The Golden Sombrero’s Top 50 Prospects: #13 – Julio Teheran (Video)

#13 Julio Teheran – Atlanta Braves

RHP

DOB: 1-27-91

ETA: 2012

As the top prospect in the highly regarded Braves system, Teheran got a taste of Double-A in 2010 in the form of seven late-season starts at Mississippi.  He fared well, posting a 3.38 ERA with 38 K’s in 40 innings.  His 2010 K:BB was essentially 4, and scouts have been drooling over his stuff for a while now.  His fastball reaches the mid-90s and is easily a plus already.  His bender is slow, but it exhibits excellent tilt and has a chance to be a true swing-and-miss pitch, grading as a 55 or 60 in its prime.

His changeup is about 10 ticks off the fastball and demonstrates sharp downward arm-side break.  It has a chance at a plus grading too, but his arm speed has a tendency to noticeably slow down during its release. With time, he should be able to correct this flaw and really throw the pitch.  Teheran has a 6-foot-2 frame, and, at only 150-pounds, he still has plenty of projection left.  At his peak, he can be the #2 in Atlanta behind Tommy Hanson.  He is one of the top-3 right-handed pitchers in the Minor Leagues today, and might be at the very top of that list a year from now.