ST. PETERSBURG, FL JULY 22: Chris Archer #22 of the Tampa Bay Rays delivers a pitch during the second inning against the Miami Marlins at Tropicana Field on July 22, 2018 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Joseph Garnett Jr./Getty Images)

Atlanta Braves’ “heart & hustle” nominee at least has both going for him

Atlanta Braves’ “heart & hustle” nominee at least has both going for him by Alan Carpenter

Today’s game was annoying and frustrating. But that is exactly why Alex Anthopoulos is being forced to scour the starting pitching market.

Julio Teheran has got to be the most “Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde” pitcher in the majors. Earlier in the year, I wrote about my hopes that the long-time Atlanta Braves had turned a corner and started to consistently deliver as expected.

Now? Not so much. Allow me to illustrate.

Teheran has made a total of 20 starts for the Braves this season:

During his 10 worst: 4 Earned runs allowed, 5, 3, 4, 6, 3, 4, 7, 5, 7

During his 10 best: 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 0

There’s just not been much in between. Today’s outings was the last of those 7 earned run stints noted above.

Sure: there has been some minor ailments, cold weather, a blister, a sore shoulder…things like that which have derailed him a few times. But none of that happened today, and thus there was no real explanation for a bad outing against the Fish, as Mark Bowman discovered:

“It’s not frustrating,” Teheran said. “I need to find a way. You have one start that is good or two in a row. But [being] consistent has been the problem. I’m not going to get that in my mind and get crazy or get frustrated. It’s a game. We’ll try to do our best to be the best.”

Another Day, Another Rumor

Bowman then went on to talk about potential matches for the Braves in the starting pitching market. What he said should be characterized as speculation, but with him, there’s always the possibility that he’s hearing rumblings around and about:

As the Rays and Tigers have had scouts following the Braves’ top Minor League prospects over the past couple of weeks, there’s certainly reason to wonder if Atlanta could use its talent-rich pipeline to land Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer, who could be controlled through the 2021 season. Detroit’s Michael Fulmer stood as a potential match before he strained his oblique muscle last week and became a more likely offseason trade target. But the Tigers could interest the Braves with veteran starter Mike Fiers and reliever Shane Greene.

Now yesterday, I noted that things might have been trending into a Cole Hamels-like direction. I still stand by the idea that he could very well be in the mix – though I like him more as a backup plan, not as a Plan A. More like Plan C or D, in fact.

However, let’s review again a statement made by Alex Anthopoulos to former GM Jim Bowden:

Anthopoulus: “We want to add to this team.We are looking for acquisitions on players we can control rather than rentals.Teams more engaged on the rentals. Hopefully we can get something done in next 8 days.We can afford to add a starter&reliever& a bat. We are open to anything”. — Jim Bowden (@JimBowdenGM) July 23, 2018

RIght now, the Braves’ rotation is a bit of a hot mess:

Pitching well or well enough: Foltynewicz, Newcomb, Sanchez

Foltynewicz, Newcomb, Sanchez Not pitching well: Teheran

Teheran Missing in action: Fried, Gohara, McCarthy, Soroka

Fried, Gohara, McCarthy, Soroka Still on the outside looking in: Allard

Max Fried looked good in a rehab start for Gwinnett last night: 6.2 innings with 1 walk, 1 hit, TEN strikeouts, and no runs allowed. He looks to be on track to rejoin the major league club on Monday, July 30th when the next hole in the pitching schedule appears.

Is This the Plan?

I do believe that Anthopoulos is bent on getting a controllable starter. Archer is that. Hamels is kind of that. Fiers is not (though I’d honestly take him over Hamels, if it comes to that).

Fulmer was probably the first choice, but he’s hurt. Okay, yes: Jacob deGrom is the first choice, but the Mets are making dumpster fires look warm and inviting by comparison.

So….

Plan A – Chris Archer

– Chris Archer Plan B – Mike Fiers or Nate Eovaldi

– Mike Fiers or Nate Eovaldi Plan C – Cole Hamels or somebody else

Add a reliever of your choice… sure: perhaps Shane Greene would work. Jake Diekman would still be a possibility. For the bat, maybe also add Nick Castellanos while you’re talking with the Tigers. Now you’ve got something going.

In the meantime, it was a sloppy Braves’ club that honestly just didn’t look like they were pumped about what Julio Teheran was doing today. Maybe he needs a change of scenery.

So how about this…

Tampa Bay gets Teheran, Fried, and another lower level prospect

The Braves get Chris Archer and a reliever

I doubt that Tampa would go in quite that direction, but it might both allow for that change and help them get through at least the rest of the year: heck, their depth chart only lists two starters right now.

So if you’re wondering how the Braves got around to needing starting pitching at the trade deadline… that’s it: multiple injuries and Dr. Teheran occasionally turning into Mr. Hyde.