Nationals come to Michael Soroka realization that made Braves fans scared to lose him

Following the 2023 MLB season, the Atlanta Braves sent five players to the Chicago White Sox in a deal that netted them Aaron Bummer. The deal made sense at the time, as Bummer gave the Braves a high-end left-handed reliever for their bullpen, and it felt as if Atlanta had parted with more quantity than quality in the deal. There was one player, however, that Braves fans didn't necessarily want to be included.

Michael Soroka was part of the deal, and was set to get a fresh start on the South Side. It made sense for the Braves to have included him since he had made a grand total of seven MLB appearances over the previous three seasons prior to the deal, but Braves fans (understandably) could not forget the potential that Soroka displayed early in his career.

Soroka was the NL Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2019 as he posted a 2.68 ERA in 29 starts and 174.2 innings of work. For reference, only three MLB pitchers threw at least 170 innings and had sub-2.70 ERAs in 2024. Chris Sale and Tarik Skubal both won Cy Young Awards, and Zack Wheeler was a runner-up. That's how good Soroka was, and he did that in a year in which the juiced baseballs were very prevalent.

Injury woes hit him hard after that, and he never really got a chance to compete at the MLB level on a larger scale until the 2024 campaign when he had to pitch for the worst team in modern MLB history. Soroka's overall numbers weren't great, but his 2.75 ERA in 16 appearances and 36 innings of work as a reliever showed some of that potential Braves fans fell in love with.

Rather than give him another chance, the Braves passed on Soroka, instead allowing him to sign a one-year, $9 million deal with the Washington Nationals. It's safe to say that's one Alex Anthopoulos might regret in hindsight.

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Mike Soroka might be one of the steals of the offseason for the Nationals

Soroka excelled in his first spring training start, and he might've been even better on Thursday. Facing a St. Louis Cardinals lineup that featured several regulars, Soroka allowed one run on four hits in four frames, striking out six batters. Perhaps most impressively, Soroka generated at least a 43 percent whiff rate on three of his four pitches, which is really tough to do across four frames.

To put it simply, the upside with Soroka is enormous. Granted, he hasn't pitched much since his dazzling 2019, but that one season showed that he has ace stuff in the tank as long as he can stay on the field.

I'm not here to say Soroka will be an ace for Washington, but he certainly can be a vital piece in an improving rotation, and happens to be on a team that will be battling with the Braves in the NL East.

The Braves not adding a starting pitcher all offseason only to watch Soroka dazzle in a Nationals uniform on a cheap contract is a frustrating turn of events.