September call-up pleasant surprise for Teheran

The second September call-up of Julio Teheran’s career came as a much bigger surprise to the Braves top pitching prospect than last year, after he struggled to find consistency his second season in Triple-A.

After going 15-3 with a 2.55 ERA in 25 games (24 starts) last year in Gwinnett to win International League pitcher of the year, Teheran went 7-9 with a 5.08 ERA in 26 starts this season.

But the Braves rewarded him with a second straight September call-up on Tuesday. He and reliever Cory Gearrin completed the Braves’ minor league call-ups. Now they just await shortstop Andrelton Simmons’ return from the disabled list sometime in the next week or so.

“I’m really glad to be here,” Teheran said. “I had no idea. I didn’t have the year I had last year. I’m glad they gave me the confidence to be back here.”

The Braves were encouraged by the way Teheran finished the season in Gwinnett, allowing two or fewer earned runs in three of his final four starts. Teheran said he made an adjustment holding his glove higher.

“I’ve been feeling the difference,” Teheran said. “I feel like I have confidence and am relaxed.”

One area where Teheran has shown marked improvement since last year is with his English. Teheran, a native of Columbia, and all the other Latin American minor league players are encouraged to learn English using Rosetta Stone by Annie Lee, executive assistant to Braves general manager Frank Wren.

Notes: Jair Jurrjens completed the season with Triple-A Gwinnett on the disabled list and was not recalled to join the club in September. He went 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA in three August starts in Gwinnett during his rehabilitation assignment. Jurrjens went 3-4 with a 6.89 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) this season for the Braves….Recent call-up Jose Constanza won the International League batting title, finishing his season in Gwinnett with a .314 average.