Soroka traded to White Sox

November 17, 2023

By Kevin Glew

Cooperstowners in Canada

The Atlanta Braves have traded Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) to the Chicago White Sox as part of a five-player package for left-hander Aaron Bummer.

Also headed to the White Sox are pitchers Jared Shuster and Riley Gowens and infielders Nicky Lopez and Braden Shewmake.

The deal was announced by the Braves early this morning.

Soroka was one of the best comeback stories of the 2023 season. He pitched his first big league games since he tore his right Achilles tendon on August 3, 2020. In seven appearances (six starts) with the Braves, he went 2-2 with a 6.40 ERA. He fanned 29 batters in 32 1/3 innings.

He spent the bulk of the campaign with the triple-A Gwinnett Stripers, going 4-4 with a 3.41 ERA in 17 starts, striking out 92 in 87 innings. He was named International League Pitcher of the Month for the month of August.

After initially tearing his right Achilles tendon in August 2020, Soroka then re-tore it the following June. After two years of recovery and rehabilitation, Soroka returned to game action in August 2022 and posted a 5.40 ERA in six late-season starts between class-A and triple-A before being shut down with elbow inflammation.

A graduate of the Calgary Redbirds and Junior National Team, Soroka was a first-round pick (28th overall) of the Braves in 2015. In 2019, he went 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA in 29 starts and finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting.

In total, in parts of four major league seasons with the Braves, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound right-hander went 17-8 with a 3.32 ERA in 44 games.

In Bummer, the Braves obtain a veteran left-handed reliever. The 30-year-old southpaw was 5-5 with a 6.79 ERA, with 79 strikeouts in 58 1/3 innings, in 61 appearances in 2023. Originally chosen by the White Sox in the 19th round of the 2014 MLB draft, Bummer pitched seven seasons with the club. In 289 big league appearances, he owns a 14-15 record and a 3.84 ERA with 309 strikeouts in 272 innings.