Takeaways: Michael Soroka returns in tough loss to Oakland

The Atlanta Braves did not play good baseball in Michael Soroka's return.

Zac Blackerby | May 29, 2023

The Atlanta Braves welcomed Michael Soroka back to the mound. His first start since 2020 may have fallen short but he certainly looked the part.

The Braves fell 7-2 against a team they had no business losing to at any point of the season. With a solid outing from their starter, they needed more pop in the bats and a more effective appearance from the Braves bullpen.

Michael Soroka returned to MLB and looked...normal

Soroka made his debut, pitching for the first time in three years and looked...fine?

He gave up five hits and four earned runs in six innings, walking two and striking out three. He threw eighty-three pitches, fifty-five for strikes.

Outside of the obvious accomplishment it was just to make it to this point, the most surprising thing about the start was how normal it all looked.

The repertoire was vintage Soroka - he threw the same number of changeups as sinkers, and only one more fastball than he threw sliders. He mostly prevented hard contact - he gave up only four hard hit balls in the outing, and even Ryan Noda's 5th inning homerun came off the bat at only 97 mph. While not as sharp as his All-Star year in 2019, Soroka looked perfectly fine, and that's just amazing to be able to say.

Braves Country is proud of you, @Mike_Soroka28!#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/OrSw9nepNs
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 30, 2023

Sean Murphy saw his former team for the first time

Murphy went into the series against his former team as one of the best catchers in baseball. In a storyline that was overshadowed by the return of Soroka, Murphy made contact during his first at-bat with a line drive right by second base to score Austin Riley in the first inning.

Murphy came back to Oakland part of a squad that is finding much more success despite what the outcome of Monday night's game says, and he is making the most of it this season.

This is a bad loss

The Atlanta Braves got whooped by the worst team in baseball. An Atlanta lineup that is filled with a lot of power and explosiveness never could get it going against an average pitching performance.

Hopefully, Atlanta will chalk it up as a tough three-hour time zone difference on the opposite side of the country - they did arrive at their team hotel at 3AM local time (6AM Atlanta time) due to flying in after Sunday Night Baseball - and will get their bearings for the rest of the series in Oakland.

What's next for the Atlanta Braves

First pitch in Tuesday's action in Oakland is set for 9:40 PM ET. The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports South and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.

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Published May 29, 2023

ZAC BLACKERBY

Zac Blackerby is the publisher of Auburn Daily and Braves Today. He is also the host of Locked On Auburn and the College Channel Manager for the Locked On Podcast Network. Blackerby was previously the program director of the Auburn Network and hosted shows on ESPN 106.7 and WANI. He also used to be the editor for Auburn Wire and Fly War Eagle.