The Boston Red Sox need another power arm in their rotation and it seems like they could be going after Atlanta Braves ace Julio Teheran.
With the Atlanta Braves being one of the worst teams in baseball this season, it is clear that they will be sellers during the trade deadline. Which means that they could be offering up their current ace, Julio Teheran.
As the weather is getting hotter, the Boston Red Sox are still in first place in the A.L. East. The two teams squared off earlier this week and split a 4 game series, 2 games a piece.
Throughout that series, we all noticed both offenses consistently fighting until the end and having no mercy on the pitchers. Great to see that our offense is being productive, but our pitching is becoming an issue.
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During the Baltimore series, we watched Joe Kelly and Rick Porcello get beat around and eventually found themselves on the bench. For Porcello, he is fortunate enough to get another chance to redeem himself on the mound in the next couple of days. Whereas for Kelly, he needs to get ready for this next start in AAA due to the fact that he got demoted to the Pawtucket Paw Sox.
With Kelly being optioned and Clay Buchholz now serving his duties in the bullpen, the new question is who is going to be the 5th man in the rotation?
When the trade deadline rolls around, you have to assume that the Red Sox are going to go after a proven starting arm to help out pitchers David Price and Steven Wright carry the rotation during the second half of the season.
So why not Julio Teheran?
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In 2016, Teheran is currently 1-6. But his record doesn’t resemble how he is actually pitching. Since Teheran is pitching for one the worst offenses in all of baseball, he is getting no run support. This causes him to get the loss when he only allows1 or 2 runs a start. So far this season, Teheran has a 2.92 ERA and ranks 8th in the National League in opponents batting average (.204).
So it seems pretty obvious that the Sox should go after this guy, right?
Not so fast.
Since the Braves would be offering this guy to other teams, they’re probably going to want a handful of big leaguers and possibly a few prospects. Now I know the Sox have a stacked farm system, but I personally think that infielder Yoan Moncada, outfielder Andrew Benintendi, and pitcher Anderson Espinoza are untouchable. I understand that we desperately need a starting pitcher to contend for October baseball, but these 3 players seem like potential superstars in the next few years.
Also, Teheran hasn’t had a lot of starts against A.L. East teams, but when he faced them, it was ugly. In just 7 starts against A.L. East opponents, he’s 0-3 with a 7.70 ERA. Not sure if that is a dependable arm to have when he has that resume against teams he would end up pitching against.
Next: Sox will have to overpay for bullpen help
As we continue to watch the Sox play this season, I believe more people will begin to realize how badly we need another proven starter. Julio Teheran may be the answer, but if they don’t get him, they’d better have a Plan B.