Our MVBrewers series continues this week with first baseman Rowdy Tellez as the No. 5 on the team for 2022.
In his first full season with Milwaukee, Téllez led the Brewers with 35 home runs and had 89 RBIs in 153 games, making him one of the season’s most reliable players. While he finished with just 0.9 WAR, he still finished with a solid 115 OPS+.
Despite a low .219 batting average, the worst among qualified hitters for Milwaukee, he still reached on base at a .306 clip and his 244 total bases were second-most behind Willy Adames.
Tellez also proved to be an X factor for Milwaukee. He slashed .251/.329/.572 with 24 home runs in 81 games Milwaukee won, compared to just .183/.279/.333 with 11 home runs in 72 games Milwaukee lost.
Part of this success can probably be attributed to his five multi-homer games, all of which Milwaukee won.
While it remains to be seen how Tellez will be utilized in 2023, his lack of hitting skills against lefties makes it clear that he is primarily a platoon hitter. However, since Tellez pulls the ball hard to the right side of the field, he can benefit a bit from the new substitution rules.
Tellez doesn’t provide much defensively, so it’s possible the Brewers could use him in a more expanded DH role in 2023, though the addition of Jesse Winker from the Mariners makes that seem less likely.
Regardless of where Milwaukee uses him next year, it looks like he’ll continue to be an offensive mainstay on a shooting-focused team.
As mentioned above, Tellez’s best performances were probably his five multi-homer games, but one certainly stood out above the rest. In Milwaukee’s 18-4 victory on May 4, Téllez went 4-for-6 with two home runs, a double, and eight RBIs, setting a Brewers franchise record for most RBIs in a single game.
We will continue with the 10 Most Valuable Brewers rankings every Monday through January. Check back next week to see who we have at #4.
- Rowdy Tellez
- devin williams
- Kolten Wong
- joseph hader
- Christian Yelich
- Luis Urías