D-backs' Michael Soroka Had Blunt Reaction to Rough Outing

Sunday was not the type of outing Arizona diamondbacks right-hander Michael Soroka would have been hoping for, even if the ultimate final score would not count.

Soroka threw 1.2 innings at Salt River Fields against the Cleveland Guardians, and struggled to find the strike zone. He gave up three earned runs as a result of four hits (including a solo homer) and three walks. He only managed to land 22 of his 47 pitches for strikes.

"Not good," Soroka said following his outing (via Jose Romero of AZCentral). "Thought I pressed from the start, thought I was trying to be perfect."

The right-hander said he went down to the bullpen to get more reps in after the poor outing.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Michael Soroka Has Poor Outing

Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Michael Soroka (34) pitches against the Cleveland Guardians at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale on March 1, 2026. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The outing was Soroka's second start of Cactus League play, following a more positive first effort. Soroka said he is looking to flush the poor performance on Sunday and get back to how he felt prior.

"These are things that I've done really well all spring and again I feel like I'm just trying to do too much," he told Romero. "So a lot of the best pitches I made today were just, found a small target and let it go. I'm just going to be forgetting a lot of them and building on the good ones. So that's what spring training is for."

"I threw a bunch of changeups [down in the bullpen] and everything went good. It's just kind of reinforcing the ability for me to let it go and feel like I had all offseason and all spring. So again it's just gonna be a matter of letting it go."

Certainly, that is what spring is for, although Soroka's outing was among the uglier starts made by a D-backs pitcher thus far. Ultimately, his execution will only affect the team when the regular season begins, however, and there is plenty of time for the 28-year-old to get right.

Sunday's outing will also be the last start he makes for Arizona this spring before departing for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic. It may not have been the warmup he would have wanted prior to representing his country, but he remains confident in his abilities.

"I think you turn the page and you go compete and it's gonna be a different atmosphere [in the WBC], which probably a good thing, and I get to kind of just go win some ballgames," he said. "So I'm excited for this opportunity... I think we're gonna move forward and I think it's gonna be good."