Rowdy Tellez

Tellez looked well on his way to a second straight 30-homer season in 2023 after putting eight over the boards in April. Things mostly went downhill after that, though. The 28-year-old missed six weeks of action with forearm and finger injuries and by the time he returned in late August Carlos Santana had taken over at first base for the Brewers, leaving Tellez to fight for starts at designated hitter. He did very little with the at-bats he was given down the stretch and Milwaukee chose to non-tender him this offseason. Tellez's hard-hit rate (40.4 percent) and barrel rate (8.7 percent) both dropped off significantly last season, while his strikeout rate (24.5 percent) went up. His age and track record suggest Tellez will bounce back to some degree in 2024, and he should get regular starts at least versus righties after signing with Pittsburgh over the winter.

When Tellez was deal to Milwaukee, fantasy managers had hoped that he would be freed from the shackles of a platoon situation and we could finally see what the slugger could do as a full-time player. For better and for worse, that indeed happened in 2022. Tellez had 599 plate appearances and his StatCast profile has a high volume of dark red ink on it, but the .219/.306/.461 triple-slash line shows the risks of exposing the lefty slugger to too many lefty pitchers. That approach worked in 2019 when the fortunes went his way and he hit .270/.317/.513 against lefties in the AL, but went .209/.313/.330 against lefties in the NL this past season as he swung and missed at nearly 50% of the non-fastballs he saw from southpaws. The new shift rules could potentially add a few points of average to his line, but he otherwise remains a two-category contributor.

Big, beefy and with a penchant for clutch late-inning home runs, Tellez quickly became a fan favorite in Milwaukee after he was traded from Toronto for relievers Trevor Richards and Bowden Francis in early July. As with the acquisition of Willy Adames from Tampa Bay, the Brewers went 2-for-2 on buying low on AL East hitters who went on to mash with their new club. Tellez hit .209/.272/.338 in 50 games with Toronto and his playing time had gotten pretty irregular by May. With Milwaukee, he hit .272/.333/.481 with seven home runs, an 8.0 BB% and an 18.4 K%. Tellez has been in the 94th percentile or better in max exit velocity in each of the past three years and has logged a linedrive rate over 20% in each big-league season. Getting his flyball rate over 40% would go a long way toward him getting the most of his huge raw power in games. He doesn't show strong lefty/righty splits, and if the National League gets the designated hitter, he could get a chance to play almost every day.

Tellez posted impressive power metrics in 2020, highlighted by a .257 ISO, 81st percentile hard-hit rate and 79th percentile average exit velocity. While Tellez has always shown the ability to crush fastballs, he also made improvements when confronted by breaking pitches. In 2018 and 2019, Tellez posted expected slugging marks of.409 and .392, respectively. In 2020, that mark jumped to .531. Another important development in Tellez's skill profile was his improved contact rate, which jumped from near 70% in his first two big-league seasons to 78.7% in 2020. This was backed by a more aggressive approach on pitches inside the zone, as his swing rate in those scenarios rose from 63.4% to 70.1%. If Tellez can maintain the more discerning approach at the plate, 2021 may be the year he gets a full slate of plate appearances as the Blue Jays' designated hitter.

Tellez broke camp with the Blue Jays, expected to absorb most of the at-bats vacated by Kendrys Morales leaving. The burly left-hander played regularly over the first half, splitting time between first base and designated hitter. In July, Tellez lost playing time before being sent to Triple-A Buffalo. At the time, he was slashing an anemic .227/.280/.436. Tellez spent a month with the Bisons, righting the ship with a 1.138 OPS. He returned in mid-August, posting an improved .226/.325/.481 the rest of the way. Tellez has plus power, but poor plate skills. Fanning at a 28.4% clip isn't as dire anymore, but he needs to improve on a 7.1% walk rate. Solid contact and patience in the low minors suggest Tellez can improve at the major-league level. Still, long term, Tellez profiles best as a designated hitter, perhaps facing just righty pitching. He is in play for cheap power but is not assured a regular role.

While Yankee fans were enjoying Luke Voit and Rays fans enjoyed Ji-Man Choi, Jays fans got a pleasant surprise with their own September slugger. Tellez has been a solid hitter throughout his minor-league career, with above-average power and defensive limitations due to his size, but he stalled out a bit at Triple-A. Nobody could have predicted the small-sample offensive explosion he had last season with the big club (13 extra-base hits in 73 PA). Statcast did not support his September production, as his xwOBA was 80 points below his actual mark. In plain English -- the quality of his contact was not as good as the actual outcomes of his at-bats. Additionally, his 28.8 K% and 2.7 BB% in that tiny sample suggest major regression was coming. Tellez should head back to Triple-A with Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales on the big-league roster. He may get another chance in 2019, but should not be expected to recapture last year's brief success.

The subject of much doubt as he raked at each stop in the lower levels, Tellez, a 30th-round pick in 2013, always answered the bell. That is, until he got to Triple-A. Scouts who saw Tellez remarked on how it seemed like he wasn't getting good breaks on balls in play, and his .264 BABIP bears that out. However, that doesn't explain why he hit just six home runs in 122 games en route to a .110 ISO -- easily the worst mark of his career. His walk rate (9.4 percent) and his strikeout rate (18.8 percent) were fine. Triple-A pitching may have just vexed him -- sometimes guys hit a wall as they climb through the ranks. Entering his age-23 season, it's possible he can make some adjustments and earn a big-league promotion. However, with Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales around, he not only needs to show significant improvement before getting called up, but would likely need an injury to open up a spot for him.

Few first base prospects can match Tellez's excellent contact skills (17.9 percent strikeout rate) and patience (12.3 percent walk rate) while also projecting to bring a plus hit tool and plus power to the equation. There is that tiny sliver of doubt that he will hit for enough power to profile as an above average fantasy first baseman, as this marked his first season with 20-plus home runs, but a future home in the American League East should help matters. It will be worth monitoring his ability to hit lefties as he moves up the ranks. He hit .264/.345/.456 in 125 at-bats against southpaws at Double-A, which isn't bad, but it illustrates a notable platoon split. The bat is good enough against righties that a Matt Adams-esque career is the worst-case scenario. The Blue Jays kept him at Double-A all season so he likely won't reach the majors until late 2017, at the earliest.

He may have been a 30th round pick, but Tellez has quickly shot up through the team’s prospect rankings and is now a top-10 prospect in the organization. At just 20 years old, he stands an imposing 6-foot-4, 245 pounds and is a left-handed masher, picture perfect for Rogers Centre one day. He split his season between Low-A Lansing and High-A Dunedin, collectively hitting for a .289/.347/.454 slash line with 14 home runs and 77 RBI. He played particularly well when he moved up to Dunedin, hitting for a .811 OPS and seven home runs in 35 games. Tellez plays first base by necessity and doesn’t really have any speed either defensively or on the basepaths. He may start the season back at High-A Dunedin, but advance to Double-A by midsummer.