CINCINNATI - Atlanta Braves pitcher Mike Soroka will undergo season-ending surgery for the second straight year after again tearing his right Achilles' tendon.
The Braves released an update Saturday saying the new tear occurred Thursday while the 23-year-old right-hander from Canada was walking to the clubhouse at Truist Park, where he was continuing his injury rehabilitation while the team is on the road.
"It was his first day out of the boot. He was just walking," Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said Saturday afternoon, before the third matchup of a four-game series at Great American Ball Park. "I hate it for him. All signs were a go until he took that step and felt that pop."
Soroka was the No. 28 overall draft pick in 2015 and made his MLB debut in May 2018. Now he faces a third surgery on his troublesome Achilles', a procedure the team said will be scheduled within a week.
There was no timetable for his return before this setback, although Snitker said he was hopeful that Soroka could return by the end of this season. Soroka had not yet started throwing off the mound.
Snitker said he texted Soroka on Saturday morning after hearing the news and later spoke with him by phone.
"He's put things in perspective," Snitker said. "He's ready for this next journey he's going to be on. The day it happened, it really punched him in the gut."
Soroka, who was Atlanta's opening day starter last year, first tore the Achilles' in a game against the New York Mets on Aug. 3, 2020. He had season-ending surgery but was working to return this year when a setback in May led to a follow-up procedure.
Soroka was again working to return this season before tearing the same tendon; the Braves said an MRI confirmed the new tear.
Soroka emerged as one of the foundations of the Braves' rotation in 2019, when he went 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA. He made the MLB All-Star Game, then finished runner-up in rookie of the year balloting and sixth for the Cy Young Award in the National League.
News of Soroka's setback spread through Atlanta's clubhouse Saturday.
Said Snitker: "They're all sick for him."