ATLANTA -- Sal Frelick made the Brewers’ catch of the year. Unfortunately, it came in one of the Brewers’ worst innings of the season.
Frelick’s catch was worthy of the highlight reel, but the rest of the first inning of Saturday’s 11-5 loss to the high-scoring Braves at Truist Park went about as poorly as possible for the Brewers and Julio Teheran, whose feel-good comeback after more than two years between Major League starts has taken a wrong turn.
Teheran wondered whether he was tipping pitches after surrendering six runs on six hits in that rough opening inning and then having to “wear it” through the fifth because the Brewers were thin on relievers. He was charged with nine runs on 11 hits, including a trio of home runs, as the Brewers were guaranteed a second series loss to the MLB-leading Braves in as many weekends.
The Brewers expect to get left-handed starter Wade Miley back from an elbow injury as soon as this road trip, which moves on to Washington next, and right-hander Brandon Woodruff is scheduled for at least one more rehab start on Tuesday as he nears the end of a long comeback from a strained muscle behind his right shoulder. Both of those developments could impact Teheran, 32, who signed with Milwaukee in May as the Brewers faced a dire shortage of starting pitching.
“We’ve got some time to figure that out,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We hope to get Woody back. That’s going to cost somebody a spot. We’re on the way to get Miley back. We don’t have off-days coming up. We have off-days in the month of August. All that is going to factor into some starting pitcher decisions.
“I hope we get to that point. We’re not there yet. We’ve got to get more healthy starting pitchers. If we get to more healthy starting pitchers, then we’re going to have to have a conversation about who’s not going to start.”
During his first month in a Brewers uniform, Teheran’s results, if not his arsenal, resembled the pitcher who started six Opening Days during a long and successful run with the Braves. A shoulder injury derailed him in 2021 with Detroit, but Teheran rehabbed, pitched in the Minors and in independent ball and waited for an opportunity that finally arrived when the Brewers came calling.
Here are the numbers from his first six Brewers starts:
• 1.53 ERA
• 0.88 WHIP
• .192 average against
• Three home runs in 35 1/3 innings
• Four quality starts
And in his five starts since then:
• 8.89 ERA
• 1.46 WHIP
• .319 average against
• Nine home runs in 27 1/3 innings
• One quality start
“He probably got away with some mistakes in some previous games. He’s not getting away with mistakes now,” Counsell said. “He went up against a really good team tonight, a really good offense tonight.
“Julio has to be on the corners no matter what. He’s not operating with a nasty, big swing-and-miss pitch, so he has to execute a whole bunch of pitches and mix it up very, very well. You can mix it up well, but if they’re in the middle of the plate, that’s trouble.”
Teheran wondered whether something else might have been going on Saturday. His previous outing also came against the Braves at American Family Field on July 23, when he allowed only one run in six innings.
Saturday’s rematch, however, was a different sort of night from that start.
“We’re going to look tomorrow when we get a chance, watch some videos and see,” Teheran said. “I feel like they were comfortable."
When Frelick covered 66 feet and dove through the air to catch Travis d’Arnaud’s sacrifice fly for Teheran’s first out of the game, the Braves had already scored multiple runs and had sent five hitters to the plate. The deficit grew to 9-1 by the fifth against Teheran, who did provide enough length to keep the bullpen intact for Sunday’s series finale. The Braves’ lead then grew as wide as 11-1 before William Contreras homered in a four-run eighth inning.
“Things were working for me in my last outing, and there was no reason to change anything, but I feel like they were looking for [pitches] and they were comfortable,” Teheran said. “I’ve got four pitches and I threw all of them and they knew when -- that’s what I feel. We’ll look and we’ll see.”
Against the Braves, there’s little margin for error.
“Especially back-to-back outings with them. That’s kind of tough,” Teheran said. “With them, you can’t make mistakes, because they make you pay for it.”