After moving to the bullpen last year, with a great success with a 2.75 ERA and a 39% strikeout rate in 36 innings, right-handed right-handed Michael Soroka Now, after signing a 9mm one-year contract, another crack can be encountered at DC starting from DC. Soroka made his debut at his new club yesterday, posting three innings while walking one inning and hitting three games.
These strong scores aren’t particularly meaningful given the nature of spring training, but Maas’s Bobby Blanco pointed out yesterday that Soroka’s speed has improved significantly during the outing. Per Blanco Soroca “nearly” averaged 95 mph per hour throughout the outing, rising at 96.2 mph. It’s a big move than the previous years of his career, with the right-hander usually averaging 93 mph on his heaters, and last year’s 93.5mph number is his current regular season peak. A single outing with just 39 stadiums hardly guarantees Soroka will maintain the mid-90s speed in the regular season, but Soroka himself and the manager can keep it Dave Martinez Inspired from the beginning, the latter called it “Very encouraging.”
“Yes, absolutely. I think I know I can,” Soroca said when asked about Blanco’s communication, when asked about keeping his speed deeper into the game. “Last year, I was still throwing multiple innings for the most part. Honestly, the feeling of the fastball coming to the end of three innings was really exciting because it felt like I could copy it over and over. It was definitely the easiest thing I had to throw in the mid-90s… Yes, I think today, especially today, I know I won’t have a problem, at least hold it in one place.”
Soroka’s figures will become the fixture for this year’s national rotation, if healthy Mackenzie Gore. Right-handed Jake Irvin,left handed DJ Hertz,left handed Mitchell Parker,veteran Trevor Williamsand NPB Southpaw Shinnosuke of Ogasawara is one of the other candidates for the club’s opening day rotation. It’s a bunch of young and fun arms, but none of them compare to Soroka in a season. Right-hander was a former first-round draft pick in Atlanta in 2019, and his 2019 rookie campaign was dazzling as he finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year vote in the 29 seasons. Soroka has derailed from injury plight in the years since, but he is still only 27 and has escaped from a healthy campaign in 2024, full of optimism about the possibility that he may return to form.
Elsewhere in the lineup, young outfielders James Wood He was still returning from tendinitis in the limbs, which slowed him down early in the camp. The injury did not affect his swing, allowing him to continue to be represented as DH, while Spencer Nausbaum of The Washington Post formulated the club’s plan to demand Wood’s return to the court. Wood is expected to be in DH today’s spring game, with a team of teams on Monday, and the club plans to work some outfields in the backcourt to test his sick quarters. If things go well, the wood may return to the outfield in the game. Wood, 22, will be the club’s daily left field player in 2025 after a strong debut season, hitting .264/.354/.427 in 79 games.
Other places on the diamond, infielder Luis Garcia Jr. It was a late scratch of yesterday’s spring lineup and was sent back to camp due to illness. As Blanco pointed out, Martinez told reporters that he was not sure when Garcia would resume operations because the Nats didn’t want Garcia to have a fever around the camp. Fortunately, the disease seems unlikely to have any serious impact on Garcia’s ability to upgrade its opening later this month. Last year, the lefty performed well in a season of 528 trips to the plate.282/.318/.444.
