Sometimes it just feels like baseball cannot have nice things. Twins lefty Rich Hill getting hurt again is hardly a shock, and we figured something was amiss with suddenly wild Angels right-hander Shohei Ohtani, but when Braves right-hander Mike Soroka tore his right Achilles tendon on Monday night, well, that was the topper on a rough pitcher injury day. Soroka fell to the ground after he delivered a third-inning pitch to Mets outfielder J.D. Davis and tried in vain to cover first base. Not only is his 2020 season over, but his 2021 campaign figures to be compromised as well.
Soroka, who turned 23 on Tuesday, missed on a top-20 spot among the top fantasy starters due to a tepid strikeout rate, but everything else looked awesome. A command specialist who limits hard contact, he is 15-6 in his short career with a 2.86 ERA and 1.16 WHIP, and entering Monday night, unlike Hill and Ohtani, he was healthy. This one really stings for the Braves -- who thought Soroka, Mike Foltynewicz and Cole Hamels would lead a playoff rotation and who now have none of them active. But it also stings for fantasy managers who had made Soroka the No. 30 starter in ESPN average live drafts.