Rowdy Tellez Unfavorably Compares Pirates to Brewers
If the Pittsburgh Pirates are ever going to play meaningful baseball again beyond the regular season, it's going to start with being more competitive in their division.
If Rowdy Tellez's words are any indication, his former team may be further off than they would like. Tellez spoke about his tenure with the Pirates and compared it to his time with the Milwaukee Brewers and noted the stark difference between the two franchises.
"You have these guys [in Milwaukee] that have been in the long run in the playoffs, and I think that's what the biggest separation is," Tellez said on Foul Territory. "They have guys in Milwaukee that have been down that September stretch, and I think that what Pittsburgh doesn't have is a lot of guys that had been down that stretch, and it's tough, especially when you're making the playoffs, or trying to make the playoffs, every single game is exhausting."
Tellez saying the Brewers are ahead of the Pirates should be too much of a shock. They've won the division in three of the last four years and have made the playoffs in six of the last seven. Pittsburgh has finished in last place four of the last seven and has been in second to last place or last place in eight consecutive seasons.
The last time Pittsburgh was in the playoffs was in 2015, which gives it the longest postseason drought in the National League and only trails the Los Angeles Angels, who last reached the playoffs in 2014. The Pirates were in the hunt until August when a 10-game losing streak effectively ended their postseason hopes.
"When you look at Pittsburgh's pitching staff, it's arguably the top 10 pitching staff [or] top five," Tellez said. "You have some aces in there. You got some good bats. You have [Oneil Cruz] who's an unbelievable player. [Bryan Reynolds], he can swing it. They have a good team. I think it's just the experience down the stretch [and they] got a little tired. I think especially when we had that 10-game skid, we didn't have a ton of guys that had been in those shoes before to help out."
Tellez, 29, was traded to the Brewers in the middle of the 2021 season from the Toronto Blue Jays. Tellez went on to play two more seasons with Milwaukee and had the best year of his career in 2022, as he hit 35 home runs and drove in 89 runs.
The left-handed hitting first baseman then signed a one-year deal with the Pirates this past offseason and hit 13 home runs, drove in 56 runs and slashed .243/.299/.392. Tellez was designated for assignment in the final week of the season when he was four plate appearances shy of obtaining a $250,000 bonus.
