Mexican-American baseball player (born 1995)
Baseball player
Ryan John
"
Rowdy
"
Tellez
(
t?-
LEZ
;
[1]
born March 16, 1995) is an American
professional baseball
first baseman
for the
Pittsburgh Pirates
of
Major League Baseball
(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the
Toronto Blue Jays
and
Milwaukee Brewers
. He has played for the
Mexico national baseball team
.
In 2013, Tellez was both a
Baseball America
and a
Rawlings
First Team High School All-American. He was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 30th round of the
2013 Major League Baseball draft
. In 2015, Tellez was a
Midwest League
All-Star, and named to the
Arizona Fall League
(AFL) All-Prospect Team and an AFL Rising Star. The following year, he was named an
Eastern League
All-Star, an MiLB.com Toronto Blue Jays Organization All-Star, and a
Baseball America
Double-A All-Star.
He made his major league debut in 2018, and is the only player since 1913 to hit seven doubles in his first seven major league games.
Early life
[
edit
]
Born in
Sacramento, California
, he is the oldest child of Greg and Lori (nee Bernick) Tellez.
[2]
[3]
He is
Jewish
.
[4]
[5]
Through 2022, he was 3rd in career home run frequency (17.46) on the all-time list of Jewish major leaguers (behind
Hank Greenberg
and
Joc Pederson
).
[6]
His father said of him before he was born: "We didn't know the sex and we didn't want to know, and we stayed away from calling him 'Baby' or 'It.' But he was so active in there, moving around all of the time in the womb, that we ended up calling him 'Baby Rowdy', and it stuck. Now he's just 'Rowdy', and that's how everybody knows him."
[2]
[7]
Tellez is of Mexican descent through his father, and his paternal grandfather played in the
Mexican Baseball League
.
[8]
[9]
High school
[
edit
]
Tellez attended
Elk Grove High School
. There, he was a 2013
Baseball America
High School All-American, 2013
Rawlings
First Team All-American, and 2013 Rawlings/Perfect Game All-Region First Team ? California.
[10]
He was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 30th round of the
2013 Major League Baseball draft
.
[11]
Entering the draft, Tellez was ranked as the 59th-best player available by
Baseball America
, but he was passed over for a number of rounds as he had accepted a scholarship to attend the
University of Southern California
.
[12]
He signed with the Blue Jays for an $850,000
signing bonus
, which at the time was the most ever paid to a post-10th-round pick in the two years since the new draft rule was put in place.
[10]
[11]
Professional career
[
edit
]
Minor leagues
[
edit
]
2013?15
[
edit
]
Tellez was assigned to the
Rookie-level
Gulf Coast League Blue Jays
for the 2013 season, and batted .234 with two
home runs
and 20
runs batted in
(RBIs) in 34 games.
[13]
Baseball America
rated him the best power hitter in the Blue Jays minor league organization.
[14]
He played most of the 2014 season with the
Bluefield Blue Jays
of the
Appalachian League
, and earned a late-season promotion to the
Class-A
Lansing Lugnuts
of the
Midwest League
. In total, Tellez played 65 games in 2014, and batted .305 with six home runs and 43 RBIs.
[13]
Tellez opened the 2015 season with Lansing, and was Midwest League Player of the Week for the week ended May 18.
[13]
[15]
He was named a Midwest League midseason All-Star.
[15]
At that time, he led the league in runs batted in, with 41.
[16]
Tellez was promoted to the
Dunedin Blue Jays
of the
Advanced-A
Florida State League
in late June, and hit three home runs in his first four games with the team, earning a spot on MLBPipeline's Prospect Team of the Week and being named Florida State League Player of the Week for the week ended June 29.
[17]
[15]
He ended the 2015 season on the disabled list. Tellez set several career-highs in 2015, playing in 103 games and batting .289 with 14 home runs and 77 RBIs.
[13]
In the offseason, he played 21 games with the
Salt River Rafters
of the
Arizona Fall League
, batting .293 and leading the team with four home runs and 17 RBIs.
[18]
[19]
He was named to the AFL All-Prospect Team, and AFL Rising Stars.
[15]
2016?18
[
edit
]
Tellez was invited to Major League
spring training
in 2016.
[20]
[21]
He was assigned to the
Double-A
New Hampshire Fisher Cats
to open the 2016 minor league season.
[22]
Tellez was named an
Eastern League
mid-season All-Star, and one of 13 Full-Season Eastern League All-Stars.
[23]
[15]
Tellez had a stellar 2016 season, posting career-highs in almost every offensive category. In 124 games, he hit .297 (10th in the Eastern League) with a .389
on-base percentage
(2nd), .530
slugging percentage
(3rd), 23 home runs (4th), 63
walks
(4th), 81 RBIs (6th), 71 runs (6th), and 29 doubles (tied for 8th).
[13]
[24]
He was named an MiLB.com Toronto Blue Jays Organization All-Star, and a
Baseball America
Double-A All-Star.
[15]
Tellez was named the sixth-best first base prospect by Major League Baseball, and Toronto's 5th-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, heading into the 2017 season.
[25]
[26]
In spring training, Jays manager
John Gibbons
described him as being the closest prospect in the team's minor league system to being ready for the Major Leagues.
[27]
Tellez was assigned to the
Triple-A
Buffalo Bisons
in late March. In his first game for the Bisons, Tellez hit two home runs to lead the team to a 4?2 victory over the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders
.
[28]
From that point on, however, Tellez struggled in Triple-A. In 122 games, he hit .222 with six home runs and 56 runs batted in.
[13]
On November 20, 2017, Tellez was added to Toronto's 40-man roster.
[29]
Tellez began the 2018 season playing again for the Bisons.
[30]
He was ranked 29th on MLB's 2018 Top 30 Blue Jays prospects list.
[31]
He played in 112 games and hit .270/.340/.425 with 13 home runs and 50 RBIs.
[13]
On September 4, Tellez was called up by the Blue Jays.
[32]
Toronto Blue Jays
[
edit
]
2018
[
edit
]
On September 5, 2018, Tellez made his Major League debut with the Blue Jays. In his first at bat, pinch hitting, he hit the first pitch he saw for a double against the
Tampa Bay Rays
.
[33]
Over his first three career games, Tellez hit six doubles, becoming the first Major League player since 1913 to do so.
[34]
His six doubles represented the first time in the
live-ball era
that a Major League player debuted with three consecutive doubles, were the first time since
Joe DiMaggio
in 1936 that an American League rookie hit six doubles in a three-game span, and tied the record set by
Chris Dickerson
in 2008 for the most
extra-base hits
in a player's first three games.
[34]
Tellez then became the only player since 1913 to hit seven doubles in his first seven major league games.
[35]
In his first 40 plate appearances he had 10 extra base hits, tying former catcher
Taylor Teagarden
for the most by any ballplayer since 1913.
[36]
For the 2018 season, he batted .314/.329/.614. He hit nine doubles, four home runs, and 14 RBIs in 70 at-bats.
[37]
2019
[
edit
]
In 2019, Tellez made the Blue Jays'
Opening Day
roster.
[38]
On April 11, he hit a home run with a 115.2 mph
exit velocity
, the highest for a Toronto Blue Jays home run in the
Statcast
era (since 2015).
[39]
On April 23, he became the fifth-youngest Blue Jay of all time to hit a
grand slam
, at 24 years and 38 days.
[39]
He became the first player in Blue Jays history to hit 13 home runs in his first 65 major league games, and 17 home runs in his first 85 games.
[39]
He played 26 games with Buffalo in 2019, batting .366/.450/.688 with 7 home runs and 21 RBIs in 93 at-bats.
[40]
For the season with Toronto, he batted .227/.293/.449 with 21 home runs and 51 RBIs in 370 at-bats.
[40]
Tellez became the third rookie in Blue Jays history to hit 21 or more home runs, joining
Eric Hinske
(24 in 2002) and
J.P. Arencibia
(23 in 2011).
[41]
He hit a ball with an exit velocity of 115.2 mph, in the top 3% of the highest exit velocities of batted balls by major leaguers in 2019.
[42]
[43]
2020
[
edit
]
In the
COVID-19
-shortened 2020 season, Tellez batted .283/.346/.540. He hit eight home runs and 23 RBIs, with 20 strikeouts in 113 at-bats, as on defense he played error-free baseball.
[44]
[45]
His strikeout percentage decreased 12.7% from the prior year, the greatest decrease among major league hitters.
[46]
Tellez drove in runs at a rate of 4.91 AB/RBI (10th-best in the AL).
[42]
On August 20 he hit a home run with an exit velocity of 117.4 mph, the highest for a home run by a Blue Jay in the
Statcast
era (since 2015), and the third-highest exit velocity of any batted ball for all major leaguers in 2020 (behind
Pete Alonso
(118.4) and
Gary Sanchez
(117.5)).
[42]
[43]
Milwaukee Brewers
[
edit
]
2021
[
edit
]
On July 6, 2021, Tellez was traded to the
Milwaukee Brewers
in exchange for pitchers
Trevor Richards
and
Bowden Francis
.
[47]
In the 2021 regular season for the Brewers, Tellez batted .272/.333/.481. He hit 10 doubles, seven home runs, and 28 RBIs in 158 at bats.
[45]
He hit a two-run home run in the first game of the
2021 NLDS
off
Charlie Morton
, providing the winning margin as the Brewers went on to beat the
Atlanta Braves
2?1.
[48]
He hit another two-run home run in Game 4, though the Brewers lost that game and the series to the eventual
World Series
champion Braves.
2022
[
edit
]
On May 4, 2022, Tellez set a Milwaukee Brewers record with eight RBIs in one game, doing so with a double and two home runs in an 18?4 win over the
Cincinnati Reds
.
[49]
On May 8, 2022, Tellez received the
NL Player of the Week Award
.
[50]
In 2022 he batted .219/.306/.461 in 529 at bats, with 35 home runs (5th in the NL), 89 RBIs, 9 intentional walks (4th), and 15.1 at bats per home run (3rd).
[51]
The maximum exit velocity of balls he hit was 116.9 mph, 7th-highest in major league baseball.
[52]
On defense, his .998 fielding percentage was second-best among NL first basemen, and the best in franchise history.
[53]
2023
[
edit
]
On January 13, 2023, Tellez agreed to a one-year, $4.95 million contract with the
Brewers
, avoiding salary arbitration.
[54]
Though his season started off with him batting .244/.330/.500 and through the beginning of June and with 12 home runs in the first half, his production declined thereafter as he had only one home run in the second half after he spent six weeks on the
injured list
, first with right forearm inflammation and then with a torn fingernail and fractured left
ring finger
that required 17 stitches.
[55]
[56]
[57]
[58]
He pitched a scoreless ninth inning to close out a 16–1 away win over the
Miami Marlins
on September 22 which clinched a
postseason
berth for the Brewers.
[59]
In the 2023 regular season he batted .215/.291/.376 in 311 at bats with 13 home runs and 47 RBIs.
[51]
His maximum exit velocity on batted balls, which was 114.8 mph, was in the top 6% of MLB batters for the fifth year in a row.
[60]
He played 76 games at first base, 20 at DH, and one as a pitcher.
[51]
He was non-tendered and became a free agent on November 17.
Pittsburgh Pirates
[
edit
]
On December 15, 2023, Tellez signed a one-year contract with the
Pittsburgh Pirates
worth $3.2 million, that with incentives could make it worth $4 million.
[61]
[62]
International career
[
edit
]
Tellez played for
Mexico
in the
2023 World Baseball Classic
as a
designated hitter
, slashing .280/.333/.440 including one home run and five RBI.
[63]
Tellez was also invited to play for
Team Israel
, as he and his mother were Jewish, but chose Mexico for various reasons, including logistical ones?the paperwork was all in order, and Mexico was in the pool that played in Phoenix, close to the Brewers’ spring training home, while Israel trained and played in Florida.
[64]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Tellez's mother, Lori, was diagnosed with
stage IV
melanoma
in late 2016 and later she battled
brain cancer
.
[65]
She died on August 18, 2018, just over two weeks before his major league debut.
[66]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"MLB releases Blue Jays player name pronunciations list,"
Sportsnet.ca, March 16, 2018, Retrieved April 2, 2019
- ^
a
b
Sanchez, Jesse (August 7, 2012).
"At Area Code Games, Tellez making name known"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
April 8,
2017
.
- ^
"Lori Bernick Tellez"
.
Elk Grove Citizen
. September 28, 2018.
- ^
Barancik, Scott (February 2, 2017).
"Introducing slugger Rowdy Tellez, Jays' #9 prospect"
.
Jewish Baseball News
. Retrieved
April 8,
2017
.
- ^
Shi Davidi (June 18, 2017).
"How a chance encounter led Rowdy Tellez to a mentor and the Blue Jays,"
Sportsnet.ca.
- ^
"All-Time Jewish Batting Leaders; Season and Career; Through 2022 season"
. Jewish Baseball News.
- ^
Pleskoff, Bernie (November 2, 2015).
"Scouting profile: Rowdy Tellez"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
November 2,
2015
.
- ^
Woodson, Brian (June 17, 2014).
"Highly-touted Tellez has something to prove"
.
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
.
- ^
Rivera, Marly (April 26, 2019).
".@vladdyjr27 brought over teammate Rowdy Tellez (whose father is Mexican American) to meet his grandma, and he promptly thanked her for cooking for all of them! #VladdyDaypic.twitter.com/WmtIDw9I8n"
.
- ^
a
b
Wray, Michael (December 30, 2014).
"2014 Toronto Blue Jays Top Prospects: #25 Rowdy Tellez"
.
Jays Journal
. Retrieved
March 22,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Davidi, Shi (May 1, 2015).
"Farm Report: Hoffman, Tellez progress for Jays"
.
Sportsnet
. Retrieved
May 1,
2015
.
- ^
"Blue Jays sign 2013 draftees Rowdy Tellez, Jake Brentz at eleventh hour"
.
Bluebird Banter
. July 12, 2013
. Retrieved
May 1,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
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.
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. Retrieved
May 1,
2015
.
- ^
Longenecker, Clint (December 13, 2013).
"Toronto Blue Jays Top 10 Prospects"
.
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. Retrieved
March 22,
2017
.
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.
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. Retrieved
March 22,
2017
.
- ^
Goldberg-Strassler, Jesse (June 5, 2015).
"Four Lugs named Midwest League All-Stars"
.
milb.com
. Retrieved
June 6,
2015
.
- ^
Mayo, Jonathan (June 29, 2015).
"Twins trio, led by Sano, on Prospect Team of Week"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
June 29,
2015
.
- ^
"2015 Salt River Rafters Statistics"
. Baseball-Reference
. Retrieved
February 16,
2016
.
- ^
"Salt River Rafters 2015 Individual Stats"
.
MiLB.com
. Retrieved
March 22,
2017
.
- ^
"Blue Jays Invite 14 to Spring Training"
.
Bluebird Banter
. January 12, 2016
. Retrieved
January 13,
2016
.
- ^
"Ben Nicholson-Smith on Twitter"
.
Twitter
. March 12, 2016
. Retrieved
March 12,
2016
.
- ^
Rosenbaum, Mike (April 7, 2016).
"Where the Blue Jays' Top 30 prospects are starting the season"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
April 8,
2016
.
- ^
"Rowdy Tellez Named to E.L. All-Star Team"
.
MiLB.com
. August 27, 2016
. Retrieved
August 27,
2016
.
- ^
"2016 Eastern League Awards and Leaderboards"
.
Baseball Cube
. Retrieved
March 22,
2017
.
- ^
Rosenbaum, Mike (January 19, 2017).
"2017 Prospect Watch: Top 10 First Basemen"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
January 20,
2017
.
- ^
Chisholm, Gregor (January 12, 2017).
"Could Tellez take Toronto's first-base reins in '17?"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
March 22,
2017
.
- ^
Buffery, Steve (April 1, 2017).
"Rowdy Tellez gives Blue Jays fans glimpse of future"
.
Toronto Sun
. Retrieved
April 8,
2017
.
- ^
Arlington, Blake (April 8, 2017).
"Bisons get Rowdy in Opening Day Win"
.
MiLB.com
. Retrieved
April 8,
2017
.
- ^
Davidi, Shi (November 20, 2017).
"Jansen, Tellez among players added to Blue Jays' 40-man roster"
.
Sportsnet
. Retrieved
November 20,
2017
.
- ^
Tom Dakers (April 11, 2018).
"Better know your Blue Jays 40-man: Rowdy Tellez,"
Bluebird Banter.
- ^
"MLB 2018 Prospect Watch"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
August 14,
2018
.
- ^
"Tellez joins Blue Jays in latest wave of September call-ups"
.
Sportsnet
. September 4, 2018
. Retrieved
September 4,
2018
.
- ^
Macleod, Robert (September 5, 2018).
"Blue Jays prospect Rowdy Tellez delivers RBI double in first MLB at-bat"
.
The Globe and Mail
. Retrieved
September 8,
2018
.
- ^
a
b
Chisholm, Gregor (September 8, 2018).
"Rowdy Tellez hits 6 doubles in first 3 games"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
September 8,
2018
.
- ^
Jason Rowan (September 13, 2018).
"Rookie Rowdy Tellez records feat last done in 1913,"
Yardbarker.
- ^
Steve Buffery (September 22, 2018).
"Where there’s Smoak, there’s defence. Is Tellez ready to unseat the veteran 1B?,"
Toronto Sun
.
- ^
"Rowdy Tellez Stats,"
Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^
Sadler, Emily (March 28, 2019).
"Blue Jays' Rowdy Tellez cracks 25-man Opening Day roster"
.
Sportsnet
. Retrieved
March 28,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Rowdy Tellez Stats, Fantasy & News"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
March 11,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
"Rowdy Tellez Minor, Fall & Winter Leagues Statistics & History"
. Baseball-Reference
. Retrieved
October 2,
2019
.
- ^
"Tellez hits two solo HRs as Blue Jays beat Orioles 3?2"
. WTOP. September 25, 2019. Archived from
the original
on October 2, 2019
. Retrieved
October 2,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Rowdy Tellez Stats, Fantasy & News"
.
MLB.com
.
- ^
a
b
"Statcast Leaderboard"
.
baseballsavant.com
.
- ^
"Blue Jays' Rowdy Tellez: Progressing well from knee injury"
.
CBS Sports
. September 27, 2020.
- ^
a
b
"Rowdy Tellez Stats"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
.
- ^
"Statcast Year to Year Stats"
.
baseballsavant.com
.
- ^
"Brewers get 1B Tellez from Jays for two pitchers"
. July 6, 2021.
- ^
"Braves vs. Brewers ? Game Summary ? October 8, 2021"
.
ESPN
.
- ^
McCalvy, Adam (May 4, 2022).
"Brewers start new celebration ... just in time for Rowdy's record-setting game"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
May 5,
2022
.
- ^
"MLB Major League Baseball Players of the Week"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Rowdy Tellez Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
.
- ^
"Major League Leaderboards ≫ 2022 ≫ Batters ≫ Statcast"
.
FanGraphs
.
- ^
"Rowdy Tellez Stats, Fantasy & News"
.
MLB.com
.
- ^
"2023 MLB Arbitration Tracker"
.
MLBTradeRumors
. Retrieved
January 13,
2023
.
- ^
Jake Crouse (December 20, 2023).
"Why Rowdy will fit right in with pesky Pirates"
.
MLB.com
.
- ^
"Brewers' Rowdy Tellez has surgery after hurting finger in accident, out 4 more weeks"
.
NBC Sports
. July 16, 2023.
- ^
"Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Moves That Will Pay Dividends In 2024"
.
Rum Bunter
. February 6, 2024.
- ^
Farkas, Brady (July 24, 2023).
"Milwaukee Brewers Slugger Makes Early Progress in Recovery From Injury"
.
Fastball
.
- ^
McCalvy, Adam (September 22, 2023).
."Brewers clinch playoff spot with Tellez(!) on mound,"
MLB.com. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
- ^
"Rowdy Tellez Statcast, Visuals & Advanced Metrics | MLB.com"
.
baseballsavant.com
.
- ^
"A look into the Bucs' talented new trio"
.
MLB.com
.
- ^
Gorman, Kevin (February 8, 2024).
"Pirates by Position: Rowdy Tellez hoping to make 'big impact' in possible platoon at 1B"
.
TribLIVE.com
.
- ^
"Team Mexico player statistics"
.
mlb.com
.
- ^
"How Tellez decided to rep Mexico in Classic"
.
MLB.com
.
- ^
Armstrong, Laura (August 3, 2018).
"Mom's cancer battle inspires Jays prospect Rowdy Tellez"
.
The Star
. Retrieved
September 5,
2018
.
- ^
Lott, John (September 5, 2018).
"Two weeks after his mom died, Blue Jays' prospect Rowdy Tellez is in the big leagues. In pain, he says, there is gain"
.
The Athletic
. Retrieved
September 5,
2018
.
External links
[
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]
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Active roster
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Inactive roster
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Injured list
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Coaching staff
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