The Red Sox keep getting tied to the big names in the starting-pitching market, but one of the more intriguing fits might be a quieter one.
Arizona Diamondbacks free agent Michael Soroka has surfaced as a possible Boston target, and The Athletic projected him for a three-year, $54 million deal. For a Red Sox club expected to add a starter, Soroka checks the box of a pitcher who isn’t the flashiest name on the board but could still make a real impact.
Soroka is 29 and just turned in his best season yet, logging a 3.41 ERA across 22 appearances and 21 starts. He also punched out 114 hitters in 116 innings, a strong step forward for a pitcher whose career has been defined as much by what interrupted it as by what he’s capable of when healthy.
“A 21-year-old All-Star in 2019, Soroka had his meteoric rise derailed for three-plus seasons because of Achilles, hamstring and shoulder injuries. He bounced from the Braves to the White Sox to the Nationals and, in 2026, to the Diamondbacks, where he had his best season since that standout rookie campaign, throwing 116 innings and making 21 starts.
“He had two more IL stints, but his success when healthy provided more reason to believe - or, at least, hope - that he can still be the impact starter of his youth. His chase rate, hard-hit rate and walk rate were all in the 80th percentile or better. Durability concerns will, of course, hamper his market, but the upside is sufficient to maintain significant interest,” The Athletic’s Tim Britton wrote.
That injury history is the obvious catch. Soroka’s time with the Braves once had people wondering if he was one of the best young starters in the sport, but the stretch that followed with the White Sox and Nationals in 2024 and 2025 was far rougher than what he showed in Atlanta.
Still, his 2026 season was enough to remind teams what the ceiling looks like. He didn’t fully become the old version of himself again, but he was clearly closer - and that kind of rebound is exactly the sort of thing that could draw interest from a team like Boston.
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