He turned 23 in January and has only 34 major league starts on his resume, but Julio Teheran will be the Braves’ opening-day starter, and both he and his teammates seem happy about it.
“It’s a great honor to be the starting pitcher opening day,” Teheran said after Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez gave him the news everyone anticipated, that he’ll start the March 31 opener at Milwaukee. “I just want to say thanks for the opportunity. I’ve been working hard, and it’s paying off.”
Kris Medlen was the planned opening-day starter before a torn elbow ligament March 9 resulted in season-ending surgery.
With Mike Minor several weeks behind after being shut down early in camp with shoulder soreness, and Brandon Beachy also out for the season following another elbow surgery, Teheran was the logical choice for opening-day starter.
“He just keeps getting better,” Gonzalez said of the Colombian right-hander, who was 14-8 with a 3.20 ERA in 30 starts as a rookie. “I think he’s mature enough to handle (starting opening day). A lot of guys tell you it’s not that big a deal, but I think it’s a big deal.”
But not too big that Gonzalez couldn’t joke with Teheran before making it official Saturday morning. He called him into the manager’s office without smiling and asked Teheran what he had done the night before, as if he were in trouble.
“I knew I didn’t do anything wrong; the only thing I do is try to do the right things,” Teheran said, smiling. “I kind of took the joke. He said something like, ‘What did you do last night?’ I said, I slept the whole night because I was tired.
“I wasn’t doing anything last night because I was tired. But that was funny.”
The Braves will open the season with a four-man rotation that includes left-hander Alex Wood, rookie David Hale and 37-year-old Freddy Garcia. Gonzalez said he would wait a couple of days to announce the full rotation.
They’ll add recently signed Ervin Santana to the rotation in the second week when they need a fifth starter. Santana certainly is more than a fifth starter, but because he signed late — the Braves scrambled to get him after the Medlen injury — and pitched in his first game only Thursday, he’s building arm strength.
Teammates solidly were behind the choice of Teheran to replace injured Medlen.
“Absolutely,” Braves catcher Evan Gattis said. “He’s a competitor, man. He executes his pitches, and he’s a winner. He wants to win. He’s not afraid of anybody — at all.”
It would be a understatement to say it’s been an eventful spring training for Teheran, who last month signed a six-year, $32.4 million contract extension with a seventh-year, $12 million option.
Teheran long was considered the one with the highest ceiling among the Braves’ homegrown starting pitchers. Since early last season he’s pitched like a budding ace. After he was 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA in his first 10 career games (seven starts), he’s 14-8 with a 2.81 ERA in 27 starts since April 19, with 158 strikeouts and 38 walks in 169 2/3 innings.
He has a 1.42 ERA and a .194 opponents’ average in five spring starts, with 17 strikeouts and three walks in 19 innings.
“He’s had a great spring,” said backup catcher Gerald Laird, who has seen steady development from Teheran since last spring. “He not afraid of anybody. He’s a competitor, too. He gave up a couple of hits (Friday), and you could tell he was upset. That’s one thing he doesn’t lack, is confidence.”
Teheran’s .217 opponents’ average with runners in scoring position in 2013 ranked eighth among National League starters.
“The main thing I liked about him was how he responded when things didn’t go his way,” Laird said. “That’s a big asset for young guys. It didn’t seem like he ever folded. He’s one of those guys that can step up to the challenge, when guys get on base or (he had) a rough inning, he was able to calm himself down and continue to make pitches.
“A lot of young guys come up here and struggle, then they give in (to hitters), and it kills your bullpen. But he was able to give up runs early and still be able to pitch five or six innings for us. Then he started kind of figuring it out, where he was going five, six, seven innings without giving up those runs.”
Teheran ranked second among major league rookies in strikeouts (170 strikeouts), innings (185 2/3) and WHIP (1.17) and fourth in ERA (3.20).
Before announcing the rest of the rotation, the Braves want to make sure Garcia and Hale get through starts Sunday and Monday without any problems. They also might want to wait to make sure no other starting pitcher becomes available on waivers or via trade.
