Atlanta pitcher Mike Soroka was absolutely brilliant last season as a rookie, finishing second for NL Rookie of the Year. Here are two props available to wager at Mybookie on Soroka’s and the Braves’ 2020 MLB season – assuming there is one – and an overview.
Mike Soroka Awards Odds & Analysis For 2020 Season
- NL Cy Young Award: Soroka is +2200
- Odds to win AL East: Braves are +175 favorites
is from Canada – the Braves drafted him 28th overall in the 2015 MLB draft, and he made his MLB debut in 2018. He was an All-Star last year as a rookie, making 29 starts and going 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA (52 ER/174.2 IP), 142 strikeouts and a .236 opponents’ average.
The right-hander ranked fifth in the majors and third in the NL in ERA. Only Hyun-Jin Ryu (2.32), Jacob deGrom (2.43), Gerrit Cole (2.50) and Justin Verlander (2.58) were better. His 2.68 ERA was the lowest by a rookie in the majors, and the lowest by any rookie pitcher since Miami’s Jose Fernandez pitched to a 2.19 ERA over 28 starts in 2013.
ERA was third lowest by any Braves rookie in the live-ball era (since 1920), trailing just a 2.38 ERA by Jim Turner in 1937 and a 2.57 mark by Nate Andrews in 1943, both of which came when the franchise was still in Boston. Soroka went 7-1 with a 1.55 ERA (17 ER/98.2 IP) over 16 starts on the road.
His 1.55 ERA on the road was best in the majors among qualified starters, and nearly a full point lower than the closest pitcher (deGrom, 2.34). Since 1913, only three qualified Braves pitchers had a better ERA on the road than Soroka’s mark: Greg Maddux pitched to a 1.12 ERA in 1995 and a 1.37 ERA in 1994, while Bill James compiled a 1.53 ERA on the road for the 1914 Boston Braves.
also slightly out performed his Expected Field Independent Pitching (xFIP) stat. His 3.45 FIP was good enough for 7th in the NL and 14th in MLB. His average exit velocity (87 MPH) was better than league average (75th percentile), which improved significantly when just looking at ground balls (84.3). The majority of hard-hit balls are hit low; many pounded right into the ground.
In the NLDS against the Cardinals, Soroka started Game 3. He became just the third rookie pitcher in franchise history to make a postseason start. Julio Teheran was the last to do so, starting Game 3 of the 2013 NLDS at Los Angeles. Vern Bickford started for the Boston Braves in Game 3 of the 1948 World Series at Cleveland.
, at 22 years, 63 days, was the youngest pitcher to start a playoff game since the Dodgers’ Julio Urías went 3.2 innings on October 19, 2016 in the NLCS against the Cubs. Urías took a 10-2 loss. The last younger pitcher to start a Game 3 or better was 21-year-old Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers in Game 1 of the 2009 NLCS vs. Philadelphia.
dominated the Cardinals, allowing a run on two hits over seven innings, but didn’t factor in the decision. He allowed a softly-hit double by Marcell Ozuna to lead off the second inning, and he came around to score. He later gave up a single to Ozuna but nothing more. Soroka struck out seven.
The last pitcher younger than Soroka to start a playoff road game was Madison Bumgarner, who at 21 won Game 4 of the 2010 World Series with 8.0 shutout innings over Texas.
had a minor groin injury this spring that pushed his first Grapefruit League start back, but nothing too serious. He tweaked the groin when his spike got caught on the mound while throwing live batting practice. Soroka had a 3.12 ERA in 8.1 spring innings before the MLB shutdown.
Still only 22 years old, Soroka has made 34 big league starts. He’s 15-5 overall with a 2.79 earned run average. Soroka has allowed 183 hits in 200.1 innings, with 52 earned runs allowed, 48 walks and 163 strikeouts.
