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Braves right-hander Mike Soroka suffered a torn right Achilles tendon in Atlanta’s 7-2 loss to the Mets on Monday night and will miss the rest of the 2020 season:
RHP Mike Soroka suffered a torn right Achilles’ tendon tonight. He is out for the season.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 4, 2020
Soroka, a 2019 All-Star who finished sixth in NL Cy Young voting and second in NL Rookie of the Year voting last year, suffered the injury in the top of the third inning and had to be helped off the field.
Mike Soroka has to be helped off the field after getting injured trying to cover first base.
— FOX Sports: Braves (@FOXSportsBraves) August 3, 2020
Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/c9OrtccCZC
It had been a rough outing for the Canadian right-hander, who presumably will not have much fun as he turns 23 years old on Tuesday. Soroka, who allowed three hits and four walks over 2.1 innings, exited with the Braves trailing 3-0, and Chris Rusin allowed one of his inherited runners to score later in the third.
Soroka had been just as dominant as he was in 2019 coming into Monday, though; he entered the game with a 1.59 ERA, eight strikeouts, and three walks over 11.1 innings in two starts this season.
Beyond his absence being terrible for fans who just enjoy watching dominant starting pitchers, it could have devastating consequences for the Braves. Max Fried is now the only really dependable starter in a rotation that is now without injured lefty Cole Hamels and earlier this season lost Félix Hernández, who opted out of the season due to COVID-19 concerns, and Mike Foltynewicz, who was designated for assignment and outrighted off the 40-man roster for reasons that are still not quite clear.
Atlanta’s rotation already includes Sean Newcomb, who has struggled to reacclimate to a rotation role after spending 2019 primarily in the bullpen, and Touki Toussaint and Kyle Wright, two former first-rounders who have experienced miserable results at the big-league level. Beyond bringing back Foltynewicz or recently-outrighted right-hander Jhoulys Chacín, the Braves have plenty of other young rotation options, all of whom are intriguing but none of whom are proven at the big-league level: Ian Anderson, Tucker Davidson, Jasseel De La Cruz, Kyle Muller, Patrick Weigel, Bryse Wilson, and Huascar Ynoa.