Mike Soroka’s first rehab start was literally perfect news for Braves

Mike Soroka’s first rehab start with High-A Rome could not have gone more swimmingly for the Braves. It was pretty much perfect.

The goal of Mike Soroka’s first rehab start was really just to get him on the mound, let him pitch three innings, then move on to the next phase of his return.

Simply getting him through 40 pitches would have been fine. He went and upped the ante with a performance to get the mouths of Braves fans everywhere watering.

He pitched three innings of perfection.

Mike Soroka was perfect in his first rehab start

Specifically, Soroka struck out eight of the first nine pitchers he faced. He threw 31 pitches with 25 strikes to get those outs, per Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

He came back out for a fourth inning of action and gave up one hit. So he didn’t quite have a perfect outing, but only in the literal sense. For the Braves organization and its fans, it was perfect enough.

Soroka was facing High-A competition, so there’s a long way for him to go before he can get back to work on a major league mound. The outing with Rome goes to show his stuff is definitely still there. It’s a matter of time before he can show it at the highest level.

It’s been a while since Soroka has been able to contribute for Atlanta. He was a breakout star in 2019, becoming the youngest player in franchise history to make the All-Star team. He was the Opening Day starter for the team in 2020 but played just three games before tearing his Achilles’ tendon.

A series of setbacks kept him out for all of 2021 and through the first half of 2022. He is not expected to make a full return until September at the earliest.