Michael Soroka Is Pitching Like His 2019 All-Star Self and the White Sox Are About to Find Out

Michael Soroka is having one of the best comeback stories baseball has seen in years, and he's about to put it on full display Thursday afternoon in Phoenix. The Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander is 4-0 with a 2.78 ERA this season, pitching like the guy who made the All-Star team back in 2019. The difference? Everything about how he gets there now.

A Pitcher Reborn

Soroka ditched his old mechanics and reinvented himself with a "drop and drive" approach that powers his pitches from his lower half. He added a slurver in 2025 that he's spent all season refining, and right now it's absolutely working. Through 22 2/3 innings, he's racking up 28 strikeouts (that's 11.1 per nine innings) and has given up more than two runs in just one start. He's even thrown two games with 10 or more strikeouts.

Here's the wild part: this guy was 0-10 with a 4.74 ERA last year with the White Sox. Now he's signed a one-year, $7.5 million deal with Arizona and he's proving the organization was right to believe in him. After missing nearly three full seasons with two torn Achilles injuries, Soroka is 28 years old and playing like he's never been better.

"I think I'm better than I have ever been," Soroka said recently. "For myself it has always been there. I've always been able to give my teams a reason to believe in me."

Thursday's Matchup and the Homer Streak Next Door

Soroka (4-0, 2.78 ERA) faces White Sox right-hander Davis Martin (3-1, 2.16 ERA) in the rubber game of their three-game series. Martin has been just as sharp in his four starts, giving up three or fewer runs in each appearance. This isn't just a pitcher's duel though. White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami is bringing a five-game homer streak into the game after going yard with a two-run shot in Wednesday's 11-7 loss. He's now tied with Shohei Ohtani for the most consecutive games with a homer by a Japanese-born player (Ohtani had his five-game streak last July with the Dodgers).

Murakami has 10 homers on the season, just one behind league leader Yordan Alvarez and tied with Aaron Judge and James Wood. But Murakami isn't trying to hear the comparisons. "I'm not the caliber of player who should be compared to Aaron Judge," he said through an interpreter. "I have to stay humble and keep doing what I am doing right now."

Meanwhile, Diamondbacks infielder Ildemaro Vargas went yard twice in Wednesday's game and continues an absurd hitting streak. He's hit safely in all 17 games this season, a franchise record, and is sitting on a 20-game hitting streak dating back to last year, the longest active streak in the majors.

Thursday's finale could be one for the books.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.