Soroka came out and threw 4 pitches almost 15+ times each in his debut. That's a good amount of data to judge these pitches, so let's take a look...
FA: 94.3 mph (Grade 54.6), -4.0" X-Mov (Grade 43.4), 8.0" Z-Mov (Grade 40.8)
Soroka improved the rise on his FA from last year from terrible to below average. Considering his spin rate on this pitch actually decreased from last year, this improvement in rise suggests he has worked on spin efficiency to get more rise. Movement is also proportional to velocity, so the increase in velocity of this pitch has improved the rise as well. Overall this went from a bad pitch in 2018 to one that's nearly average, and it will play up if he spots it as well as everyone hopes his plus control will allow.
SI: 92.6 mph (Grade 55.0), -9.4" X-Mov (Grade 58.3), 4.5" Z-Mov (Grade 55.1)
Simply put, this is a prototypical plus SI. Every part of it is above average, which adds up to a ~60 grade pitch that should generate a lot of grounders when located down in the zone. Working this pitch at the bottom of the zone, and then spotting the average-ish FA up in the zone will likely prove effective.
SL: 83.9 mph (Grade 47.1), 4.1" X-Mov (Grade 58.3), -2.3" Z-Mov (Grade 68.3)
This is a good downer SL that grades as ~65 overall and should produce a lot of grounders if thrown in the lower part of the zone, and should miss a lot of bats. He threw it almost 30 times vs the DBacks because he noticed Gausman didn't throw many breaking balls the day before, and wanted to give them a different look from a RHP.
CH: 13.2 mph delta (Grade 76.1), -8.1" X-Mov (Grade 53.0), V-Mov (Grade 43.5)
The CH is an excellent change of pace from the FA with enough movement to be effective. It will be a key weapon along with the SL down and in against LHB. Depending on how much the velocity delta is weighed, this is another ~60 pitch.
Overall that's a 45 FA, 60 SI, 65 SL and 60 CH. That arsenal paired with his command and baseball IQ makes it very easy to project Soroka as a 2/3 SP as long as that shoulder cooperates. He is easily the best pitching prospect in the system, even though I no longer consider him a prospect...he is a fixture in the rotation from this day on with the only caveat being possible innings limitations due to the shoulder injury.
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