ATLANTA — Major League Baseball announced several rule changes going into the upcoming 2021 season. The adjustments could hurt the Atlanta Braves.
One of the rules is that in the National League, pitchers will have to return to batting. That could impact Mike Soroka's return.
Soroka, the 23-year old standout pitcher, tore his right Achilles tendon last August when he left the mound against the New York Mets.
Dylan Short, the host of Locked On Braves, explained in a recent episode of the podcast why he believes the change could be bad for the Braves.
"It does have some real consequences. For the Braves, for example, Mike Soroka is not going to be ready for opening day now," Short said. “He is ready for pitching but he is not going to be ready for standing in the box, running out of the box, and all of that stuff so it will take a little bit more time for him to get on the field.”
Short said the Braves could handle Soroka missing a few starts if they had to.
"It is certainly is not going to sink their ship, and I will talk about that in another show,” Short said. “But it is going to increase the risk of injury.”
Listen to the podcast below.
Locked On is a podcast network for local sports that produces daily podcasts about major professional sports leagues, as well as some college sports programs.