3 Atlanta Braves prospects to call up this September, 1 who isn’t ready

Braves prospects to promote: Michael Soroka

Calling Soroka a prospect is being generous, as he is 26 years old and has made an All-Star team. Still, Soroka has spent the majority of the last three seasons reinventing himself as a pitcher post-injury. He’s finally found a bit of sustained success in the minor leagues of late, and ought to be called up for a spot start or two while Atlanta waits for Kyle Wright to come back healthy and fill out their starting rotation.

Soroka is in the middle of a service-time dilemma, as his contract is set to run up in 2025 if he spends 20 or more days in the majors for the remainder of the season. Soroka is pitching very well in Gwinnett, and the Braves need pitching. However, it would seem Atlanta prefers to have that extra year on Soroka’s deal rather than the rotation help now.

As FanSided’s John Buhler wrote on Sunday, Anthopoulos is between a rock and a hard place here:

"“Although the Braves have the likes of Bryce Elder and Spencer Strider under team control for the foreseeable future, it would be such a shame if their pitching staff could not keep pace with Atlanta’s most potent lineup down the line. We have seen the type of big-game pitcher Soroka can be at times, albeit that was several years ago. It is all about extending their championship runway. To be frank, what would you do if you were in general manager Alex Anthopoulos’ shoes? You would probably do the same exact thing. The hope would be to do right by Soroka ahead of his next one or two contracts to get him slightly more money than he would out on the open market. Anthpoulos does not overpay, but he will dole out mega deals to younger players on the come-up.”"

MLB can be a dirty business at times. However, Soroka should contribute to this Braves team again before the end of the season.