Page 212 - 2021 ATL Media Guide

MIKE SOROKA
FRONT OFFICE • Has made three trips to the injured list in his • Won a career-best 10 consecutive decisions,
career, missing time in 2018 and 2020.
April 24 to July 14, 2019...Went 10-0 with a 2.27
ERA (23 ER/91.1 IP) during the stretch, which
• Made two trips with a right shoulder strain
in 2018, first missing from 5/14 to 6/13 spanned 15 total starts.
before being sidelined for good from • Became just the sixth Braves pitcher
6/20 through the end of the season... in the live-ball era (since 1920) with a
Transferred to the 60-day DL on June 27. double-digit win streak and the first since
MANAGER & STAFF • Finished second in the N.L. Rookie of the Year • Went 9-1 with a 2.42 ERA (24 ER/89.1 IP) over
Greg Maddux also won 10 straight in
• Tore his right Achilles on 8/3/20 and
2001.
missed the remainder of the season.
voting, sixth in Cy Young balloting and earned
the youngest pitcher in franchise history to be
All-Star honors during his rookie season in 2019. 15 starts to open the 2019 season and became
• Made 29 starts during the season, going named an All-Star.
13-4 with a 2.68 ERA (52 ER/174.2 IP), • Made his All-Star Game debut with a
scoreless sixth inning, 7/9 at Progressive
142 strikeouts and a .236 opponents’
MIKE SOROKA average…Ranked third in the N.L. in ERA Field...Retired Whit Merrifield, Carlos
Santana and Dan Vogelbach.
(2.68) and tied for 10th in wins (13).
• His 2.68 ERA was the lowest by a rookie in
making the National League team marked
the majors, and the lowest by any rookie • Soroka, 21, and Ronald Acuña Jr., 21, both
pitcher since Miami’s Jose Fernandez the first time in major league history a
pitched to a 2.19 ERA over 28 starts in single club had two players under the age
of 22 go to the All-Star Game in the same
2013…Soroka’s mark was third lowest
SEASON IN REVIEW by any Braves rookie in the live-ball era • Allowed no more than one earned run in each
season.
(since 1920), trailing just a 2.38 ERA by
of his first eight starts of 2019...Soroka joined
Jim Turner in 1937 and a 2.57 mark by
Nate Andrews in 1943, both of which
Oakland’s Mike Norris (1980) as the only pitchers
came when the franchise was still in Cincinnati’s Edinson Vólquez (2008) and
Boston. in the live-ball era (since 1920) to begin the
season with eight consecutive starters of one
PLAYER DEVELOPMENT over 16 starts on the road…Soroka’s 1.55 earned run or less...No pitcher has gone nine
• Went 7-1 with a 1.55 ERA (17 ER/98.2 IP)
straight.
ERA on the road was best in the majors
• For his career, the righty allowed one
among qualified starters, and nearly a
earned run or fewer in 11 of his first 13
full point lower than the closest pitcher
(Jacob deGrom, 2.34)…Since 1913, only
three qualified Braves pitchers had a starts...Since earned runs became an
official statistic in both leagues in 1913, no
better ERA on the road than Soroka’s other pitcher in history had as many such
mark in 2019...Greg Maddux pitched to a starts among his first 13 career games...
BRAVES HISTORY while Bill James compiled a 1.53 ERA on eight such starts through his first 10
In fact, Soroka was the only one to have
1.12 ERA in 1995 and a 1.37 ERA in 1994,
career games.
the road for the 1914 Boston Braves.
• Turned 22 years old on August 4, 2019 and went
in history (since 1913) by a pitcher aged
12-3 with a 2.58 ERA (40 ER/139.2 IP) in 24 starts • Soroka’s 1.07 ERA was the third lowest
aged 21 or younger...His 24 starts before turning 21 or younger in his first eight starts of
22 are fourth-most in franchise history since the season, according to research by the
1908, and the most since Steve Avery made 56 Elias Sports Bureau...Only Los Angeles’
OPPONENTS such starts. Fernando Valenzuela (0.50, 1981) and
Oakland’s Vida Blue (1.02, 1971) had lower
• He is one of 145 pitchers in the live-
marks through eight starts.
ball era (since 1920) to make at least 24
starts aged 21 or younger...Of those 145 • Had his contract selected from Triple-A Gwinnett
pitchers, Soroka’s 2.58 ERA was fifth on May 1, 2018 and made his major league debut
lowest, trailing just José Fernandez (2.25 that night at New York (NL)… Made his major
in 36 starts), Dwight Gooden (2.28 in 99 league debut at the age of 20 years, 270 days...
MISCELLANEOUS 212 Vida Blue (2.36 in 49 starts). start for Atlanta since RH Julio Teheran debuted
Was the youngest pitcher to make his debut in a
starts), Mark Fidrych (2.34 in 29 starts) and
at 20 years, 100 days on 5/7/11.
2021 ATLANTA BRAVES MEDIA GUIDE