15:50:07","modified_gmt":"2024-11-16T15:50:07","slug":"breaking-former-beloved-braves-ace-may-be-perfect-free-agent-addition-to-strengthen-bullpen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=9118","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Former beloved Braves ace may be perfect free agent addition to strengthen bullpen"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<div class=\"intro\">\n<p>After one season in Chicago, Michael Soroka could again be an option for the Braves.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_5957,h_3350,x_0,y_57\/c_fill,w_752,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/17\/01jchhzaw48fwyrcssbj.jpg\" alt=\"St. Louis Cardinals v Atlanta Braves\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\">Michael Soroka&#8217;s 2024 was a tale of two seasons. After spending the first two months floundering in the rotation for the worst team in MLB history, the once-promising ace was moved to the bullpen, where he immediately saw success.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\">Now the 27-year-old is a free agent, and the Atlanta Braves, who have one more bullpen spot open than they expected when the offseason began, could add him at a bargain price.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-2\">The Atlanta Braves should bring back Michael Soroka to fill bullpen void<\/h2>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\">The beginning of Soroka&#8217;s 2024 was a disaster, simply put. After being traded by the Braves during the 2023-2024 offseason, the former first-round draft pick started nine games with the White Sox, earned a <strong>6.39 ERA, <\/strong>and an even worse <strong>6.76 FIP.<\/strong> He struck out as many batters as he walked and allowed 10 long balls.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\">Had the White Sox ultimately moved on from him, it would have been justifiable, even for a team that lost 121 games. Instead, the club moved him to the bullpen, where he broke out.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\">In 36 innings as a reliever, he had a much more palatable <strong>2.75 ERA<\/strong>, and while he still issues plenty of free passes (his BB% actually increased by 0.5%), his strikeout rate skyrocketed. Soroka was only striking out 12.4% of the batters he faced as a starter. As a reliever, <strong>he struck out 39% of batters<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Michael Soroka&#39;s 7 Ks in 3 innings. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5QYnGk2a9E\">pic.twitter.com\/5QYnGk2a9E<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PitchingNinja\/status\/1806147983878049903?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 27, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\">As Mike Petriello of MLB.com noted, this isn&#8217;t just high; it was the second-highest rate of a reliever who faced at least 150 batters, behind only Athletics star closer Mason Miller.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\">Petriello also points out that the likelihood of this increased punchout rate being a fluke is slim, as pitchers with a K-rate of at least 39% had repeated success.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\">One huge adjustment Soroka made in-season was ditching the sinker that turned him into the ace of the 2019 Braves staff. After returning from his numerous soul-crushing injuries, the sinker was simply not effective.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\">Instead, Soroka opted for his 4-seamer, increasing his velocity along the way. His average fastball velocity was 92.5 as a starter, but that average increased 1.5 MPH in the bullpen.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\">The Braves currently have two open bullpen slots if Mark Bowman&#8217;s roster projections are correct. With Iglesias closing games and Pierce Johnson\/Dylan Lee handling setup duty, the club doesn&#8217;t necessarily need another high-leverage reliever.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\">Additionally, because of his injury history (he did miss two months with a shoulder issue) and overall success in 2024, Soroka isn&#8217;t likely to receive a high dollar figure. If Soroka is willing to take a one-year deal to prove his dominance as a reliever, Alex Anthopoulos and the Braves should make it happen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Atlanta Braves could be reunited with former ace starter Michael Soroka to fill their need for a bullpen arm this offseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Former beloved Braves ace may be perfect free agent addition to strengthen bullpen - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=9118\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Former beloved Braves ace may be perfect free agent addition to strengthen bullpen - 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