Braves rookie Mike Soroka will come off the disabled list and start Wednesday against the Mets.
Braves manager Brian Snitker made the announcement before Saturday night’s game against the Dodgers, a day after saying the Braves were still considering options, including Soroka and left-hander Max Fried.
Soroka, on the 10-day disabled list since May 17 with a muscle strain near his right shoulder, has impressed in two rehab starts, allowing three hits, one earned run and one walk with 10 strikeouts in eight innings. He had seven strikeouts with one walk in 4-1/3 innings of his most recent start for Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday.
“He can go 85, 90 (pitches Wednesday), which is all he would probably be doing anyway,” Snitker said of Soroka’s pitch limit. “We just decided to go ahead and give him that start.”
The Braves were leaning toward having Soroka make three rehab starts before returning to the rotation, but that plan changed after Julio Teheran went on the DL with a right-thumb contusion after his start Monday at San Diego.
Soroka, at 20 the youngest pitcher in the majors, was 1-1 with a 3.68 ERA in his first three major-league starts before going on the DL. He had 15 strikeouts and four walks in 14-2/3 innings of those three games, including an impressive May 1 debut against the Mets in New York, where he allowed six hits and one run with no walks and five strikeouts in six innings.
Snitker said Teheran has begun to play catch and feels good. He could progress quickly and return to the rotation without making a rehab start if he’s ready to go right after the 10-day DL minimum or soon after. The earliest Teheran could return from the DL would be Friday against the same team he faced in his last start, the Padres.
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