Including last night’s wild walk-off, 10 of the Braves’ last 12 games have been decided by one run.
Winning certainly makes things a little easier.
But how’s the old ticker feeling these days?
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
They’ve now lost when I mentioned it and when I didn’t mention it, so who cares at this point: The Braves are 20-21 and have another shot at hitting .500 today.
📺 How to watch: First pitch at 7:15 p.m. on FanDuel Sports. And at Truist Park.
⚾ The starters: Spencer Schwellenbach (1-3, 3.61) vs. Michael Soroka (0-2, 7.20).
The latter is a very familiar name, of course. Let’s talk about it.
THE SOROKA STORY
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Michael Soroka came up with the Braves. He made five starts in 2018 and officially arrived a season later: 13-4. 2.68 ERA. All-star. Rookie of the year runner-up.
Then it all came crumbling down.
A ruptured Achilles. And another. Three entire seasons missed, more or less.
The Braves gave him a shot in 2023 — but he just didn’t have it.
So what has he been up to since? Glad you asked.
After the 2023 season, Atlanta traded Soroka (and several minor leaguers) to the Chicago White Sox for Aaron Bummer.
“The difficult part was I felt near the end of the year, I’d figured it out,” he later told the AJC. “I’d figured out how to compete to the best of my ability to that point. And I spent a lot of those innings in Triple-A. So obviously that was difficult. But I’m not going to let that ruin all the happy days I did have in that organization all the way up.”
- Soroka went 0-5 with a 6.39 ERA in nine starts for the Sox.
- Then they moved him to the bullpen, where his ERA dropped to a cool 2.75.
That, for some reason, wasn’t good enough for the worst team in the history of baseball.
Chicago let him walk after the season — and the Nationals scooped him up on a one-year, $9 million deal.
Which brings us to 2025.
Soroka surrendered four runs in five innings in his first start with Washington. And then, bless him, hit the injured list with a strained biceps.
He finally returned last week — and posted a nearly identical stat line against the Guardians.
“We’ve got to keep him healthy, right?” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said at the time. “But I think he’s going to give us a lot of innings, keep us in games just like he did today.”
Returning to Atlanta is a different animal, of course.
Soroka said this to the AJC during spring training: “I’m excited for it. I think everybody envisions going out there against a former team. I think it’s going to be important for me to keep the expectations low and keep the execution high as I can.”
The ovation he’ll receive at Truist Park tonight might make that compartmentalization a little harder.
But he’s earned it. I hope he soaks it in.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC
The Braves took a 3-1 lead into the ninth. And Raisel Iglesias blew another save, his third in nine opportunities this year.
It was another rally fueled by singles and bad luck, with the tying run scoring on a Nick Allen throwing error — his first defensive misstep all season.
But this story has a happy ending!
Eli White started the bottom of the ninth with a single. Allen sacrificed him over. And Alex Verdugo drove him in to get the 4-3 win — and a chance to don the prestigious Dubble Bubble Bucket Crown.
- This absurd Michael Harris II catch is worth reliving, too!
ACUÑA ON THE MOVE
Finally, some more concrete-feeling news about Ronald Acuña Jr.’s recovery: The former MVP starts a rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League today.
That’s the lowest possible minor league level, but playing in actual games is a major step forward. And the rules say Acuña’s only allowed up to 20 days on a rehab assignment.
🗣️ Said manager Brian Snitker: “They’ll reevaluate him (every day) and determine the next steps. It’ll be good to get him running around in the outfield again and getting the at-bats.”
- Spencer Strider, meanwhile, may be back as soon as next week. More details in link above.
YEAH! A NEW BOBBLEHEAD!
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
The Braves announced a brand new bobblehead giveaway. It’s a fun one, at least for ~geriatric millennials~ like myself.
Usher!
The first 15,000 folks at Truist Park on June 18 (that’s a Wednesday against the Mets) will take home their very own miniature version of the R&B superstar (and recent Emory University commencement speaker).
He’s standing on roller skates, flashing a “peace up” and wearing the “A-town down” part of the Atlanta-centric catchphrase he helped popularize in the early 2000s.
(What, uh … what are y’all thinking about the likeness, though?)
Thanks for reading Braves Report. Tell a friend — and maybe give the AJC’s Sports Daily newsletter a shot, too.
Until next time.
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