Blue Jays: Old Friend Tellez Getting Rowdy in Milwaukee

They say, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”. Blue Jays fans are feeling that right about now in regards to Rowdy Tellez.

Then again, they also say, “The grass is always greener on the other side.” This is the feeling that Tellez is having these days.

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The former Blue Jays first baseman/designated hitter has been tearing the cover off the ball since the trade that sent him to the Milwaukee Brewers for reliever Trevor Richards. Hey, Toronto isn’t complaining about the solid performance Richards has given the Jays out of the bullpen (2.89 ERA, 15:3 strikeout:walk ratio), but… Rowdy has been in some kind of zone in Milwaukee.

His 7th inning three-run blast on Wednesday gave the Brewers a 4-2 victory over the Pirates and jacked his average since joining Milwaukee to .340, with an OPS of 1.098.

As noted by The Athletic’s Will Sammon, chants of “Row-dy! Row-dy! Row-dy!” can be heard echoing through American Family Field (yes, that’s the name of their ballpark).

Former Blue Jays first baseman/designated hitter Rowdy Tellez has been tearing the cover off the ball since the trade that sent him to Milwaukee—and Brewers fans have fallen for him.

According to Sammon, those chants started in his very first plate appearance in Milwaukee. But that was just because fans liked the sound of it. Since then, it’s taken on much greater meaning. Now, with 5 HRs and 16 RBIs in just 64 at-bats, the “Row-dy!” chants have gotten…well…rowdier.

And Tellez is loving it.

This isn’t the first time, though, that fans have fallen in love with Rowdy Tellez.

Let’s go back to September of 2018, when Rowdy was wearing the blue & white of the team that drafted him. Arriving in Toronto just two weeks after his mother died, Tellez was immediately embraced by Jays’ fans, and he responded by tying a major league record once set by no less than Joe DiMaggio: 6 doubles in a 3-game span—his first three games in the big leagues. His first one was dedicated to Mom, his record-tying double was witnessed in person by his dad.

Unfortunately, Tellez’s time in Toronto was up and down after that. He struggled mightily throughout the 2019 season, followed by a strong truncated 2020 season.

But 2021 saw a very slow start for Tellez, and he was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo with a .209 batting average and a .610 OPS. He didn’t sulk though and tore up the minors, to the tune of a 1.038 OPS. That was when the Brewers came to call. Their 1st base situation had been a bit of a mess all season long.

The Jays were desperate for bullpen help, and they had a pretty good 1st baseman named Vlad Guerrero Jr. holding down the fort with the big club, so the trade was a natural to fill a need for both teams.

Now, Tellez has felt the love from two fanbases. And once again, he gets to play where everybody knows his name.

Milwaukee is feeling like home now for Rowdy, where they greeted him with open arms—and greener grass.