Opposing pitchers and ... roomies? That's life for Fedde and Soroka

JUPITER, Fla. -- A teammate can help you be the best on the field. A friend, the same in life. A roommate who can do both -- and cook or clean -- that¡¯s a winning dynamic for two Major League starting pitchers.

While Cardinals right-hander Erick Fedde and Nationals righty Michael Soroka might be members of different organizations and competitors on the baseball diamond this season, they also share a condo during Spring Training. In their eyes, the former White Sox teammates have the perfect setup.

¡°I cook, he cleans. It's great,¡± Soroka said. ¡°And he likes that, too. It¡¯s easier for him, and I hate cleaning. If I can make the mess, let him do the rest, I'm good, I'm gold. I'll cook for him every night.¡±

Before they took the mound against one another on Thursday afternoon, Fedde and Soroka were sharing beef bowls, watching Harry Potter movies and competing in a friendly game of mini golf.

¡°Pitching is our lives, in a sense, so definitely it's fun talking pitching and just kind of sharing the thoughts we have about pitching and life,¡± said Fedde on his rather unique living arrangements with Soroka. ¡°Really, it's just like sitting in a dugout, but being at home. It¡¯s kind of cool.¡±

Fedde and Soroka both pitched well in the Nationals' 12-1 win over the Cards. Fedde struck out one and allowed two walks over three hitless innings, while Soroka surrendered one run on four hits over four frames -- with six strikeouts.

The idea of rooming together came about almost by accident. Headed to Jupiter in February for his first Spring Training with the Cardinals, Fedde, 32, was hit hard when he saw the price of renting a house for his seven-week stay in South Florida. However, instead of calling a realtor to find better deals, Fedde called up one of his best friends in baseball and immediately found a solution. Soroka, 27, had signed a one-year, $9 million deal with the Nationals and was staying in the same area.

¡°I've been a National and I knew it's really close to [Jupiter], and I just reached out to Mike, because with living here, people are stealing from you for rent money. And it¡¯s very expensive,¡± joked Fedde, who is in the final year of a two-year, $15 million contract. ¡°We were both in the starting rotation with the White Sox for a long time together last season, and you become really close to those guys. Definitely, I thought he was a guy that I'd be comfortable living with.¡±

Soroka treasures his friendship with Fedde and values his advice, as they both have endured plenty of highs and lows in baseball. Soroka, a native of Calgary, has torn his right Achilles tendon twice (in August 2020 and June 2021) while also battling forearm, hamstring and shoulder issues over his five-year career. Fedde, a Las Vegas native and, like Soroka, a first-round Draft pick, took a detour through Korea following a poor 2022 season with the Nationals (5.81 ERA over 27 starts), but he returned to MLB in 2024 and pitched well with the White Sox and Cardinals (3.30 ERA over 31 starts).

¡°To me, a friend is somebody that shoots you straight,¡± Soroka said. ¡°That's somebody that shot me straight last year when I went to the bullpen and helped me move forward. It wasn't anything overly harsh or anything. It was just kind of a matter of, ¡®You're being a two-pitch pitcher right now as a starter, and it's not really going to play in this league.¡¯

"I agreed. So to me, somebody that can give you that has got your back -- as opposed to just kind of pumping your tires all the time and or just telling you a lie -- I feel like he's always been trustworthy in that regard.¡±

The friends have gotten into a routine of late. When Soroka returns home from the Nationals' facility in West Palm Beach, which is a little further away than the Cardinals¡¯ complex, Fedde is usually upstairs playing video games or watching a show. Soroka will take a nap on the couch, and then the two convene to figure out a dinner plan. Unless they have a team dinner or another commitment, they¡¯ll eat together.

¡°He¡¯s been doing a lot of beef bowls that were really good, and he made some good salmon,¡± Fedde said. ¡°He's a very healthy eater, which is good for me because it keeps me on track.¡±

¡°I realized cooking for people sometimes requires some variety,¡± Soroka said. ¡°Seriously, I'll eat beef, rice and a veggie with a different sort of sauce every night of the week if I could. He's being complimentary.¡±

Thursday¡¯s pitching pairing was scheduled days in advance. There was another last-minute matchup recently, though.

¡°We did an impromptu mini golf game the other night,¡± Soroka said. ¡°He texted me if I wanted ice cream. I said, 'Yes, room for ice cream.' And then it was right [by] the mini putt place, so we ended up playing 18 on the mini putt real quick. Sometimes you're bored, sometimes you want to sleep. We're both pretty easy going, so it makes it easy for Spring Training nights.¡±