Mike Soroka Says Winning Helped Get Over ‘Heartbreak’

TORONTO—After an impressive run in his first full season ending with a South Atlantic League title for his Rome Braves, it might be easy for Mike Soroka to forget about the championship he missed out on the year before.

But among a group of some of the best Canadian players in the game, at Baseball Canada’s National Teams Awards Banquet and Fundraiser last week, in an environment where talk of playing for the country north of the border was rampant, the 19-year-old righthander was reminded of the heartbreak that started his career in the Braves organization.

“It was tough,” Soroka said, referring to the confusing situation that wrongly led him to believe that he would be able to suit up for Canada for his last time as a junior at the 18U Baseball World Cup in Nishinomiya, Japan in August of 2015, after being selected by Atlanta in the first round—28th overall—that June.

“I kind of understood the situation—it was difficult for the Braves at the time,” the native of Calgary, Alberta, said. “There was a bit of a misunderstanding before I signed. We had caught wind that it would be able to go through and I would be there (in Japan), but then we heard once I actually did get (to Orlando with the Braves), and it was a misunderstanding really. They made it clear they understood how much it meant to me, but they just couldn’t send me off that early after signing.

“It was my first year and they had taken me and thrown me around in bullpens and stuff, and their worry was that I would get all into it again and want to get there. I know Greg (Hamilton, director of Baseball Canada’s national teams) gave me reassurance that I would be on their pitch count, their pitching rules, their days’ rest, but nevertheless I understand from a business standpoint where the Braves were coming from.

“I get that (I’m an asset) now. It’s different that way, but if I ever got a chance to play (for the senior team), I’d be jumping at it real fast. There’s nothing like it. We had a special team in Rome this year, but at the same time my best times and my best friends are made with Team Canada. It’s a special place.”

Preparing to play at the World Cup even while he started his pro career in the Gulf Coast League, Soroka and Hamilton fought for Canada’s young ace hurler to represent his country until their efforts became counterproductive, bringing his summer to a surprising and upsetting end.

“There were just some things said that shouldn’t have been said at the time, that weren’t clarified with people who had input in the decision,” Soroka said. “That’s all it was. I understand that. I was pretty heartbroken, but I get it . . . We definitely fought hard for it. We had to kind of back off at a certain point. We just weren’t doing any good anymore, and risking breaking ties or something like that, so we had to chill out.”

The best remedy for Soroka’s heartbreak was the success that he found after a fresh start last season, beginning and ending his year in Rome, and loving every minute of it. In 24 regular season starts, the pitcher who didn’t celebrate his 19th birthday until August posted a 3.02 ERA over 143 innings with 32 walks, 125 strikeouts, and a 1.13 WHIP, holding opponents to a .244 average.

“It was crazy,” Soroka said. “We had the talent from start to finish. We were the youngest team at the beginning of the year by two-and-a-half years. We were super young. But Rome is a special place for baseball.

“We were slow at the beginning of the year, there were I don’t know how many games where we just couldn’t get that run in the seventh inning that we needed. Then all of a sudden the second half rolled around and we had a long talk with management, and we got back to playing the game the way it’s meant to be played. We were trying to do a little too much. We were in our heads. We got back to just playing and it was one series after another, and all of a sudden we go on a nine or 10-game win streak and we were right in the playoffs.”

Along with many of his teammates, Soroka’s year in the SAL was his first full season of baseball. By the time they reach its tail end, they had decided that if they were going to extend their time together, they wanted to be submitting ring sizes when all was said and done. Soroka did his part in his two postseason starts, allowing just one earned run over 14.2 frames, walking one and fanning 10.

“It was a ton of fun, going all the way around and winning the championship,” Soroka said. “It was well worth it, the whole year that you spend in Rome when it’s 100 degrees with 100 percent humidity, you get around to it and it’s the end of the year and you’re thinking it’s almost time to go home.

“We weren’t homesick, but everyone misses home a little bit. We were in the playoffs and we said, ‘If we’re in it, we better win it,’ and we did. We really did put our pedal to the metal and we didn’t stop. Our entire pitching staff was just lights out in the playoffs, and we hit. There weren’t even too many close, nail-biter games in the playoffs.”

Among a group of exceptional players, Soroka is looking to keep the winning going as he moves forward in the organization, and hoping to share the feeling with as many of his Rome teammates as possible.

“We had a pretty loaded bonus baby roster,” he said. “There were a lot of us. There were a ton of guys who are expected to be there (in Atlanta) one day, and to be around that and be surrounded by those guys is good. It was different than most clubs I’m sure . . . They made it pretty clear that they want to keep at least the core of us together, and we had really good chemistry and we went to battle for each other every day, and they want to keep us together because they do want to build a winning atmosphere.”

With last year’s championship still at the forefront of his mind, and his first full season under his belt, the 6-foot-4, 195-pound righty feels more ready than ever for what lies ahead and can’t wait to get going.

“I’m really excited because this year I know what’s going on,” Soroka said. “Last year I went into spring training wide-eyed and I didn’t know exactly what was ahead of me, and I was just trying to break with a full-season team. Now I’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s going on at spring training and who’s going to be there and how it works. Just to know myself, and know what I have to do to be a full-season pitcher and not just weeks at a time, that’s going to go a long way this year.”