LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – In what should come as a surprise to no one, the Braves are planning to name All-Star Julio Teheran their opening day starter for the second consecutive season.
Manager Fredi Gonzalez probably won’t announce it for several weeks, but made clear Sunday which way he was leaning when asked whether Teheran would be the opening-day starter if things go as planned at spring training.
“Yeah, I think so,” Gonzalez said. “But I don’t even want to go there, because there’s so much stuff that could happen…. But you know what? He was our best pitcher last year, made the All-Star team last year, and everything being perfect – no injuries, no setbacks, no blisters that could develop; you’ve still got to go out and get five starts (this spring), so a lot of things could happen – but yeah, I think he’d be the most logical choice.
“But I’m not ready to do that right now, on Day 2 of spring training.”
Still, Gonzalez said, “It’s a no-brainer, really.” Then he smiled and added, “If (Max) Scherzer was still out there we might have got him to do it.”
The Braves planned to have Kris Medlen start last year’s opener, but turned to Teheran after Medlen blew out his elbow in a March 9 spring-training game. Mike Minor was several weeks behind other pitchers due to shoulder tendinitis early in camp, and Brandon Beachy had also suffered a season-ending elbow injury in spring training.
On March 22, Gonzalez announced his opening-day starter would be Teheran, who had gone 14-8 with a 3.20 ERA in 30 starts as a rookie in 2013, with 170 strikeouts in 185-2/3 innings.
He raised his performance in 2014, finishing 14-13 with a 2.89 ERA and team-highs of 186 strikeouts and 221 innings. He was sixth among National League starters in opponents’ average (.232) and fifth in opponents’ on-base percentage (.279), a few spots ahead of the Giants ace Madison Bumgarner (.281).
Teheran allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings of a 2-0 loss in the opener at Milwaukee, a harbinger of his season: The Braves scored one or no runs while he was in the game in 14 of his 33 starts, including 10 of his 13 losses.
