The Orioles have agreed to a deal with right-hander Julio Teheran, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. It’ll be a minor league pact, Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner adds.
Teheran, a client of Mato Sports Management, opted out of a minor league deal with the Cubs over the weekend. This is his second deal of the season with the Orioles, who originally signed him to a minor league pact back in spring training. Teheran opted out of that deal upon being informed he wouldn’t make the Opening Day roster. He went on to sign with the Mets, for whom he logged one start before being released, and then his more recent minor league pact with the Cubs.
While the O’s clearly didn’t feel they had a spot for Teheran at the end of camp, the calculus has changed. Both left-hander John Means and right-hander Tyler Wells recently underwent surgery to repair UCL tears in their pitching elbows, knocking them out for the remainder of the season. Right-hander Dean Kremer is also on the shelf at the moment, owing to a triceps strain. Baltimore’s current five-man rotation includes Corbin Burnes, Kyle Bradish (who rehabbed his own UCL sprain without surgery), Grayson Rodriguez, Cole Irvin and journeyman Albert Suarez.
The 33-year-old Teheran was tagged for four runs in 2 2/3 innings during that lone start with the Mets and has spent the rest of the regular season with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in Iowa. Things haven’t gone much better there, however. The longtime Braves hurler has made eight starts in Des Moines and been roughed up to the tune of 32 runs in 32 2/3 innings — an 8.82 earned run average. He’s yielded 48 hits — eight of them homers — and issued 11 walks against 37 punchouts.
It’s not an inspiring sample of work, but the O’s are potentially heartened by Teheran’s 23.1% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate, both of which are far more encouraging than his dismal ERA. The righty has also been plagued by a bloated .400 average on balls in play, which surely hasn’t helped his cause. More broadly, it’s clear the Orioles see something they like in Teheran’s raw stuff. He’s now twice signed with them this season, so the Orioles likely feel they have some tweaks or adjustments that can help the well-traveled right-hander improve on that minor league output.
It should also be noted that Teheran is only months removed from a solid 2023 showing with the Brewers. In 71 2/3 innings last year, he delivered a respectable 4.40 ERA in Milwaukee. Teheran’s 17.4% strikeout rate was only about three-quarters of the way to league-average, but his 4.5% walk rate was nothing short of excellent. Looking through an even wider lens, Teheran has a 3.85 ERA in nearly 1500 big league innings, although much of his success came in his early to mid-20s with the Braves during the 2010s. For now, he’ll give the O’s some experienced depth on which to lean in the event of further injuries.