Braves’ Soroka has setback, to have second Achilles surgery

<p>ATLANTA &mdash; Atlanta Braves right-hander Mike Soroka has experienced a setback in his recovery from surgery to repair his torn right Achilles tendon and will have a follow-up procedure next week.</p>
<p>Soroka was the Braves’ opening day starter in 2020. He suffered the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/jd-davis-new-york-mets-mlb-baseball-sports-general-4b94b67997242bfc481cde3599401e54">season-ending injury</a><a href="https://apnews.com/hub/mike-soroka"></a> against the New York Mets on Aug. 3.</p>
<p>Soroka, 23, had not begun throwing but was expected to return to the rotation this season. Now those plans are in doubt.</p>
<p>Manager Brian Snitker said Wednesday that Soroka will have exploratory surgery early next week in Green Bay, Wisconsin.</p>
<p>“I hate it for the kid," Snitker said. “He’s worked so hard to come back. I hate it for him personally to have this setback.”</p>
<p>Soroka emerged as one of the foundations of the Braves’ rotation in 2019, when he went 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA. The Canadian earned a spot in the All-Star Game, finished second in NL Rookie of the Year balloting and sixth for the Cy Young Award.</p>
<p>Even without Soroka, the Braves won a third consecutive NL East title and advanced to the NL Championship Series last season. Two other young pitchers, Max Fried and Ian Anderson, helped lead the rotation.</p>
<p>The Braves signed veterans Charlie Morton and Drew Smyly in the offseason, and right-hander Huascar Ynoa has emerged with his 4-1 record as a surprise force in the rotation.</p>
<p>Fried was the team’s <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-atlanta-braves-philadelphia-phillies-mike-soroka-atlanta-66279b6e7313085b1a89a3b60d0fa2a6">opening day starter</a> this season.</p>
<p>Snitker said a strong start by Bryse Wilson in Tuesday night’s 5-3 loss to Toronto was an encouraging sign of the team’s pitching depth. Wilson allowed two runs in six innings following his recall from Triple-A Gwinnett. Wilson was optioned to Gwinnett on Wednesday as right-handed reliever Chris Martin was activated from the 10-day injured list.</p>
<p>Martin said Soroka’s setback was “obviously a huge loss.”</p>
<p>“Hopefully he gets better and he can get back as soon as possible,” Martin said.</p>
<p>Snitker said no one incident led Soroka to seek a medical opinion on his recovery.</p>
<p>“There was something that wasn’t right, he could tell,” Snitker said.</p>
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