The morning after signing a contract that is guaranteed to stuff his once-empty pockets with at least $32.4 million over the next six seasons, Julio Teheran reflected on significantly less prosperous times in Colombia, when finding a good accountant and financial adviser weren’t high on his to-do list.
He lived in a small, two-bedroom home in an open sore of a neighborhood on Colombia’s coast. Eleven members were crammed into the house. Teheran shared a room with three sisters.
“That’s why I can’t believe this,” he said, referencing the contract he just signed with the Braves. “I couldn’t sleep last night because I was just thinking about it. My family didn’t have much money. We were living in a dangerous neighborhood. When I got my signing bonus, I was able to help my family out. Now I have this opportunity and I’m just trying to make the most of it.”
Teheran just turned 23 years old. He went through his first full major league season looking like one would imagine a flying blow torch would go through a dry grass field. He struck out out 170 batters in 185 2/3 innings and registered the second-best earned run average (3.20) in the Braves’ starting rotation.
In almost every start, Teheran left people thinking: future ace. Which is fortunate, because if there are any questions about the Braves going into this season, No. 1 on the list would be: Who’s No. 1 in the rotation — if not now, than in October?
“I know the eyes are going to be on me right now,” Teheran said. “I don’t want to think about the money. I’m trying to keep my mind on what I’m doing. If I can focus on the same things that I have the last couple of years, I think it will be perfect for everybody.”
Braves officials are trying to temper expectations for Teheran’s second season. Pitching coach Roger McDowell said, “You hate to say what he can become and put that on him. But obviously with the contract he just got, he has that quote, unquote potential. And he’s still a baby.”
Welcome to the crib. It’s crowded.
The Braves will be counting on a relatively adolescent rotation this season. The decision to not re-sign veteran Tim Hudson or bring in a clear No. 1 starter means the team will rely on at least four young starters. They are, in the possible order of the way they will be rolled out this season: Kris Medlen (four-plus seasons, 28 years old); Teheran (one-plus, 23); Mike Minor (three-plus, 26); Brandon Beachy (three-plus, 27). The potential fifth starters are Freddy Garcia, who would throw off the age curve at 37, or Alex Wood (23).
There is nothing wrong with Medlen, Teheran, Minor and Beachy. Actually, there’s very little wrong. They’re all good. The drop off from No. 1 to No. 4, how ever they’re stacked, is minimal. The Braves should win a lot of games.
If there’s a potential for problems, it’s the postseason, which, of course, has been the problem for a while. Most playoff teams have an ace. They set their rotations to exploit their strengths.
The Braves won 96 games last season. They led the majors in earned run average: 3.18. But they wound up ranking ninth out of 10 postseason teams with a 5.82 ERA in four divisional playoff games (three losses) vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers. (Primary contributor: Teheran, who was shelled for six runs in 2 2/3 innings in a 13-6 loss in Game 3.)
Manager Fredi Gonzalez said the Braves may have a “bunch of 2’s or 3’s” and not a No. 1 on his staff. He and McDowell effectively are hoping that as the team goes through the regular season, a clear No. 1 will …
“Kind of emerge?” Medlen said, finishing a question.
Well, yeah. It’s kind of a dangerous game but the Braves believe the long season affords them that time. Also, it’s a much cheaper approach, but you’re not going to get anybody to say that.
“I guess the line would be that we have the makings of those (ace) pitchers,” McDowell said. “I don’t think they’re there yet. But we have guys who’ve been through the rigors of the last couple of seasons.”
Medlen said the need for a No. 1 during the regular season is “overstated.”
“At some point, do you need a guy who can step up and carry the team? Sure,” he said. “But I think we have that guy. We just have to be put in that (situation). It only matters when you get to the playoffs. If you have an ace and four crap pitchers during the season, you’re going to go 1-4. We have five guys who can win games.”
Asked about the pecking order in the rotation, Teheran said it doesn’t matter to him if he is “the first one, third one or the fifth one. I just need to do my job and win some games. I don’t want to think about money any more.”
