Time for Pirates to move on from Tellez
It’s been easy to criticize the Pirates during the past few years for things like lopsided trades, incomplete development and MLB draft misses. Yet for all of the frustration those things have generated, it’s hard to say they’ve lacked patience.
If nothing else, general manager Ben Cherington and his staff have occasionally been too patient, which takes us to the club’s most pressing roster question: What can or will they do with Rowdy Tellez?
The Pirates have afforded the 29-year-old free agent signing ample runway to find his swing, but I don’t see how this can continue. It’s time to flip the switch and reimagine what they’re doing at first base and potentially in the outfield.
As much as I have enjoyed getting to know Tellez, it’s simply not working. It’s been 48 games (30% of the season), and the trend line is pointing down, with Tellez hitting .143 with a .338 OPS and 22.2% strikeout rate over his past 14, and .145, .372 and 22.5% across the last 32.
Meanwhile, the Pirates are tied for 24th in MLB when it comes to runs entering Monday’s games with 180. They’re 26th in batting average (.226) and 27th in slugging percentage (.353) and OPS (.654).
If someone’s not producing, especially at first base, the Pirates (22-26 and six games out of first place in a mediocre NL Central) owe it to themselves and their fans to find solutions. The good news: They seemingly have one in Connor Joe.
The 31-year-old has broken out of the platoon mold with a .280 average and .826 OPS, both tops on the team by a fairly wide margin. Joe’s been playing more and should be in the lineup every day, which starts a roster trickle-down that surely the Pirates must be considering.
It’s also unfair to players at Triple-A Indianapolis such as Ji Hwan Bae and Jake Lamb who’ve produced and earned shots to impact the big club.
In 27 games, Bae has slashed .367/.479/.551 with 15 RBIs and seven steals. Given his previous issue in the big leagues was striking out, Bae’s 21 walks to just 34 strikeouts should be seen as encouraging.
If the Pirates made Joe their everyday first baseman, you could forget about his outfield duties for now and give Bae a shot in center. (Can’t move Nick Gonzales from second base, and Ke’Bryan Hayes will be back soon.)
Bae producing atop the lineup was a big part of last year’s 20-8 start. The Pirates also lack a traditional leadoff hitter. Andrew McCutchen has spent time there but doesn’t love it. Oneil Cruz has found his footing hitting third.
Bae makes the Pirates’ lineup much more dynamic.
Lamb, a first baseman who has slashed .342/.438/.514 with 10 doubles, three home runs and 23 RBIs, offers a more direct replacement, the left-hander getting the majority of his atbats against righties and allowing Joe’s role to remain the same.
An All-Star in 2017, Lamb was a standout during spring training but didn’t make the team for business reasons. Similar to Joe, a player the Pirates let grow because he hits lefties well, Lamb (.789 career OPS against righthanded pitching) could find success if deployed the proper way.
The only wrong decision here would be inactivity — for a few reasons, chiefly maximizing the roster and scoring more runs.
It’s admirable that the Pirates have stuck with Tellez as long as they have. But when you construct a lineup best designed to help the Pirates win, it doesn’t include Tellez right now, evincing another important question: How can anyone improve with four or five atbats a week?
It’s a waste of a roster spot to keep someone who only plays first base and needs to hit his way out of a funk.
It’s also tough to move Joe. You’d essentially be rotating him, Edward Olivares and Jack Suwinski for one spot alongside Bryan Reynolds and Michael A. Taylor, who leads MLB qualifiers in defensive runs saved (8) and fielding runs above average (5.2) by a center fielder, per FanGraphs.
Should they designate Tellez for assignment, he’d almost assuredly clear waivers and refuse an assignment to Triple-A, a luxury afforded due to service time accrued. There’s a second waiver process that would serve as the final step toward his release.
The Pirates would be responsible for the balance of Tellez’s $3.2 million contract, though that number would drop some — by the prorated portion of the major league minimum — if another team signs him.
It actually wouldn’t surprise me if that happened, especially considering the calendar (still only May 20) and another team believing Tellez could benefit from a change of scenery and additional playing time.
As poorly as it has gone in Pittsburgh — .181 average, .483 OPS in 128 plate appearances — I do think there’s a quality player in there somewhere, shades of the guy who hit 35 home runs in 2022 and the left-handed power bat the Pirates thought they signed this offseason.
But as Cherington and his staff assess the team — stellar starting rotation, plus an offense and bullpen that has been equal parts bad and good — the priority must be production and wins, not allowing the sample size to grow.
As uncomfortable as it might be for those on the inside, it’s time to act.