Julio Teheran is Atlanta Braves’ X-Factor in 2016 Season
Expectations for the Atlanta Braves in 2016 are not very high, but if this team is going to improve on their 67-win 2015 season, Julio Teheran has to have a bounce-back year.
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After improving from Year One to Year Two in the big leagues, posting a 2.89 ERA in 2014, he took a step back in 2015 finishing with an ERA above 4.00. He really struggled on the road last year with an ERA of 5.40 in 16 road starts. He has to improve on that number this year to even out his ERA.
The offense has to better than last year’s group that finished last in the league in runs scored. A healthy Freddie Freeman and newly acquired Ender Inciarte should definitely help in that department, but in order for the Braves to have any success in 2016, Teheran has to be the leader of this rotation and step forward as the team’s ace.
Teheran will start the season at the young age of 25 so there is still time for this youngster to grow into the top-of-the-rotation starter the Braves’ organization believes he can be.
The Braves will also be trying to mix in a lot of young, talented arms this year and they will need a role model to help them adjust to the big leagues. If Teheran can re-establish himself as a front-of-the-rotation starter, it will take some pressure off of the even younger arms the Braves have coming up.
Braves starters finished the 2015 season with an ERA of 4.27, which ranked 20th in all of baseball. With all of the inexperienced starters the Braves will use this year, they need their most experienced starter to step up and become the team’s ace.