Has Julio Teheran thrown his last pitch with the Atlanta Braves?

In a way, it’s fitting Julio Teheran pitched the last inning of both game 4 and game 5 of this years NLDS series. Will those be the last pitches of his Atlanta Braves career?

That is obviously the $11 million dollar question for the Atlanta Braves. The Atlanta Braves hold a $12 million club option on Julio Teheran’s contract, but it also comes with a $1 million buyout, therefore rendering it a $11 million dollar decision.

Since his debut in 2011, Julio has been the epitome of staying healthy and providing the Atlanta Braves with if nothing else a reliable arm every 5th day to pitch.

Sure, the results have diminished some since those early years, but he has been a quality middle of the pack arm for the Atlanta Braves.

That also might be the downfall for the 9-year veteran as well though. Few players have been as polarizing as Julio has been among Braves nation throughout the years.

Some love him and will point out his career 3.67 ERA and say, he is without a doubt a quality number 3 or 4 starter. The other side points out his high walk and home run numbers and tell you he is supposed to be a number 1 or 2 pitcher.

In a sense, neither side is wrong. He has started at least 30 games in every season for the Atlanta Braves since the 2012 season.  That’s a rare picture of durability…

PITCHERS WITH 30+ STARTS EACH SEASON BETWEEN 2013 AND 2019:

• Julio Teheran
• Jose Quintana
• Jon Lester
• Mike Leake
• (only 4 more did so in 6 of these years)

What happened in games, though?

On the other hand though, his numbers have inflated for the most part and his walk and home run ratio are extremely high for an NL pitcher. His WHIP in 2019 alone was 1.32. That is obviously way too many base runners to navigate through.

As far as the option goes though, all year I was pretty sure the Atlanta Braves were leaning towards exercising it and having Julio go again for at least 1 more year in 2020. Then, when the Atlanta Braves announced the postseason roster, they didn’t include the former 2 time all star pitcher.

Now my mind is leaning towards them declining it, and really there is sound logic behind that move. First, we obviously have Mike Soroka, Mike Foltynewicz, and Max Fried ready to be at the top of the rotation. I would also not be surprised one bit if the Braves elect to go after another bigger name pitcher this winter to pair up with the aforementioned trio.

Of course, another lingering question could be what is the long term plan for Sean Newcomb still as well? Do the Atlanta Braves still view him as a rotation piece?

Throw in prospects like Kyle Wright, Ian Anderson, and Bryse Wilson and its easy to see how the Atlanta Braves would still have plenty of options to fill out a 5 man rotation with a little insurance still as back up.

So in short, the answer to the question is yes, I believe Julio Teheran has most likely threw his last pitch for the Atlanta Braves. He’s done a lot for this organization and he will get a job somewhere on someone’s rotation this off season, but the bottom line is the Braves could really use that $12 million they would save and be able to fill in other holes for the team.

Let us know what you would like the Atlanta Braves to do in the comment section below.