A California reunion for Tellez, Oakland’s Davis
‘You don’t get to see your high school teammates too, too often’
OAKLAND, Calif. – For a couple years of high school, J.D. Davis drove Rowdy Tellez around town.
Davis, now a third baseman with the Athletics, was two grades up on Tellez at Elk Grove High School (Calif.), located about 15 miles south of Sacramento. They lived a few blocks away from one another, so Davis would drive Tellez to school before they competed together as teammates on the baseball team
And every Sunday, Davis picked up Tellez for nonbaseball reasons: they were both involved with Future Farmers of America (FFA).
“We went over and had to clean out the barn for some of the animals,” Davis told the Post-Gazette. “Every day, there was a designated day in which 20 to 30 kids came in and cleaned up the barn.”
“The FFA in school,” Tellez added. “That was something else.”
Elk Grove students had to choose an elective, ranging from autoshop to carpentry to theater. FFA was one of the easier courses according to Davis, who raised two pigs at the farm located just behind the high school’s baseball field.
“It always smelled,” Tellez quipped. “A little home-field advantage.”
Weekly chores at the barn weren’t terribly time-consuming. Davis said he and Tellez tried to finish their tasks within a half hour, so they could quickly return to their respective homes on Sundays.
That’s not to imply Tellez needed much motivation from Davis to wrap up his duties.
“He’s a great farmer. I didn’t really have to tell him what to do,” Davis said of Tellez. “He was pretty much wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. So, he was shoveling pig poop and everything pretty quick.”
Tellez is quick to point out he and Davis aren’t farmers. Rather, they hail from a baseball hot bed that featured quite the high school team.
They both were coached by Jeff Carlson, the father of St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson, and were teammates with players in MLB organizations like Nick Madrigal, Dom Nunez and Derek Hill in addition to Carlson.
Before high school, Davis didn’t personally know Tellez. He was quite aware, however, of the slugging first baseman who would only add to a stacked high -school roster.
“Elk Grove is such a small town that once there’s a good baseball player in that baseball environment or that baseball life, word gets to you that someone’s coming into high school,” Davis said. “He was one of those guys.”
They became friends through two years on the varsity team, and had similar paths to the big leagues. While Davis attended Cal State Fullerton and Tellez went straight to the minors out of high school, they’ve crossed one another’s paths at nearly every level.
Unfortunately for the duo, they only got to briefly catch up on Monday. Davis flew to Las Vegas on Tuesday to continue his rehab for a thigh injury. Tellez lives in Texas now, too, so they only run into one another when it’s baseball-related.
To run into one another, if only for a few minutes together on Monday, was greatly appreciated by Tellez.
“It was good to see him,” Tellez said. “You don’t get to see your high school teammates too, too often. We don’t live anywhere near each other. Got to BS with him, got to laugh with him. It was nice.”
They’ve each come quite a ways from driving together to high school and the nearby farm. Davis and Tellez have combined to play in parts of 15 MLB seasons.
Though their time with one another is limited these days, Davis was glad to have caught up with Tellez before getting back to his rehab.
“He hasn’t changed one bit,” Davis said of Tellez. “Always mouthing off, always talking smack. He’s a great individual. Great heart, great guy in the clubhouse. Loves to play baseball. Just a breath of fresh air whenever you walk in.”
Trade acquisition
The Pirates were made whole for their March 29 trade of JT Brubaker to the Yankees, receiving infielder Keiner Delgado as the player to be named later. Delgado, 20, was rated as New York’s 20thbest prospect, per MLB Pipeline, at the time of the trade.
Following the 2023 campaign, Delgado was named to the Florida Complex League’s postseason All-Star game. He led the FCL in runs scored and stolen bases, as well as ranked second in hits and total bases.
Delgado began his professional career in the Dominican Summer League in 2022, and ranked second in the DSL in on-base percentage and walks.