On March 9, 2025, long-time Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Julio Teheran announced his retirement. In the midst of the World Baseball Classic, Spring Training and the seemingly never-ending stream of injuries to Atlanta Braves starting pitchers, it is unfortunate that it was a shoulder issue that caused Teheran to miss his scheduled start for Columbia against Canada two days prior to his announcement.
The right-handed Teheran, who just turned 35 six weeks ago, made only 22 starts after departing
Atlanta following the 2019 season. He last pitched in the big leagues in 2024 – ironically enough, making a start against the Braves on April 8 of that season – but injuries and ineffectiveness stymied any additional big league appearances.
The last five years were in stark contrast to his time as a starting pitcher in Atlanta. Teheran was a two-time All-Star with the Braves in 2014 and 2016 and made six-consecutive Opening Day starts for the Braves from 2014 through 2019. He made his big league debut in 2011 at age 20 but didn’t stick in the rotation until 2013.
Teheran made 30 starts in ‘13, the first of seven-straight years he made 30-or-more starts in the Atlanta rotation. He was the team’s top starter during what were some lean seasons in Atlanta from 2014 through 2017, when the Braves never won more than 80 games in a season and failed to win 70 games twice.
During his nine seasons with Atlanta, he pitched in 229 games – starting 226 times – tossing 1,360 innings for the Braves and leading the National League in starts in 2015. He was never dominant – he struck out just north of 20-percent of the batters he faced for most of his Atlanta run, with three years of a great walk-rate – but he was always solid. He did struggle a bit more during his final seasons with the Braves, when his average innings per start also dipped.
Teheran had the productivity of a productive third or fourth starter during his Atlanta tenure, but spent time at the top of the Braves’ rotation for most of his career. While that may have seemed frustrating at the time, a decade later, it is easy to have a greater appreciate of the workman-like way at which Teheren made his starts and “gave the Braves a chance to win every time out”.
Three seasons of Teheran’s career stand out above the rest. In 2013, 2014, and 2016, Teheran had an ERA of 3.21 or better and gave the Braves between 185.2 and 221 innings. His fWAR numbers come in lower than his bWAR ones, but those two services see those three seasons as three of his four best – with bWAR liking his 2019 better than 2013, although fWAR does not. FanGraphs never gave a single season of his better than 3.4 fWAR (Baseball Reference topped him out a 4.7 bWAR).
If Freddie Freeman was the bridge between two different Braves eras as a position player, Teheran was the same for the pitching staff. When Teheran made his big league debut in Philadelphia against the Phillies on May 7, 2011, the position players in the line-up included Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Martin Prado, Jason Heyward, Dan Uggla and Freeman. The Braves won 89 games that season and followed it up with 94 and 96 wins.
When Teheran made his final regular season start with Atlanta on September 24, 2019 against the Royals in Kansas City, Ronald Acuńa, Jr., Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley and Dansby Swanson were all in the line-up, as was McCann, during his return engagement with Atlanta. The Braves won 90 games in 2018 and 97 in 2019.
Teheran’s six consecutive Opening Day starts tie him with inner-circle Hall of Famer pitcher Warren Spahn. But as his career comes to a close, the Braves pitcher with whom he most closely relates is Rick Mahler, the Atlanta starter for most of the 1980’s who made five starts on Opening Day and whose career numbers are quite similar when adjusted for era to Teheran.
The Braves signed Teheran as an international free agent out of Columbia in 2007, and his 13-year MLB career was that of a solid starter whose heavy usage in his 20’s see his career detail at age 29.
For his career, he made 248 starts in 255 career games pitched with five complete games and had three shut-outs. He ended his career with an 81-82 record and 3.85 ERA. With Atlanta, his career record was 77-73 with a 3.67 ERA.
Here’s hoping he makes his way back to Atlanta this season for a warm welcome and a return to the organization where he spent the majority of his professional career.
His retirement announcement can be seen in the video embedded below (except for Apple News).
Happy trails.
