Get excited Braves fans. The potential next great Braves starter has just made another step towards the majors. Everyone's favorite Braves' blogger and beat writer David O'Brien reported that Julio Teheran made his spring debut this afternoon, pitching a scoreless inning, including 2 hits and 1 strikeout. Teheran, who is rated as the top pitching prospect in MLB by many outlets, throws "easy gas" in the mid-90s while also possessing a plus changeup. His mechanics are reportedly very good, and his command has been excellent all throughout the minors. Last year, he posted a 3.5/1 strikeout to walk ratio, struck out over 10 batters per 9 innings, and only gave up 9 home runs in 142 innings in the minor leagues. These 3 factors are probably the best predictors of success for a minor league starters, and Teheran passes all of these with flying colors. Plus, he's only 20. Lots to like.
It will be interesting to watch how Teheran does this year, probably starting the year at double A. Judging by how he pitched last year, he should continue to put up fantastic numbers, but most interesting to me is whether he features a slider this year or not. Braves' policy prohibits minor leaguers below double A from throwing sliders, so almost all of Teheran's work has come without the use of a slider. He is in possession of a decent curveball already, grading out as average at the moment with the potential to be above average. It will be interesting to watch, because Tommy Hanson shot up prospect rankings once he reached double A and started showing his slider. He went from a very good prospect to an awesome one that summer. Teheran has already proven he's an awesome prospect, but with a hard slider to complement a great fastball and changeup, it could make him even better. Something to watch for.
Looking ahead to the future of the Braves, the Braves already have young studs Hanson (24) and Jason Heyward (21) producing in the majors, Freddie Freeman (21) hopefully producing this year, and Teheran waiting in the wings. Hanson (4.3) and Heyward (5) racked up 9.3 WAR last year, and each have multiple years before reaching their primes. Teheran certainly has the potential to be a 5+ WAR player in a couple of years, and Freeman should be a solid contributor. And perhaps most importantly, these guys are all under team control for the next 5 years, which means they won't be being paid even close to what they will be worth on the open market. The Braves really have a strong and exciting nucleus (without even mentioning Brian McCann, Martin Prado, Johnny Venters, Craig Kimbrel, and Kris Medlen in 2012, in addition to some more excellent pitching prospects on the way) to potentially build around, and the potential is there for a contender to be in place for the forseeable future. Obviously, much needs to happen to tap that potential, but the Braves have laid the foundation. With all of this potential, its easy to see why Braves fans are as excited as they have been in a long time for an upcoming baseball season.
No comments:
Post a Comment