There's nothing to do with Teheran except allow him to be a back end starter until his contract expires. They will be paying him $11M to be a 1 win SP in 2019, then can decline his 2020 option or pick it up instead of signing some other stop gap SP.
The time to trade him is long past, and if teams weren't willing to meet the Braves' asking price then, they aren't going to give anything of value now. His stuff has been declining every year since he entered MLB, which is what usually happens with pitchers.
jpx7 (04-04-2018)
So much blame directed at the pitching coach for this performance. Hernandez is not the answer, to be sure, but Teheran was erratic before he reached the majors.
.
Knucksie (04-05-2018)
Despite the lofty hype placed on him, he has been a good pitcher for his Atlanta career. At one time quotes such as, "For the most part, this guy has been one of the best pitchers in baseball because of the command he has and then that swing and miss slider.” - Gerald Laird.....we're normal. Look it up.
Fast forward and the wheels are clearly falling of the bus. Declining stuff..yes...but he can figure it out on most days. I come back to making adjustments. Many pitchers lose stuff, but can maneuver through games with less than stellar stuff. Julio can't. At this point every start at suntrust should be pushed back. No pitching coach change will happen, so to Enscheff's point, it's best to ride out the contract.
Braves1976 (04-04-2018)
Doesn't really matter if those guys weren't on the table. He was still a solid starter on a good contract 3-4 years ago and we were selling off nearly every other asset (most notably Simmons who was far more valuable and also on a good contract). Should've been traded along with everyone besides Freeman.
jpx7 (04-04-2018)
Have to ask-- McDowell was lauded for being very good working with young guys. With al the young guns now and several years ago, who decided to fire him?
Also, McDowell was well known for his change up while pitching in the MLB. Hernandez doesn't even know how to throw any of the variety grip change ups.
Generally speaking his average velocity has been pretty consistent since coming in the league before the first 2 starts this year. From rookie year til now. 93.9 93.1 93.0 92.3 91.9 92.0 89.6 Aside from rookie year his average FB was basically within a MPH of every other year.
Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg
jpx7 (04-04-2018)
So we went from 94 to 93 to three years of 92 to...89.6? Not exactly a straight line progression. That's only two starts though, right? Maybe he's pitching through an injury. He's done it before. One thing Julio does is take the ball.
I am disappointed certainly, but not done with him.
He's had years with great control <2 BB/9, followed by years of 3.5BB/9...he's had pitches desert him. At Gwinnett he had a year of sub 3.00 ERA followed by a year they tweaked him and his ERA was 5.02. Then he was fixed the next year when he came to ATL.
He's gutsy, smart and has a mean streak (loved when he drilled Bryce Harper in the ass.). I agree with the folks here who say he needs to reclaim velocity and I have always thought he would do well to rely on his two-seamer, and junk the four-seamer, even when he was throwing 92 he had a gopher problem. It's now exacerbated by his home park. He did pitch better at ST toward the end of the year, but he's got some adjustments to make if he's going to be effective. I heard he regained the feel for his slider, but obviously we haven't seen that.
I think it is more likely than not that he cannot make the necessary adjustments, but there's a decent (30-40%) chance that he does.
Still a fan of his
"For there is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it." Amanda Gorman
"When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross"
McDowells issue was the TJ surgery right? All of his pitchers ended up with it?
Ivermectin Man
Not quite. And that issue is much more epidemic than a major league pitching coach. That's who the kid's high school and college coaches were as well as minors. By the time they're 20 or older they're not gonna change what worked. Case in point is Medlen. He had terrible mechanics. But they were what got him to the majors and changing them changes how he pitches. Only Braves pitcher I recall who's mechanics changed in the majors were Hanson and it probably prolonged his career but it took a lot of movement off his fastball and he was much more hittable.
Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg