Return of Mike Soroka is the Braves’ X-factor in 2021

The Atlanta Braves got to Game 7 of the NLCS without staff ace Mike Soroka. With his healthy return, they’re World Series contenders

The most important pitch of the 2020 season for the Atlanta Braves was thrown in their 11th game. On Aug. 3, during a Monday night game against the New York Mets at Truist Park, staff ace Mike Soroka induced a groundball from J.D. Davis and raced over to cover first base.

He never got there. Soroka took an awkward step off the mound and crumpled to the ground in pain. The diagnosis was a torn right Achilles tendon, his season over after just three starts.

In Soroka’s absence, 26-year-old left-hander Max Fried filled the void in the Braves’ starting rotation. After Soroka got hurt, Fried ranked fifth in the National League with a 2.23 ERA. He went 7-0 in 11 starts, becoming the first pitcher in 27 years to make at least 10 starts without recording a loss. Fried nearly went the entire season without giving up a home run, the only two he surrendered coming on Sept. 23 against the Marlins in his last start.

Behind Fried, the Braves won the NL East for a third straight year and took a 3-1 series lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. A game away from the franchise’s first trip to the World Series in two decades, having Soroka to pair with Fried could’ve made a difference. But he could only watch as the Dodgers came back to win the series on their way to the championship.

The rest of the Braves rotation other than Fried was a sore spot in an otherwise championship-caliber season. Braves starters not named Max Fried had a 6.50 ERA following the loss of Soroka. Take away Fried’s numbers, the Braves pitching staff would’ve been the worst in the majors from Aug. 3; only the Detroit Tigers had a staff ERA worse than 6.00. It wasn’t until Aug. 26, the Braves’ 29th game of the season, that a starter other than Fried picked up a victory.

Atlanta Braves: Mike Soroka is the key to winning the NL East in 2021

Without Soroka to back up Fried, the Braves came to rely on rookie Ian Anderson, who made only six starts in the regular season but emerged as a postseason legend in October. Anderson began his postseason career with three straight scoreless starts, the first pitcher to do that since Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson in 1905. Manager Brian Snitker gave him the ball for Game 7 against the Dodgers. Not since 1952 did a team rely on a pitcher with as few career starts as Anderson in a Game 7. The Dodgers finally got to him in the third inning with two runs, snapping his legendary run and sending the Braves home.

Soroka, still just 23, is back in Braves camp and has been cleared to throw batting practice. Snitker is hopeful he’ll be able to make a start before the regular season.

Having him make a successful return in 2021 may be what separates the Braves from being World Series contenders to another October disappointment. In his rookie season in 2019, Soroka was fifth in the league with a 2.68 ERA and second among qualified starters in home runs allowed per nine innings, behind only Charlie Morton.

The 37-year-old Morton is now in Atlanta after signing a one-year contract in November and brings the club some much-needed experience. Anderson has his first big league exposure behind him and knows what it’s like to take the mound in a winner-take-all game. And then there is Fried, who picked up experience carrying a team on his proverbial back in 2020.

“I think these guys always want to get better. Max has continued to grow,” Snitker said earlier in spring training. “The maturity and what he’s done, I mean Max is going to be a guy that’s going to put himself in Cy Young conversations probably for the rest of his career. He’s come a long way.”

If everything goes well in Soroka’s recovery, Fried won’t have to do it by himself this season. The Braves, with a stacked lineup that includes reigning NL MVP Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna, and Marcell Ozuna, proved how far they could go last season. A healthy Soroka will help get them even further, returning to Atlanta the World Series trophy that narrowly eluded them in 2020.