Braves pitcher Mike Soroka will need season-ending surgery after re-tearing his right Achilles, the team announced on Saturday.
The 23-year-old budding star has been sidelined since originally tearing the tendon last August in a game against the New York Mets. He had surgery soon after, and was rehabbing with the aim of returning this season until he had a setback in May, prompting exploratory surgery.
But this week, Soroka felt a "pop" in his heel at Truist Park in Atlanta, and an MRI revealed a "complete re-tear," the team said.
While Soroka's 2021 return was already in doubt after the exploratory surgery revealed his heel was rejecting sutures from the initial procedure, the re-tear and upcoming reconstructive surgery confirms it. The procedure will mark at least the third surgery on Soroka's ankle since the fateful injury last year.
The unfortunate series of setbacks has put a promising career on hold. Soroka, a first-round pick in 2015, was developing into a workhorse ace for the Braves' staff, compiling a tidy 2.86 ERA in 214 career innings, across 37 starts. The native Canadian was an All-Star in his only full season in the Majors, in 2019.