Michael Soroka struggles against Reds, still searching for command

One reason why the White Sox traded with the Braves last November was to get some help for the starting rotation. Michael Soroka was a key piece of the deal that sent Aaron Bummer to Atlanta. At the time, the Sox had already traded Lucas Giolito and would eventually trade Dylan Cease, so there was a need for pitching.

Soroka came with something of a positive track record: He finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting and was an All Star in 2019. But he tore his right achilles tendon in August 2020 and then tore it again in June 2021, which kept him out of action in 2021 and 2022. Soroka pitched 32 ⅓ innings for the Braves in 2023 and posted a 6.40 ERA. When the Sox traded for the 26-year-old, clearly they hoped that a healthy Soroka could help the rotation. And the results this spring were encouraging. In Arizona, Soroka had a 1.38 ERA and 17 strikeouts to 5 walks.

But since then, he has looked less like a viable long-term option for the Sox. In four starts so far this season, he has a 6.98 ERA and a 1.76 WHIP. On Sunday, an 11-4 loss to the Reds, Soroka walked six batters and gave up five hits and five runs.

“It was unacceptable to be out there and all over the place with the fastball,” Soroka said. “That’s something I’ve done well my whole life, and I felt like [for] whatever reason getting out there and trying to do too much with it. Be too perfect with it, not trusting it. It was moving a good amount. Gots lot of weak contact with it.”

The Reds did the most damage against Soroka in the third inning, when they scored four runs on a two-run homer by Christian Encarnacion-Strand and a Jeimer Candelario two-RBI single. Candelario’s hit was preceded by back-to-back walks.

“The walks are unacceptable, and I got burned on that. And there was a reason I wasn’t able to go deeper after I did eventually figure things out,” Soroka said. “I need to not take 75 pitches to figure those things out. Let it go, trust it earlier and be who I know I can be.”

In the fourth inning, Soroka held the Reds to one baserunner – still, a walk – and said he felt like his pitches came to life after a mental shift from the third to fourth innings. Soroka said he stopped trying to pitch for results and instead focused on trying to let his best stuff play. Until then, he said he was overly concerned with trying to be perfect. As he put it, Soroka felt like he was trying to avoid giving up hard contact rather than trusting his stuff.

“I think back to the times I did have the most success, the game felt easiest,” he said. “It felt like everything wasn’t a struggle or I wasn’t treating every hitter like ’04 Barry Bonds. Attacking them, letting it eat, letting my stuff play.”

That mentality might be a microcosm of where the Sox are as a group 15 games into the season. They are 2-13, making this year the worst 15-game start in franchise history. The 1968 White Sox went 3-12 to start that season, and they went on to finish 67-95. It’s too early to tell whether this year’s group will do worse than other historically bad teams, like the 1932 squad with the lowest winning percentage (.325) or the 1970 team with the most losses (106).

The 2024 White Sox are at the bottom of the league in runs scored, and their team ERA (4.82) going into Sunday’s game against Cincinnati was 24th in baseball. And there isn’t a lot of reason for optimism; three of the most productive bats from the Opening Day lineup are on the injured list, and the output from the starting rotation falls off a cliff after Garrett Crochet. They scored four runs against the Reds in the series finale but are averaging just over two runs scored per game. The Sox have been shut out five times in their first fifteen games.

“Personally, I just think guys are pressing,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “They really care. They want to turn this around. They want to produce, participate, they want to be a part of the solution. A part of the turnaround, and with that comes — it could be a little bit of pressing and anxiety.”

Grifol stressed after Sunday’s loss that righting the ship has to be a team effort, but part of that comes from individual improvements. Like better starting pitching. For his part, Soroka might still be able to rectify things on the mound and wind up being a helpful arm in the rotation. After the mental shift that he said he had against the Reds, Soroka only allowed two baserunners and all four of his strikeouts happened in the fourth and fifth innings.

The Sox may have some rotation help on the way. They signed Mike Clevinger earlier this month and he should be ready to join the team by the end of April. He was one of the best pitchers in the Sox rotation in 2023, leading the rotation in ERA. And on Sunday, Grifol said that Nick Nastrini will get called up to start in the series opener against the Royals on Monday. Nastrini pitched well enough in Arizona this spring to be a part of the rotation discussion right up to the final days before Opening Day. He had a 3.77 ERA in 14 ⅓ innings.

“I like [Nastrini’s] stuff, he’s got talent. He’s got great presence. He’s not afraid,” Grifol said. “Obviously it’s going to be his debut. We’ll see how it goes. There’s guys that come up here and this is the level for them. And there’s guys that come up here and they’ve got to make adjustments after their first or second start. But debuts are debuts. We’ll see what happens.

“But he’s got good stuff, he’s got presence, he’s not scared. He’s going to compete his ass off, that’s for sure.”