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MVBrewers #5: Rowdy Tellez

Tellez led the Brewers with 35 home runs, finished second on team with 89 RBI, .461 slugging

By Harrison_Freuck
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MLB: Arizona Diamondbacks at Milwaukee Brewers Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Our MVBrewers series continues this week with first baseman Rowdy Tellez coming in at No. 5 on the team for 2022.

In his first full season with Milwaukee, Tellez led the Brewers with 35 home runs while racking up 89 RBIs across 153 games, making him one of the most reliable players across the season. While he finished with a WAR of just 0.9, he still finished with a strong OPS+ at 115.

Despite a low .219 batting average—worst among qualifying hitters for Milwaukee—he still reached base at a .306 clip and his 244 total bases were second-most behind Willy Adames.

Tellez also proved himself as 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.

Some of this success can likely be attributed to his five multi-home run 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’s primarily a platoon hitter. However, being that Tellez pulls the ball heavily to the right side of the field, he may benefit some from the new shift rules.

Tellez doesn’t provide much defensively, so it’s possible the Brewers use him in a more expanded DH role in 2023, although the addition of Jesse Winker from the Mariners makes that seem less likely.

Regardless of where Milwaukee uses him next year, it seems that he’ll still be an offensive cornerstone on a pitching-focused team.

As mentioned above, Tellez’s best performances were probably his five multi-home run games, but one certainly stood above the rest. In Milwaukee’s 18-4 victory on May 4, Tellez 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’ll continue the rankings of the 10 most valuable Brewers each Monday into January. Come back next week to see who we have at No. 4.

  5. Rowdy Tellez
  6. Devin Williams
  7. Kolten Wong
  8. Josh Hader
  9. Christian Yelich
  10. Luis Urias

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