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Atlanta Braves 3 takeaways: a bounce back with changes at the end

By Alan Carpenter

CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 21: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 and Ozzie Albies #1 of the Atlanta Braves celebrate an 11-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field on April 21, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 21: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 and Ozzie Albies #1 of the Atlanta Braves celebrate an 11-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field on April 21, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images) /
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SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 13: Julio Teheran #49 of the Atlanta Braves walks off the field after allowing a solo homerun to Manny Machado #13 of the San Diego Padres during the first inning of a game at PETCO Park on July 13, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 13: Julio Teheran #49 of the Atlanta Braves walks off the field after allowing a solo homerun to Manny Machado #13 of the San Diego Padres during the first inning of a game at PETCO Park on July 13, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

2. Teheran Dazzles

Yes, it was “just the Marlins”.  But this is also a club that (a) manhandled Dallas Keuchel 24 hours before, and (b) has played the Braves uncomfortably close the entire year.

Julio Teheran went out and struck out 2 of the first 3 hitters he faced and 2 in the next inning. He gave up individual singles in the 2nd and 3rd, then 2 more in the 4th.

A late homer was the only blemish in the run column against him.

In truth, had Starlin Castro not been in the game, we’d probably be talking a lot more about just how dominant Teheran was.

Castro managed 4 hits on the night – getting 3 of the 5 hits that Teheran allowed.  Even so, only his homer was truly in the category of “hard hit” (at 101.7 mph) among those safeties.

Overall, the Marlins hit just 6 balls in excess of 98 mph against the Braves right-hander – Castro’s homer and a Caleb Smith single being the only ones resulting in ‘production’ for the Marlins.

Even better, Teheran struck out 7 in 7 full innings and walked just 1.  Don’t look now, but his season’s ERA just dropped to 3.35.

That ranks second among Atlanta Braves starters with even the low bar of 40+ innings (Soroka, 2.45) and it isn’t even that close:  Max Fried is next at 4.17.

The key value may be his walks… the prior outing, he recorded 6 and couldn’t go past 5 innings.  This night, he reached 7 for the first time since April 30th, and did so at a much more economical 100 pitches.

For all those who wanted to dump this pitcher sometime between last Winter and the trade deadline (slowly raising my own hand), it’s time to recognize that – as of this moment – the Atlanta Braves would undoubtedly have to put Julio Teheran in the 2nd or 3rd slot come playoff time.

But that shirt… welcome to Miami, Julio.

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