Less than three years ago, the Braves used a first-round pick (28th overall) on a high schooler from Calgary named Mike Soroka. Tuesday, Soroka will be squaring off against Noah Syndergaard and the Mets in his MLB debut.
Soroka, 20, moved unbelievably quickly through the system for a high school draftee, particularly for a pitcher. He pitched in Rookie ball in 2015, Class A in 2016, Double-A last year and has made just four Triple-A starts this season. In all, he has a career 2.85 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 311 strikeouts against 76 walks in 353 1/3 innings.
In his four Triple-A starts this season, Soroka has a 1.99 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 24 strikeouts versus five walks in 22 2/3 innings.
Soroka is an imposing 6-foot-5 and is known for having good command of five pitches. Yes, five. Most notably, he'll sit in the mid-90s with his fourseam fastball and sinker. He's also a heavy user of his changeup and the curve will make an occasional entrance.
Perhaps the most notable item here is the Braves bringing up Soroka less than a week after they tabbed uber-prospect Ronald Acuna for the big-league roster. Also, remember how young second baseman Ozzie Albies is. In fact, the three youngest players in the majors right now are, in order of youth, Acuna, Soroka and Albies.
The Braves are 16-11 with Acuna off to an excellent start and Albies looking like a star next to veteran star Freddie Freeman. Now we'll get a look at Soroka on the big stage in a fun pitching matchup.
Now, let's mitigate some of the excitement here with some possibly bad news:
Still, it's gotta be a fun time for Braves fans, as the team continues to flash some big-time, young talent.