Braves’ Teheran selected to NL All-Star team

PHILADELPHIA – Julio Teheran was selected to the National League All-Star team Tuesday, evidence that folks in baseball realize a pitcher’s won-lost record often is a poor measure of a pitcher’s performance.

Teheran has a 3-7 record, but ranks among National League leaders in ERA (2.72) and opponents’ batting average (.197), and he ranks second to Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw in opponents’ OBP (.251) and walks-plus-hits per inning pitched (0.93).

He was the only Brave selected to play in the July 12 All-Star game at San Diego’s Petco Park.

The All-Star honor came on the same day Teheran was scratched from his Wednesday start because of an infection in his right thigh. The Braves hope to have him back for a start Saturday or Sunday against the White Sox in Chicago.

Teheran left the team in Philadelphia and returned to Atlanta to have the infection treated, and Tyrell Jenkins will replace him Wednesday in the rookie's first major league start.

If he pitches Saturday, Teheran might still be able to pitch in the Tuesday All-Star game. But if he doesn’t pitch until Sunday, he probably wouldn’t be available Tuesday and could be replaced on the All-Star roster by someone who didn’t pitch on the last day before the break.

Either way, Teheran, 25, is an All-Star for the second time. He made the All-Star team in 2014 in his second full season in the majors, when he went 14-13 with a 2.89 ERA and set career-highs in strikeouts (186) and innings (221).

He has 105 strikeouts in 112 2/3 innings this season and is on pace to break that strikeout mark and approach the innings total.

“I am honored to be selected to the All-Star team,” Teheran said in a press release. “This is a goal of mine coming into every season and I’m very excited to be chosen for the second time. I would like to express my appreciation to the Atlanta Braves, to my coaches and teammates and to all the Braves fans for their support and for believing in me.”

Teheran posted a 1.72 ERA and .169 opponents’ average in a span of 13 starts before giving up a season-high 11 hits and five runs in 6 2/3 innings Friday against the Marlins. It was the first time he surrendered more than three runs in a game since his third start of the season.

Among National League starters ranked in the top 30 in WHIP, the only pitcher with as few wins as Teheran is teammate Matt Wisler (3-8), who also is one of only two major league starters with lower run support than Teheran.

Wisler has received an average of 2.74 runs per nine innings pitched, and Teheran has received 2.88.