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Pirates Manager in No Mood to Talk About His First Baseman’s Third Relief Appearance

Stephen Douglas

Pirates first baseman and emergency pitcher Rowdy Tellez.
Pirates first baseman and emergency pitcher Rowdy Tellez. / David Richard-Imagn Images
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Rowdy Tellez made his third relief appearance of the season on Wednesday, giving up one run on three hits. Tellez, a first baseman by trade, has hit 12 home runs this season, but this isn't a Shohei Ohtani situation.

Tellez keeps pitching because the Pirates stink. Pittsburgh has the worst record in the NL Central and are 11 games out of the wild card. They'll soon be officially eliminated from the playoff hunt. In the meantime, they're just trying to get through the season.

That's why Tellez took the mound in the eighth inning of the Pirates 12-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs. Just don't ask manager Derek Shelton about it because he appears to be done talking about it, which is why he kind of snapped when Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette asked him about the decision after the game.

"It's 11 to nothing," said Shelton. "It's 11 to nothing. Bednar and Holderman both pitched yesterday. Santana's been our best reliever. Chapman I'm not going to pitch in that situation. Come on. You've watched enough baseball to know that. It's 11 to nothing. Seriously. No. No, you don't have to ask. There's a better question than that. Seriously. I mean, it's 11 to nothing."

This is Shelton's fifth year as manager of the Pirates. The team is 283-402 during his stint. They have not finished .500 or better since 2018 and haven't been to the playoffs since 2014.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a Senior Writer on the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in journalism and media since 2008, and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Stephen spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and has previously written for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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