Score one for the Nationals in free agency: they have agreed to a one-year deal with RHP Mike Soroka, reported by MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand to be worth $9 million.
Soroka, 27, spent last season with the record-breaking White Sox, going 0-10 with a 4.74 ERA in 25 appearances (nine starts). He signed with Washington to be a starter, per reports, but he was aces when he moved to Chicago’s bullpen in May, posting a 2.75 ERA and 15.0 K/9 as a reliever and holding opponents to a .189 batting average around missing two months with a shoulder strain.
The righty had been a starter his entire career otherwise, making 43 starts for Atlanta from 2018-23, and he truly burst on the scene in 2019, when he was 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA over 29 starts (174 2/3 innings) and earned an All-Star nod.
However, injuries derailed the rest of his time there. He had made just five starts in his rookie year of 2018 thanks to a shoulder injury, and made just three starts in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season before tearing his right Achilles tendon – an injury that cost him the rest of 2020, and then all of 2021 and 2022 after a re-tear.
He returned in May 2023 and made just six MLB starts and one relief appearance, posting a 6.40 ERA. He also had a 3.41 ERA in 17 starts at Triple-A Gwinnett, but the Braves decided to trade him to the White Sox in a multi-player deal for Aaron Bummer.
If he is to be a starter for Washington, he would provide a ‘veteran’ presence in a young Nats group that includes MacKenzie Gore, DJ Herz, Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker, and Jackson Rutledge.
Washington has both Cade Cavalli and Josiah Gray recovering from Tommy John surgery, so the addition of Soroka gives them an extra right-handed arm to the mix, one who has success in relief as well if that ends up as the final destination.