Michael John Graydon Soroka...Graduated from Bishop Carroll High School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada...Was committed to play college baseball at California, Berkeley prior to signing with the Braves.
2024
Pitched in 25 Major League games for Chicago (AL) after pitching in just seven in the three years prior combined...Pitched to a 4.74 ERA with 84 strikeouts in 79.2 innings pitched in 25 games (nine starts) for the Chicago White Sox in 2024...Opened the season in Chicago’s rotation before moving to the bullpen in mid-May...He went on to post a .189 opponents’ batting average, 15.00 strikeouts per 9.0 innings (60 SO/36 IP) and a 2.75 ERA (11 ER/36 IP) in 16 relief appearances the rest of the season...Capped the 2024 campaign by striking out 13 of the 26 batters he faced with two walks and a .083 opponents’ batting average (2-for-24) across his final three outings...2024 Pitch Mix: slider (36.5%), four-seam (32.3%), sinker (21.4%) and changeup (9.8%).
2023
Spent most of the season with Class AAA Gwinnett, going 4-4 with a 3.41 ERA (33 ER/87.0 IP), 92 strikeouts and a .205 (65-317) opponents average over 17 starts...Also went 2-2 with a 6.40 ERA (23 ER/32.1 IP) and 29 strikeouts over seven games (six starts) with the Braves...Began the season with the Stripers, allowing three runs or less in seven of his first eight starts...Was recalled by the Braves on 5/29, making two starts before being optioned back to Gwinnett on 6/5…Start on 5/29 at Oakland (L; 4 ER/6.0 IP) was his first MLB appearance since 2020...Went 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA (3 ER/19.0 IP), .109 (7-64) average and 18 strikeouts in three starts after being optioned...Was recalled by Atlanta for a second time on 6/30, going 2-0 with a 4.12 ERA (9 ER/19.2 IP) and 18 strikeouts in four games (three starts) before being optioned back to Gwinnett on 7/24...Earned the win on 6/30 vs. Miami, allowing three runs on six hits with seven strikeouts over 6.0 IP...Tossed 4.2 scoreless IP on 7/5 at Cleveland…Made his first career relief appearance on 7/16 vs. the White Sox (2 ER/3.0 IP)...Went 1-1 with a 2.77 ERA (8 ER/26.0 IP), .165 (15-91) average and 34 strikeouts over five starts with Gwinnett in August...Earned his third promotion to the Braves on 9/5...Started that day vs. St. Louis (L; 5 ER/3.0 IP)...Was placed on the IL on 9/6 with season-ending right shoulder inflammation...Was transferred to the 60-day IL on 9/11.
2022
Did not pitch in the Majors while recovering from right Achilles surgery...Made six starts in the Minors, including one start with High-A Rome and five with Triple-A Gwinnett, and posted an 0-2 record with a 6.43 ERA (15 ER/21.0 IP)...Started with Rome on Aug. 16, his first regular season game appearance since Aug. 3, 2020, versus the Mets…Went 743 days between game appearances...Tossed 4.0 scoreless innings and struck out eight in his lone start with Rome...In five starts with the Stripers, pitched to an 0-2 record and a 6.43 ERA…Allowed 15 earned runs in 21.0 total innings.
2021
Did not pitch while recovering from right Achilles surgery.
2020
Made three starts with the Braves and went 0-1 with a 3.95 ERA (6 ER/13.2 IP)...Tore his right Achilles on Aug. 3 and missed the remainder of the season...Made his first career Opening Day start and was named to his first Opening Day roster...At age 22 years, 355 days, was the youngest Opening Day starter in the franchise’s modern era...The last Braves pitcher to start Opening Day at a younger age was Tommy Bond in 1878, when he started the opener for the Boston Red Caps against the Providence Greys at 22 years and 29 days old...Soroka was the youngest Opening Day starter since Miami’s Jose Fernandez pitched at 21 years, 243 days to open the Marlins’ 2014 season...He is the youngest Canadian in the modern era to start on Opening Day, and the first Canadian to ever start Opening Day for the Braves.
2019
Made 29 starts during his rookie season, going 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA (52 ER/174.2 IP), 142 strikeouts and a .236 opponents' average... N.L. Ranks: ERA (3rd, 2.68), wins (T10th, 13)... Finished second in N.L. Rookie of the Year voting, and sixth in the Cy Young... His 2.68 ERA was the lowest by a rookie in the majors, and the lowest by any rookie pitcher since Miami's Jose Fernandez pitched to a 2.19 ERA over 28 starts in 2013... Soroka's mark was third lowest by any Braves rookie in the live-ball era (since 1920), trailing just a 2.38 ERA by Jim Turner in 1937 and a 2.57 mark by Nate Andrews in 1943, both of which came when the franchise was still in Boston... Turned 22 years old on 8/4 and went 12-3 with a 2.58 ERA (40 ER/139.2 IP) in 24 starts aged 21 or younger...His 24 starts before turning 22 are fourth-most in franchise history since 1908, and the most since Steve Avery made 56 such starts... He is one of 145 pitchers in the liveball era (since 1920) to make at least 24 starts aged 21 or younger...Of those 145 pitchers, Soroka's 2.58 ERA was fifth lowest, trailing just José Fernandez (2.25 in 36 starts), Dwight Gooden (2.28 in 99 starts), Mark Fidrych (2.34 in 29 starts) and Vida Blue (2.36 in 49 starts)... Went 7-1 with a 1.55 ERA (17 ER/98.2 IP) over 16 starts on the road... Soroka's 1.55 ERA on the road was best in the majors among qualified starters, and nearly a full point lower than the closest pitcher (Jacob deGrom, 2.34)... Since 1913, only three qualified Braves pitchers had a better ERA on the road than Soroka's mark this season...Greg Maddux pitched to a 1.12 ERA in 1995 and a 1.37 ERA in 1994, while Bill James compiled a 1.53 ERA on the road for the 1914 Boston Braves. • Won a career-best 10 consecutive decisions, 4/24 to 7/14...Went 10-0 with a 2.27 ERA (23 ER/91.1 IP) during the stretch, which spanned 15 total starts... Became just the sixth Braves pitcher in the live-ball era (since 1920) with a double-digit win streak and the first since Greg Maddux also won 10 straight in 2001... Went 9-1 with a 2.42 ERA (24 ER/89.1 IP) over 15 starts to open the season and became the youngest pitcher in franchise history to be named an All-Star... Made his All-Star Game debut with a scoreless sixth inning, 7/9 at Progressive Field...Retired Whit Merrifield, Carlos Santana and Dan Vogelbach... Soroka, 21, and Ronald Acuña Jr., 21, both making the National League team marked the first time in major league history a single club had two players under the age of 22 go to the All-Star Game in the same season... Allowed no more than one earned run in each of his first eight starts this season...Soroka joined Cincinnati's Edinson Vólquez (2008) and Oakland's Mike Norris (1980) as the only pitchers in the live-ball era (since 1920) to begin the season with eight consecutive starters of one earned run or less...No pitcher has gone nine straight... For his career, the righty allowed one earned run or fewer in 11 of his first 13 starts...Since earned runs became an official statistic in both leagues in 1913, no other pitcher in history had as many such starts among his first 13 career games... In fact, Soroka was the only one to have eight such starts through his first 10 career games... Soroka's 1.07 ERA was the third lowest in history (since 1913) by a pitcher aged 21 or younger in his first eight starts of the season, according to research by the Elias Sports Bureau...Only Los Angeles' Fernando Valenzuela (0.50, 1981) and Oakland's Vida Blue (1.02, 1971) had lower marks through eight starts... Made 14 of his 29 starts on regular rest and went 7-1 with a 1.99 ERA (20 ER/90.1 IP) in those games...In his other 15 starts on the season, all with at least five days between outings, he was 6-3 with a 3.41 ERA (32 ER/84.1 IP). 2019 Postseason: Made one start in Atlanta's NLDS against St. Louis...Got the ball in Game 3 at Busch Stadium and went 7.0 innings, allowing two hits and a run while striking out seven... He set a Braves postseason record, retiring 17 consecutive batters between the second and seventh innings... Became the youngest pitcher to allow two or fewer baserunners over at least 7.0 innings in a postseason game.
2018
Made his major league debut and went 2-1 with a 3.51 ERA (10 ER/25.2 IP) and 21 strikeouts in five starts for Atlanta...Also missed time after two different disabled list trips for a right shoulder strain, with the second one ending his season early in June ... Had his contract selected from Triple-A Gwinnett on 5/1 and made his major league debut that night at New York (NL)… Made his major league debut at the age of 20 years, 270 days...Was the youngest pitcher to make his debut in a start for Atlanta since RH Julio Teheran debuted at 20 years, 100 days on 5/7/11 ... At the time of his debut, only five starting pitchers had debuted for Atlanta at a younger age than Soroka - Charlie Vaughan (18 years, 332 days - 9/3/66), Mike McQueen (19 years, 033 days - 10/2/69), Steve Avery (20 years, 060 days - 6/13/90), Teheran and Al Santorini (20 years, 114 days - 9/10/68) ... Soroka was the youngest starter in the majors to make his debut since Julio Urías did so at the age of 19 years, 289 days for the Los Angeles Dodgers on 5/27/16 ... Bryse Wilson debuted for Atlanta at a younger age than Soroka later in the 2018 season ... Earned the win in his debut after allowing just six hits and one run over 6.0 innings, 5/1 at NYM...He fanned five in Atlanta's 3-2 win ... Won his debut at the age of 20 years, 270 days, becoming the youngest Braves pitcher to win his debut since LHP Charlie Vaughan beat Houston in game one of a doubleheader on 9/3/66 ... Soroka beat the NL East-leading New York Mets...The last time a pitcher as youngas Soroka won his major league debut against a team in first place at the time was 1997, when the Dodgers' Dennys Reyes beat the San Francisco Giants on 7/13...Reyes was 20 years, 85 days at the time, while the Giants were 52-39 and leading the NL West by four games over the Dodgers ... Needed just 80 pitches to complete his 6.0 innings, becoming just the second Braves pitcher to go that long in as few pitches during his major league debut... RHP Ryan Weber went 6.0 innings in 74 pitches on 9/8/15 ... Was placed on Atlanta's disabled list on 5/14 and missed 24 games with a right shoulder strain… Was reinstated on 6/13 after a rehabilitation assignment to Single-A Rome and Triple-A Gwinnett ... Returned from the disabled list and held the Mets to one hit and one walk over 6.1 innings on 6/13 ... Carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Michael Conforto singled to lead off the inning ... At 20 years, 313 days, became the youngest pitcher in the franchise's modern era to allow only one hit or less in a start of any length…Since World War II, only 17 other major league pitchers aged 20 or younger have allowed one hit or less in a start of at least 6.1 innings ... Made his final start of the season on 6/19 at TOR…The Calgary, Alberta native became the youngest Canadian-born pitcher to ever pitch in Canada at 20 years, 319 days...The previous youngest was MIL's Barry Cort, a Toronto native, who started on 5/3/77 vs. the Blue Jays at the age of 21 years, 18 days ... Was placed on the 10-day disabled list on 6/20 (right shoulder inflammation) and missed the remainder of the season…Was transferred to the 60-day disabled list on 6/27 ... Went 2-1 with a 1.76 ERA (6 ER/30.2 IP) in six starts at the minor league level ... Became the youngest Opening Day starter in the 10-year history of Gwinnett's franchise...Soroka (20 years, 8 months, 2 days) was nearly two years younger than the previous youngest, RHP Tommy Hanson (22 years, 7 months, 12 days), who pitched the inaugural game in Gwinnett history, 4/9/09.
2017
Spent the season at Double-A Mississippi, earning Southern League Mid-Season All-Star honors...Also named the Braves' organizational Pitcher of the Year...Was over five years younger than the average SL pitcher...His 11 wins tied for the fourth most in the SL and were the second most among Atlanta minor leaguers...He finished second in the SL with a 2.75 ERA (47 ER/153.2 IP), fourth with 153.2 innings and third with a 1.09 WHIP...His 153.2 innings were the most by a Braves minor leaguer...Fanned double digits twice, including a season- high 12 over 7.0 innings on 7/18 vs. Biloxi...Had nine starts in which he did not walk a batter...As a reference, only seven MLB pitchers had at least nine starts in 2017 with no walks...Compiled a seven-game winning streak over an eight-start stretch, 5/12-6/24...Pitched to a 1.40 ERA (8 ER/51.1 IP) over his run.
2016
Spent his first full professional season with Single-A Rome...Ended the year in the Top 10 among Atlanta farmhands (min. 75.0 IP) in wins (T3rd, 9), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3rd, 3.91), WHIP (T4th, 1.133), innings (5th, 143.0), walks per 9.0 innings (5th, 2.0), ERA (6th, 3.02) and strikeouts (8th, 125)...Went 7-0 over his last eight starts, pitching to a 2.39 ERA (13 ER/49.0 IP) and fanning 44 from 7/20-8/31...Made a pair of postseason starts and allowed just one earned run over 14.2 innings (0.61 ERA), as Rome won the SAL championship...Named a South Atlantic League All-Star and tossed 1.0 perfect inning with one strikeout in the South Division's 2-1 loss in the contest...Earned his first professional win in his seventh start of the season and the 17th outing of his career, tossing 5.2 one-hit innings with zero runs and five strikeouts.
2015
Split his first professional season between the GCL Braves and rookie-level Danville, combining to go 0-2 with a 3.18 ERA (12 ER/34.0), walking just five batters and fanning 37...His rate of 7.40 SO/BB was second best among Braves farmhands (min. 20.0 IP)...Held right-handed batters to a .119 (8-for-67) average.
