SAL notes: Soroka surging as Rome rolls

For much of the 2016 campaign, Mike Soroka's win-loss record has mirrored that of the Rome Braves. Atlanta's South Atlantic League affiliate won only nine of its first 23 outings and was 15 games under the .500 mark in the first half. The right-handed Soroka, meanwhile, owned a 1-6 record at the All-Star break despite an impressive 2.92 ERA.

The second half has been a different story. Rome has turned things around, going 38-26 since mid-June and entering Wednesday's contest at Greenville a game behind first-place Augusta in the Southern Division standings. Soroka, who was 2-9 after taking the loss at Charleston on July 14, has won his last five starts as well as his last six decisions. As a result, his season slate stands at 8-9 with a 3.11 ERA, good for 10th in the SAL.

"It's always more fun when you're winning," Soroka said. "No one likes to lose or is even OK with losing. To see us start to put things together is fun. Earlier in the year it isn't like we were struggling per se, we were just missing those timely hits late in the game. We had a ton of close games and just fell short. Now we're pulling through in those times and we're holding them down with pitching. It's a ton of fun."

Enjoying whatever he is doing has always been a key component in Soroka's approach. He grew up playing hockey in Calgary and became an accomplished goalie, but he tired of the monotonous practice associated with manning the pipes once he reached high school. The two-sport standout never experienced that feeling with baseball, which led him to focus all of his efforts on the diamond.

"In order to be good at anything you need to practice, but you also need to love what you do," Soroka said. "I just kind of lost it with hockey. It wasn't fun to go out there. With baseball, I found there was never a time when I didn't want to go to practice. I always loved it. There wasn't a day that I wasn't jumping to go to baseball. That made the decision pretty easy there."

Soroka's pitching career began to take off when he made the Canadian Junior National club and had the opportunity to travel and compete against top competition. He helped the team finish third in the 2014 COPABE 18U Pan American Games and threw 13 shutout innings during a trip to the Dominican Republic the following May. Another one of the team's treks included a trip to Florida, where Soroka pitched against Atlanta's Minor Leaguers, which led to the Braves drafting the right-hander with the 28th overall pick in 2015.

"I can't say enough about that junior national team," Soroka said. "That's the reason I am where I am today. My first professional experience, I guess, was as a 16-year-old pitching against the Braves. It seems kind of fitting that they were the team that drafted me."

Soroka credits several people in preparing him for his first full season in professional baseball. One key mentor has been former Major League pitcher Chris Reitsma, who coached Soroka on Team Canada. A fellow native of Calgary, Reitsma was the 34th overall pick in 1996 who explained the challenges associated with being a high Draft choice. Soroka also garnered training advice for Chris Osmond, who is now the strength and conditioning coach for the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers.

"I got prepared pretty well, if anything over-prepared for this season," Soroka said. "I heard a lot of things about first full seasons being a real grind and all, but once I got in that stable routine, it got easy. The last two months have just flown by. It hasn't been the struggle I thought it would be; it's been fast. I can't believe it's already coming to an end."

Known for his attention to detail in every aspect both on and off the field, Soroka is putting everything together and living up to the promise of being the highest-drafted player ever out of Alberta. He displays excellent command of all his pitches and does an impressive job mixing his low-90s fastball with plus movement and his above-average curveball. At the same time, Soroka realizes there are always areas that need improvement, which is the way he approaches his game every time he arrives at the ballpark.

"I'm just trying to learn from experience," said Soroka, who turned 19 on Aug. 4. "There are things I've faced this season that you don't actually think about until you're in it. I can't explain how many things I've picked up that never would have dawned on me. Right now I'm just learning how to do a better job of locating off-speed. Day in and day out I have a pretty good idea of where my fastball is going; it's now about being able to keep hitters off the fastball, being able to throw quality strikes. It's the little steps that you take that come into play in bigger situations later in the game."

In brief

Tourist duo take year-end honors: Asheville first baseman Brian Mundell and shortstop Brendan Rodgers were named the SAL's Most Outstanding Player and Best Major League Prospect, respectively. Mundell has established the league's single-season record with a Minors-best 58 doubles. He also entered games Aug. 31 pacing the circuit in hits (166), extra-base hits (73), runs (91) and total bases (268) and ranks second in batting average (.322), on-base percentage (.388) and slugging percentage (.519). Rodgers, the third overall pick and the first high school player taken in the 2015 Draft, was third in the SAL in homers (19) and slugging percentage (.480), fourth in runs (73) and extra-base hits (50), tied for fourth with 73 RBIs, and fifth with 212 total bases.

Kudos to Keller: West Virginia's Mitch Keller was tabbed the SAL's Most Outstanding Pitcher as well as the circuit's best right-hander. The 20-year-old Keller, the second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2014, leads all of professional baseball (among qualifiers) with a 0.92 WHIP. His 2.46 ERA ranks third and his .211 batting average against ranks second in the SAL.

Hot August nights: A trio of SAL hitters are concluding the campaign on an upswing. Rome's Austin Riley entered contests Aug. 31 on a 14-game hitting streak, which is tied for the seventh-longest in the league this season. Riley is batting .352 (19-for-54) with four home runs and 13 RBIs during the string. Mundell, who had a 17-game streak earlier this season, has hit safely in 13 straight, going 19-for-55 (.345) with five RBIs. Lakewood's Mark Laird is on a torrid 12-game streak, during which he is 20-for-48 (.417) with seven RBIs.