Michael Soroka

Michael John Graydon Soroka (alternatively Mike Soroka; born August 4, 1997) is a Canadian professional baseball pitcher who has played for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB) since 2018. A native of Calgary, Soroka graduated from Bishop Carroll High School. He was drafted 28th overall by the Atlanta Braves in 2015, and he spent portions of four seasons in the minor leagues before being called up to the Braves. Soroka was an MLB All-Star in 2019, and he finished second in National League Rookie of the Year Award voting. In 2020, he became the Braves' youngest Opening Day starter in the team's modern history, before an injury ended his season. Soroka dealt with multiple injures through the next two years before returning to the major leagues in 2023. Early life Soroka was born on August 4, 1997, in Calgary, Alberta, the son of Gary, a former university and junior hockey player, and Sally Soroka; he has two stepsisters. Soroka's mother died in 2010 of melanoma when he was 12. He attended Bishop Carroll High School in Calgary, and was a goalie in youth hockey before deciding to concentrate on baseball. He pitched for the junior national team, coached by Chris Reitsma, a fellow Canadian baseball pitcher who was also his mentor. Reitsma has noted Soroka's physical similarity with himself. By his senior year, Soroka has committed to play college baseball for the University of California, Berkeley with scholarship. Prior to the 2015 draft, he was ranked 88th in Baseball America's annual rankings of prospects.