Veteran righty Julio Teherán announced this afternoon that he’s officially retiring from baseball (Spanish-language video provided by Francys Romero). The 35-year-old was on the roster for his native Colombia during this year’s World Baseball Classic. Unfortunately, he had to be scratched from his scheduled start against Canada on Saturday after experiencing shoulder discomfort during warm-ups.
Although Teherán hasn’t been a factor at the MLB level in recent seasons, he had a strong career. A two-time All-Star, he pitched parts of 13 years in the big leagues. Teherán spent the bulk of his career with the Braves, who signed him for $850K as an amateur in 2008. He moved quickly through the minors and was one of the sport’s top pitching prospects within a couple years.
Atlanta called Teherán up for his first major league start in May 2011, less than four months after his 20th birthday. He made a handful of appearances over that season and the following year. By 2013, the Braves felt he was ready for a full-time rotation opportunity.
Teherán made 30 starts and turned in a 3.20 earned run average across 185 2/3 innings. He finished fifth in NL Rookie of the Year balloting on a 96-win team that won the NL East. Teherán was hit hard in his one appearance during the Division Series, but he signed a six-year extension that winter and entered the following season as Atlanta’s staff ace.
He’d hold that title for the next few seasons. Teherán made his first of six straight Opening Day starts for the Braves in 2014. Although the mid-2010s were a rough stretch for the team, that wasn’t any fault of Teherán’s. He established himself as a durable and reliable mid-rotation caliber starter.
Teherán topped 200 innings in consecutive seasons between 2014-15. He tossed a personal-high 221 frames of 2.89 ERA ball during his second full MLB campaign, earning an All-Star selection in the process. Teherán was selected back to the Midsummer Classic two years later. He turned in 188 innings of 3.21 ERA ball that year.
The 6’2″ righty only had two minimal injured list stints during his run in Atlanta. He made at least 30 starts every year from 2013-19. He got to 175 innings in all but the last of those seasons (in which he came just one out away from that mark). Teherán posted a combined 3.64 ERA with nearly 1200 strikeouts while ranking ninth in MLB in innings over those seven seasons. The Braves would return to the postseason during his final two years with the club, though he’d pitch out of the bullpen in October.
Atlanta declined a club option after the 2019 season, sending Teherán to free agency for the first time. He landed a $9MM contract from the Angels but was knocked around for 35 runs across 31 1/3 innings during the shortened schedule.
That pushed him into journeyman territory, as he bounced around via minor league deals and spent time in independent ball and the Mexican League. Teherán made brief appearances with the Tigers, Brewers and Mets between 2021-24. His final major league outing came as a member of the Mets against his old club at Truist Park in April 2024. He spent last season in Mexico.
Teherán wasn’t able to pitch in this year’s WBC, but he did earn a win for his home country in the 2017 tournament. He pitched professionally for almost two decades and retires with a sub-4.00 ERA in the big leagues despite his rocky results after leaving Atlanta.
He steps away with a 3.85 mark in nearly 1500 innings. Teherán recorded 1260 strikeouts and posted a near-.500 record (81-82). Baseball Reference credited him with roughly 20 wins above replacement, including 4-5 WAR showings during both of his All-Star seasons. He made north of $45MM in career earnings. Congratulations to Teherán on an excellent run and all the best in retirement.
Image courtesy of Jake Roth, USA Today Sports.
Very nice career. Rarely an easy day watching him pitch against your team. Best of luck to him
Was this the Teheran regime change the administration was taking about?
Fun fact, Julio hit a home run during the 2018 season.
Against the Mets at Citi Field
I enjoyed watching many a game from the outfield wall when he took the mound.
Congrats on a solid career Mr. Teheran
Wonder what cap he’ll wear as he enters the Hall of Wonders. Bonne chance, good sir!
Teheran was one of the Angels many failed former allstar starters they signed year after year. Teheran, Blanton, Cahill, Lincecum, Harvey, Syndergaard, Quintana. Glad to see Teheran make it back for 11 starts in ’23. 13 BBs and 13 HRS in 72 inngs is a fun stat
time and place guy
No kidding
Where else would be appropriate to mention this? Why is it such a big deal? It’s prevalent information regarding a player in the article. We don’t have to blow everyone when they retire
choof
“It’s prevalent information”.
No.
Questionable whether it’s relevant, it’s definitely not prevalent.
🤣 I wrote that comment at 3 in the morning, that follows…. I’ll get em next time
Chasing someone down to rain on his retirement at 3am, that’s next level obsession
bruh i woke up in the middle of the night and decided to check MLBTR, I wasn’t out to get the guy…. also when did I rain on his retirement?
Oop had you mixed with op my bad
I would think a comment section, about baseball players, is prevalent. Calm down jizzhands. This isn’t an article about useless stats that you post about.
Nah I wrote it while sitting on the toilet. What are you doing on here. Trying to be the comedian no one thinks you are Theo? You ever go back and read how pathetic you jokes are? I dare ya, do it
Wrote it while sitting on the can. So toilet in, toilet out. That tracks
Theo
I think you hit about 0.250 on your jokes. In baseball, that’s ok.
RT
Muted
Yeah but its not the BA so much as OPS. And exit velocity!
Dude makes Mendoza a HOF
Teherán had a nice career, but he retired he didn’t die, mentioning stats and poor late career results is fine.
Tough up Foremgn or whateveryour name is. . It’s going to ok. Julio knows that was a knock on the Angels and not on him.
Ooh all value is based on how they managed to fare with the middling Angels during the very small sample size of times you tuned in. What a depressing outlook on life!
Strike 3! You’re out! Bye bye Jizzhands!
Future Hall of Pretty Gooder
Great career. Congrats to Teherán.
Obviously he won’t be making the Hall of Fame, but do you think he will make the ballot? Just making the ballot is an honor in itself. You have to last 10 years in the majors, but even that doesn’t guarantee a spot on the ballot. There are a lot of good players that have been left off entirely.
Theres a bunch of people that are no where near the HOF that are considered on the ballot, so yes 2 all stars is enough to get on
I don’t know. Jeremy Hellickson and Mike Leake had similar careers and both were left off the ballot in 2025.
It is based entirely on making a minimum of 10 years of service time in the big leagues. However, that is a calculation made based on days on a big league roster (active or time spent on the IL). It isn’t just that a guy spent a total of 10 years in the big leagues.
Teheran played in the big leagues for parts of 13 seasons but that includes 5 games in 2011, 2 games in 2012, 1 game in 2021 and 1 game in 2024. I would guess that he will fall just short of the 10 years of service time and miss the ballot.
He passed 10 years’ service time in September of 2023. Playing time doesn’t equal service time. For instance, if he had injuries, that time counts as well.
But that is not true. All you need is 10 seasons in the majors to be ELIGIBLE to be on the HOF ballot, but you still have to be selected from the pool of candidates. They do not select every player that has 10 seasons in the majors or 10 years of service time. A recent example would be Ian Desmond. He had over 10 years of service time and 11 seasons in the majors, was a 2 time All Star, won 3 Silver Sluggers, and collected nearly 1500 career hits and still did not make the ballot in 2025.
A lot of it depends on how many solid players retire that year as well. There are some years where the first timers on the ballot are clearly not HOFers, like this past year, but while the class may not be “top-heavy” they can be deep. And vice versa.
In 2016, the ballot was VERY “top-heavy” with first ballot HOFer Ken Griffey Jr, along with later inductees Trevor Hoffman and Billy Wagner. However, it was not a deep class with guys like Randy Winn, Mark Grudzielanek, and Brad Ausmus making the ballot. In other years, they would have been left off the ballot entirely.
Okay, I was wrong on how I thought a player is chosen. I looked up the information on mlb.com and found this paragraph:
Who decides which players make the final ballot?
The most recent BBWAA ballots have included 25-30 players, so not every player who had a 10-plus-year career and has been retired for at least five years can be put on the ballot. The final say lies with a BBWAA-appointed screening committee consisting of baseball writers. It’s a six-member committee, and an eligible first-time candidate makes it on the ballot if they are nominated by any two of the six members.
Those ballot newcomers are joined by any player who received a vote on at least 5% of ballots cast in the previous election.
That 2013 NL ROY class was insane. Jose Fernandez was the clear choice, but almost every other vote getter wouldve ran away with award in the AL.
I haven’t heard of Jose Fernandez in years
He could have been in the conversation of scherzer, verlander, kershaw by this time
He had a few good seasons but never lived up to the hype.
I was wondering who the first (foolish) person would be to cast aspersions on his career.
Someone who’s username appears to be mocking a player
I don’t understand why all these assumed baseball fans hate baseball players
This. Celebrate a players enormous digits as opposed to denigrate.
Fine. He had a great career and should be a first ballot hall of famer!
Better. Now do Billy Graberkewitz
Darren, there’s plenty of room between your disparaging comment and your sarcastic one. He had a good career, which is all most players can aspire to.
He was a super solid starter, not everyone is gonna be a Pedro Martinez.
Does Teheran deserve to be included in the Braves Ring of Honor?
He in fact does not.
Maybe Jonny Cash’s ring of fire
I don’t think so either, but it’s a close call
For 77 wins and 2 all star appearances? lol
Spent a lot of time with him in the dugout, that dude can flick pumpkin seeds with accuracy and distance I had never seen before lol… congrats Julio!
He can flick his friends and he can flick his pumpkin seeds. Can he flick his friends pumpkin seeds?
Man just stop.
There goes an MLBTR hall of famer. Feel like there was a 3-4 year stretch where the Braves “ace” was always rumored to be on the move.
Good Luck Julio!
See you, me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard 🤣
Is he sure he doesn’t want a 1-year $20 mil deal from Atlanta? We like to give those out to guys at the end of their careers.
Or the Red Sox. Do them next!
Now that is a name I haven’t heard in a while
Or William Henry Harrison
Obewan Teheran?
Lean times for Braves back then, if he was best option to be their Opening Day starter or Ace of the rotation.
The Braves should bring him back for a Julio Teheran Appreciation Day. He meant a lot to the team and the fans back in the day.
That what team hof is for.
Always suspected he fibbed about his age. I’m guessing he was already polished and in his prime when he first came up. Would explain why there was never a “next level” he could reach.
He may have fibbed about his age, but MLB and the State Department are a lot more attentive to that stuff since 9/11. Raphael Furcal aged about 2-3 years overnight.
Congrats on a solid career.
Cheers! Great Brave.
Rough month for people, places and things with names like Julio’s surname.
Here’s a little known fact: his last name doubles as the capital of Iran.
I swear BR use to state service time. I wonder if he got his 10 years.