PHOENIX -- The Braves sent top pitching prospect Julio Teheran back to Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday and brought up reliever Jairo Asencio from the same team to take his roster spot.
Braves officials had made it clear all along that Teheran would be sent back to the minors after his second spot start Wednesday, same as he was after his May 7 major league debut at Philadelphia.
Teheran pitched four innings Wednesday night in an 11-inning, 5-4 loss against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He allowed two runs, six hits and two walks with one strikeout, serving up a Justin Upton solo home run in the first inning.
The Braves won’t need a fifth starter again until May 31, when Teheran will be a candidate to return, because of off days in the schedule. Injured starter Brandon Beachy (oblique strain) is expected to miss at least three more weeks.
The Braves wanted to add an arm to a bullpen that’s covered a lot of innings lately, a result of the team's four 11-inning games in the past eight days.
Asencio was 1-1 with a 1.88 ERA and four saves in 12 appearances at Gwinnett. In three games with the big-league Braves last month, he gave up eight hits, four earned runs and two walks in 5-2/3 innings.
On Wednesday, manager Fredi Gonzalez removed Teheran after 83 pitches in four innings. He had discussed the situation with his coaches.
“We were talking about how 85 pitches in the big leagues is like 110 in the minor leagues, because they’re a little different, intensity-wise," Gonzalez said his 20-year-old pitcher. "And he had a couple of innings where there were some people on base. So, we thought, that’s good enough.”
Teheran received no decision in Wednesday's game after taking a loss on May 7 at Philadelphia in which the slender Colombian gave up four hits and three runs in 4-2/3 innings, including a Ryan Howard homer.
“I wasn’t nervous at all [Wednesday] like the first day in Philadelphia,” Teheran said, with bullpen coach Eddie Perez translating. “There were too many people there."
The right-hander is 0-1 with a 5.19 ERA in his two major league starts. He's allowed 10 hits, five runs and four walks with two strikeouts in 8-2/3 innings.
In six Triple-A starts, Teheran is 3-0 with a 1.91 ERA and has allowed 28 hits (no homers) and 12 walks with 32 strikeouts in 37-2/3 innings.
“This kid’s going to be all right,” Gonzalez said. “I like that he went back [to Triple-A] and worked on the stuff that we asked him to do, and he’s getting better.”
Teheran said whenever he's called again, he’ll be prepared.
“My dream is to be here in the big leagues,” he said. “I think I’m ready to be up here.”
