3 Takeaways: Atlanta Braves fall to Phils, magic number is 2

1. Julio  Teheran’s case for an NLDS start was…underwhelming

It’s not to say that these current games don’t matter for the Atlanta Braves, but it is remarkably clear where the team’s true focus is over the next couple of weeks.

The Braves are a matter of days away from solidifying their second consecutive NL East division crown, thought they have their eyes set on much higher aspirations.

Welcome to what has essentially become Spring Training, September style: a time of position battles and tough decisions.

The Atlanta Braves have afforded themselves the luxury of building a big enough lead in the division that they can now carefully examine some of the “fringe” players to determine which are worthy of key roles in a postseason series.

One of those cases is starting pitcher Julio Teheran.

Certainly, Julio is in comfortable position to be on the impending NLDS roster for Atlanta, but whether or not he would get a start in a best-of-five series remains to be determined…and his case wasn’t necessarily helped on Wednesday night.

The final line for Julio looked like this: 5 IP, 3 ER, 6 K, 2 BB.

On the surface, the numbers aren’t bad,  but the two home runs allowed (and 90 pitches to record just five official innings) were somewhat of a disturbance for a guy making his bid to earn an NLDS start.

It seems a fairly solid guess that Mike Soroka and Dallas Keuchel would appear to be in line to get two of Atlanta’s starts in its first postseason series.

After that? It’s anyone’s guess between Max Fried, Mike Foltynewicz, and Julio.

Each of those three have seen stretches of success and inconsistencies, and while Julio’s overall numbers for 2019 have been in the “better-than-expected” category, the glaring difference between his ERA and his peripheral stats give cause for some warning.

Julio will get at least one more regular-season start – if not two – to prove that he’s the man to get a start in the division series. Time will tell.