Atlanta Braves bullpen improvement solution : Julio Teheran

Atlanta Braves secret weapon

Before you throw things at me for creating a hole in the rotation, look at the for numbers each pitcher’s last seven starts.

Statistics courtesy Baseball-Reference.com player pages

Yes folks, Julio’s been as bad as the guy most want to move to the bullpen, Brandon McCarthy. Julio also projects better in relief than McCarthy; Brooks Baseball tells us why.

Their numbers show Julio’s four-seam fastball, sinker and slider generate a high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers’ offerings.  McCarthy’s don’t.

Here are some more numbers to chew on from Teheran’s player card.

We just saw Julio strike out some of the best hitters around. Every year – even the bad ones – we’ve seen him do it as a starter while pacing himself to go deep into a game.

If he didn’t have to pace himself and needed only to get only three – six outs, his stuff would play up.  Julio could concentrate on his best pitches and forget the marginal pitches. He could also air it out when needed.

Julio doesn’t have Miller’s sweeping slider but he could well be the sixth and seventh inning answer in the Atlanta Braves pen for a long time

This move creates a vacancy in the rotation but in reality, there’s a vacancy there now. That’s why I believe the Braves are currently looking one now.

We’ve seen the young arms inconsistency and can’t expect them to take a lead role. Clearly, the plum I’d like to pick is Jacob deGrom. It’s unlikely the Mets hierarchy lets him go, so I offer three names that have control and look like a good fit.