DENVER – Julio Teheran got a win on opening day at Miami, and the Braves hope he’ll get another when he starts the first game after the All-Star break Friday against the Cubs at Turner Field.
Manager Fredi Gonzalez announced the Braves’ tentative post-break pitching plan Saturday, with Teheran to be followed by rookie left-hander Manny Banuelos, then All-Star Shelby Miller in the July 19 series finale against the Cubs. Rookie Matt Wisler would start the July 20 home-series opener against the Dodgers, with lefty Alex Wood getting his first post-break start July 21.
Teheran is 6-4 with a uncharacteristically high 4.56 ERA in 18 starts, but he’s 5-0 with a 2.04 ERA in eight starts at Turner Field. He would be the only pitcher to get two starts in the six-game homestand after the break.
“Nothing is set in stone until we get through the break, because a lot of things can happen,” Gonzalez said. “Four days off with these young men of mine, they might go white-water rafting or who knows what.”
But barring any injury or other unexpected misandventure, that’s the starting-pitching plan, probably for at least the first two times through the rotation after the break.
Part of the reasoning for the rotation orde was “just to split up the young guys,” Gonzalez said. “For a week or so we had Banuelos and Wisler (back-to-back). That can put a strain on your bullpen. So we’re going to separate them a little bit. Give Woody an extra three or four days, let him catch a breather. Julio catches a breather just because he pitched Wednesday and won’t pitch again till Friday (July 17).”
Moving Miller to the third game gives him four days of rest if he pitches an inning in Tuesday’s All-Start game, which Gonzalez said was likely based on conversations that Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell has had with Giants pitching Dave Righetti, who’ll serve in that same capacity on Bruce Bochy’s NL All-Star coaching staff.
Gonzalez said rookie Williams Perez, who’s been on the 15-day disabled list with a bruised foot, is scheduled to start a minor-league rehab assignment next week and could return in late July.
“Talking to Coppy (assistant general manager John Coppolella), he’s going to go out a couple of times to pitch, which is the right thing to do,” Gonzalez said of the Perez timetable. “The target (return) date with him, we’re thinking it’s probably late-20ish of July – the 25th, 27th, right around there.”
Perez, who is 4-0 with a 2.88 ERA in 11 games (eight starts), could go to the bullpen if the Braves decide to keep lefty Manny Banuelos in the rotation. Banuelos could go to the ‘pen, but the lefty’s one-inning appearance Friday was his first relief appearance since 2009 in low-Single A ball, and the Braves seem less inclined to move him to the bullpen.
Gonzalez said that decision – what to do when Perez returns – is still to be determined.
“We haven’t talked about that. That’ll take care of itself,” he said. “We think, he’s going to go to the bullpen or this guy’s going to go to the bullpen, and then someobody else gets hurt…. “There’s a lot of stuff that we can do. I don’t think we’ll be as creative as the Mets and go with a six-man (rotation.”
Another decision must be made when lefty reliever Andrew McKirahan returns July 20 from an 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. As a Rule 5 player who’s out of minor league options, he must be kept on the 25-man roster all season after the suspension ends, or else the Braves would have to offer him back to the Cubs at half of the $50,000 claiming price the Marlins paid to take him in the December Rule 5 draft (the Braves got McKirahan off waivers from the Marlins in the last week of spring training).
The Braves have carried an extra relief pitcher for most of the final week before the break, having added rookie Mike Foltynewicz to give them another arm for the four-game series at hitter-friendly Coors Field. Foltynewicz could be sent back to the Triple-A starting rotation either during the All-Star break or when McKirahan is activated.
When asked Saturday if there was a set plan to get Foltynewicz back in the rotation at this time, Gonzalez said, “Not here (at the major league level). I mean, all of a sudden if we feel…. We’ll sit down and talk just before the break ends. I’m sure we’ll have a (plan) when McKirahan comes back, we’ll see what’s best for (Foltynewicz), what’s best for us.”
