GLENDALE, Ariz. — Michael Soroka fell behind in the count on a couple of occasions during his first Cactus League outing for the Chicago White Sox on Monday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The right-hander went to his sinker and induced weak contact, resulting in grounders for outs.
“That was probably the best positive of this whole outing,” Soroka said. “When we’re mixing it properly with the four-seam (fastball), we should be able to do that all year. And that’s a huge confidence to know you don’t have to throw a pitch down the middle. You can make your pitch on the corner and come back later if you have a pitch that moves like that, gets that weak contact.
“Obviously I don’t want to be behind in counts. But in the scenarios where I am, it’s nice to know I have a couple weapons to get out of it and not have to throw four or five more pitches.”
Soroka allowed one run on two hits with a walk and two strikeouts in two innings in the 5-2 victory at Camelback Ranch.
“It was good to feel that again,” Soroka said. “Good to feel a little bit of adrenaline and some live competition. There were some really good (things) to take from today. And then there were some things we’ve got to work on.”
Soroka is in his first season with the Sox, who acquired him in the six-player trade that sent reliever Aaron Bummer to the Atlanta Braves in November.
The 26-year-old has had some ups and injury-related downs early in his career.
Soroka earned an All-Star selection, finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting and sixth for the NL Cy Young Award with the Braves in 2019. He made three starts in 2020 before suffering a torn right Achilles tendon on Aug. 3. He retore it in June 2021.
Soroka returned last season and finished 2-2 with a 6.40 ERA and 29 strikeouts in seven games (six starts) with the Braves. He also went 4-4 with a 3.41 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 17 starts for Triple-A Gwinnett.
Overall he’s 17-8 with a 3.32 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 44 games (43 starts) during parts of four big-league seasons. And now comes the opportunity with the Sox.
“They have a lot of confidence in me and that’s rubbing off in the confidence I have in myself,” Soroka said. “It’s very easy when you come up and you have that young innocence, no reason not to have confidence. For me it was finding confidence in being athletic again. A couple years off, took some time.
“Last year was very important for getting innings under my belt. Learning what it was like to really let it fly. There’s a very small difference between trying to let it go as hard as you can and actually just doing it. It’s very tough to explain, but we all feel it.
“When you’re in the zone, the ball is flying out of your hand, you’re flowing through it. Looks easy. Yeah, just getting back to that point.”
He feels like he’s there now.
Soroka worked out of trouble in the first inning Monday after the Diamondbacks placed runners on first and second with one out. He got the next two batters to ground out.
He struck out Jordan Lawlar to begin the second, then gave up a homer to Andrés Chaparro. Soroka got two more groundouts to finish his 35-pitch outing.
Overall, Soroka said he’s pleased with his progression this spring.
“It’s almost nice at this point to have a couple of things to work on,” he said. “I told (pitching coach) Ethan (Katz), I think I just want to go throw 35 straight changeups in my bullpen in two days. Just build feel and confidence with it. It’s a confidence pitch. Just work on that changeup, kind of make some moves with it and trust it and let it eat.”
Soroka enjoyed competing throughout Monday.
“It all comes down to being better than the guy at the plate,” he said. “You learn that line in spring training is how bad can you want it, but be patient with the ball coming out of your hand. I had a couple I obviously wanted to make too bad and rushed it.
“And that’s why we’re here in Arizona for a month before we get to games that really matter. Just feeling that rhythm, that tempo speed up. That’s what today is for. Looking forward to getting more next time.”