The Rangers will select the contract of first baseman/designated hitter Rowdy Tellez to the major league roster to start the second half, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He’ll step into the active roster spot of first baseman Jake Burger, who hit the injured list yesterday due to a strained left quadriceps. Texas has an open spot on the 40-man roster to facilitate that move.
Tellez, 30, opened the season with the division-rival Mariners but was designated for assignment and released earlier in the summer. He signed a minor league deal with the Rangers on July 5 and has gone 5-for-15 with a pair of long balls in his brief time with their Triple-A Round Rock affiliate.
Tellez hit for power with the Mariners but struggled to get on base and turned in poor defensive marks at first base. He hit .208/.249/.434 and popped 11 round-trippers in 185 plate appearances. All but 14 of those turns at the plate for Tellez, who has pronounced career platoon splits, came against right-handed pitching. He’ll likely require a right-handed-hitting complement of some sort. Utilityman Ezequiel Duran presents an option in that regard, though he’s been more productive against fellow righties than in traditional platoon matchups in his career. Down in Triple-A, Blaine Crim and Justin Foscue offer righty bats with experience at first base.
Tellez has appeared in parts of eight MLB seasons and has more than six years of major league service. He’s a career .232/.299/.436 hitter in 2490 plate appearances. Tellez’s best season came with the 2022 Brewers, when he slugged 35 home runs in 599 plate appearances. He’s slashed just .226/.286/.394 (86 wRC+) with 37 home runs in 957 trips to the plate since that time.