re: Official 2021 Atlanta Braves Season Thread.(88-73)

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Gotta wonder if Soroka is ready next year.

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I've got no expectations to ever see Mike Soroka throw another pitch in an MLB game. It's awful, and I hate it for him, but that's just the unfortunate reality. And if he does, I don't see how it could possibly be before like September of next year. And if it is, 24 straight months of Achilles rehab without even throwing a pitch means he may not be anything close to what he had been. Soroka is essentially a lottery ticket at this point in terms of the future makeup of the rotation.

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Wouldn’t mind having Morton back on another short deal

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I believe he has made it clear that he's only interested in Tampa or Atlanta because they're the closest to where his wife and kids live year round, and Tampa is super cheap, so I'd imagine that we can keep bringing him back on 1 year deals until he's ready to retire.

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Can’t decide if AA brings him back. Part of me expects AA to roll with Contreras and some other veteran backup.

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My money would be on Contreras + a veteran backup, but that's a tough call. We don't really get to see how Contreras is progressing in Gwinnett, which is going to be what decides it. He's got a lot of good attributes, but he obviously needed a bunch of work. If the FO doesn't think he can handle being the starter next year I can't see them bringing him up just to make him the backup and waste a year of service time though.

The DH situation makes it a little more interesting since both Travis and Contreras are bat first, but with Ozuna's criminal charges being reduced to misdemeanors you have to think that he's the full time DH next year. He'd easily be the worst defensive outfielder on the team next year assuming Ronald's rehab goes well and we bring back Duvall and Joc.