{"id":70468,"date":"2024-04-13T07:00:38","date_gmt":"2024-04-13T11:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=70468"},"modified":"2024-04-12T18:46:49","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T22:46:49","slug":"pirates-should-sign-tellez-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/04\/13\/pirates-should-sign-tellez-extension\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pirates Should Give This Slugger a Contract Extension"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although the 2024 season is young, the Pirates should consider signing their big first baseman Rowdy Tellez<\/a> to an extension. When he was signed to a one-year deal last December, Pirates fans (as well as this writer) greeted the news with a collective yawn. His track record suggested that Tellez was a one-dimensional player who would hit home runs \u2013 maybe \u2013 but contribute little else. His home run production dropped from 35 to 13 from 2022 to 2023. Yet, his performance thus far in 2024 has belied what his statistics show. Come June or July, if he provides power to the lineup as expected, there are no reasons not to bring him back for another year or two.<\/p>\n

The Pirates Should Give Rowdy Tellez an Extension<\/h2>\n

Consider: At the end of the 2023 season, Tellez’s career OBP in the majors was .304. As of this writing, it\u2019s .375 for the Pirates. He was considered a slow runner and a below-average fielder. However, thus far, he\u2019s moved around the first base bag well, shown good hands whether picking off grounders or errant throws, and even made a couple of spectacular diving stops. On the bases, he\u2019s been willing to slide cleanly into fielders to prevent double plays.<\/p>\n

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Rowdy Tellez is starting to creep his way up my favorite player ranking pic.twitter.com\/ZLpK3Uyk7x<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Shelfy (@RealShelfy) April 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n