Brewers Sign Julio Teheran to MLB Deal

Just hours after 32-year-old Julio Teheran opted out of his minor-league contract with the San Diego Padres, it is being reported that he has signed a major-league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. 

Teheran debuted with the Atlanta Braves way back in 2011 as a 20-year-old. In 2013, he came up and made 30 starts and went 14-8 with a 3.20 ERA. In 2014, he was an All Star and went 14-13 with a 2.89 ERA for the Braves. He made his second All Star team in 2016 when he posted a 3.21 ERA for Atlanta. He remained with Atlanta through the 2019 season and went 77-73 with a 3.80 ERA over nearly 1,400 innings. 

He pitched in 10 games for the Angels in 2020 and went 0-4 with an ERA over 10 in 31 1/3 innings. In 2021, he made one start for the Tigers and gave up one run over five innings. 

In 2022, he pitched in the independent Atlantic League before heading to pitch in the Mexican League. This year, the Padres signed him and gave him an opportunity. In eight starts, he went 4-2 with a 5.63 ERA. In 40 innings, he gave up 51 hits, walked 16 and struck out 45 batters.  

A major-league deal is what makes it a surprising move. The Brewers definitely have a need for starting pitching. Brandon Woodruff was recently moved to the 60-Day IL where he joined lefty Aaron Ashby and Jason Alexander. In addition, lefties Eric Lauer and Wade Miley are on the 15-Day Injured List. Adrian Houser is just coming back from missing the early part of the season with injury. 

Teheran is out of options, so he will have to join the Brewers immediately. Sending him to the minors would require putting him through waivers. 

Expectations should not be high for this signing, but the hope is he can eat some innings and try to keep his team in games. His fastball currently sits right around 90 mph on average. He throws a bunch of sliders in the low-80s as well. 

All that said, they need someone to start.