Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman and designated hitter smashed a two-run homer in a pinch-hit appearance during the Pirates' 5-3 loss on Saturday in the first game of their doubleheader. Tellez pinch-hit for Connor Joe in the bottom of the seventh and hit the two-run shot, his 13th of the season, off Nationals' right-hander Jacob Barnes. The lefty added on a walk in the bottom of the ninth before being pinch-ran for. The 29-year-old has started to turn things around after starting the season off very cold in April and May, hitting for an .853 OPS and knocking 11 of his 13 HR since June. Tellez's fantasy value is still somewhat subsided as he's mainly used as a platoon option vs right-handers, but he remains a solid option going forward. He's in the starting lineup for game two against Nationals left-hander Mitchell Parker and will likely sit on Sunday against Nationals' lefty Patrick Corbin. Fantasy managers should plan appropriately.

Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Rowdy Tellez finds himself on the bench for Game 1 of a doubleheader on Saturday at PNC Park against the Washington Nationals with a left-hander on the mound. Connor Joe will make the start at first base and will bat seventh for Pittsburgh against Nationals rookie left-hander DJ Herz. Tellez has only 42 plate appearances against southpaws in 2024 and has gone 8-for-37 (.216) against them with two of his 12 homers on the year, so it's no surprise he's on the bench in this one, especially with two games on tap on Saturday in Pittsburgh. Joe, 32, represents a low-upside, deep-sleeper option for DFS lineups in the first game of the twin bill to kick off the action on Saturday. He has never faced Herz in his career and is hitting .245 (34-for-139) with three of his nine home runs on the year against left-handed pitching.

Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Rowdy Tellez (undisclosed) was forced from Wednesday's loss to the division-rival Chicago Cubs at PNC Park early due to an undisclosed injury in the eighth inning. Before departing the 14-10 loss, Tellez had a strong day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored. Tellez likely injured himself running to first base in the bottom of the seventh inning, but there is no word on the specific nature of his injury. The good news is Pittsburgh has an off day on Thursday, so if the 29-year-old's injury isn't serious, he could be back in action for Friday's series opener at Progressive Field against the Cleveland Guardians. If Tellez misses extended time with whatever is ailing him, Connor Joe, who replaced Tellez at first base on Wednesday, would benefit from extra playing time at the position.

Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Rowdy Tellez will take a seat in Wednesday's series finale against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field with a left-hander on the bump. Connor Joe will make the start at first base and will hit cleanup for the Pirates versus Rangers left-hander Andrew Heaney. Tellez has only faced left-handers 39 times this year and is hitting .206 (7-for-34) against them, so it's no surprise he will retreat to the bench in favor of the right-handed-hitting Joe. Overall, Tellez has been a modest source of power (10 homers) as corner-infield depth in deeper fantasy leagues in 2024. Joe has only faced Heaney two times in his career and has gone hitless. Versus southpaws this year, he's gone 33-for-127 (.260) with three of his seven home runs. He'll be a low-cost DFS sleeper for Wednesday's slate out of the cleanup spot for the Bucs.

Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Rowdy Tellez went 3-for-4 with a home run and double to lead to the Pirates to a victory on Saturday afternoon. Tellez hit his 10th home run of the season in the fourth inning to score Oneil Cruz and knocked a ground-rule double later in the seventh which scored backstop Joey Bart. Entering this game, the 29-year-old has carried a solid .250 AVG through August with three doubles. Since June 1, the slugger has started to heat up as he boasts an excellent .300/.342/.506 slash line with eight long balls, 31 RBI, and 11 doubles. While Tellez rarely gets the call to start against left-handed pitchers, he is worth starting in most standard leagues, given his ability to hit right-handers quite well. Tellez should be expected to slot in the starting nine on Sunday as the Pirates are scheduled to face right-hander George Kirby.

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder/designated hitter Andrew McCutchen and first baseman Rowdy Tellez are out of the lineup on Wednesday for the series finale against the hosting San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Catcher Joey Bart is serving as the designated hitter and batting cleanup, while Connor Joe will start at first and bat third against Padres left-hander Martin Perez. Yasmani Grandal is behind the dish and is hitting eighth. Fantasy managers will be said to see the 37-year-old McCutchen sitting, as he's opened the month of August by going 10-for-27 (.370) with three homers, a double, nine RBI and six runs scored in eight games. It's not a big surprise that Tellez is riding pine, as he's only seen 38 plate appearances this year against left-handed pitching, going 6-for-33 (.182) with two of his nine homers on the season.

Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Rowdy Tellez (back) is back at first base and is hitting cleanup for Pittsburgh in Monday's series opener against the hosting Houston Astros and right-hander Tayler Scott. Back spasms forced Tellez from the game early on Friday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks and he didn't start the following two games over the weekend, but he was able to hit a pinch-hit double in the series finale on Sunday. The 29-year-old left-handed slugger is now back in action to begin a new week. Tellez isn't much more than a corner-infield option for some power in deep-mixed leagues, but he has come alive so far in the month of July, hitting .327 (18-for-55) with five home runs, three doubles, 14 RBI and 10 runs scored in 19 games. Tellez has a hit in his only career at-bat against Scott.

Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Rowdy Tellez (back) left Friday's series opener against the hosting Arizona Diamondbacks due to back spasms. Tellez is currently being examined and treated by the team's medical status, and his status is day-to-day for now. Before being pulled early, Tellez was hitless in his only at-bat and was replaced by Connor Joe at first base. The 29-year-old left-handed slugger is mostly likely not going to play in the second game of the series in the desert on Saturday, but fantasy managers will want to check Pittsburgh's lineup. Tellez has displayed modest power (nine home runs) and entered Friday's contest hitting a mediocre .249 (62-for-249) with 36 RBI and 29 runs scored, making him mostly corner-infield depth in NL-only fantasy leagues. If Tellez is forced to the injured list, Joe would most likely take over as Pittsburgh's regular first baseman.

Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Rowdy Tellez smashed two home runs and tallied five RBI in the Pirates' 14-2 win over the New York Mets on Friday. Tellez now have seven HR on the season with a .683 OPS. After a slow start to the season, the lefty has started to pick things up with a .961 OPS over the last 28 days. Tellez has mainly been in a platoon role this season and will continue to stay in a platoon role while on the Pirates, hitting for a .691 OPS against righties and a .258 OPS against lefties. With his recent resurgence at the plate, fantasy managers may want to continue getting him into their starting lineups and capitalizing on his hot streak. He should be expected to be out of the lineup the next two days against Mets starters David Peterson and Sean Manaea. He should be back in the lineup Sunday against Mets rookie Christian Scott.

Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Rowdy Tellez tallied three hits and homered in Wednesday night's walk-off win over the division-rival St. Louis Cardinals. Tellez swatted a solo homer off Cardinals right-hander Giovanny Gallegos down the left-field line, extending the Pirates' lead to 3-1 in the seventh inning on Wednesday. In his last 21 games (72 at-bats), the 29-year-old righty masher is batting a strong .361 with four round-trippers and 15 RBI. Tellez should continue routinely sitting against left-handed pitching, so while those are appealing numbers, he doesn't garner enough playing time to be useful outside of deeper fantasy leagues.

Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Rowdy Tellez had a big night at the plate in a 4-0 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday. Tellez went 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI to help power the Pirates to the win. The 29-year-old's solo homer came in the seventh inning and traveled 403 feet with an exit velocity of 101.2 MPH. Tellez has struggled to find his power stroke in 2024, hitting just .208 with two homers, 13 runs, and 15 RBI across 144 at-bats. That being said, he's hitting .391 over his past seven games so he could be on the cusp of a breakout in the homer department. While he is hot at the plate, Tellez is worth a look in deep, NL-only leagues as a potential bench player in fantasy.

Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Rowdy Tellez will not be in the lineup on Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers. Manager Derek Shelton said on 93.7 The Fan that Connor Joe will start at first base in place of Tellez. The manager points to Joe Ross being a reverse-split right-hander as the reason for Tellez not starting on Tuesday. Tellez has struggled as of late as he's 0-for-17 with six strikeouts in the last seven games while in the last 15 games, he's slashing .158/.214/.237 with zero home runs. Joe, meanwhile, will be getting the start at first base despite being primarily an outfielder. Whether or not Tellez will remain on the bench after Tuesday is to be seen, but he's not putting up much offense so he isn't worth a fantasy look at this time.

Free-agent first baseman Rowdy Tellez is signing a one-year, $3.2 million deal on Tuesday with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The deal comes with $800,000 in performance bonuses. Tellez sticks in the National League Central division following two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, where he hit .218/.300/.430 with 48 home runs, 32 RBI, a triple, 136 RBI and 93 runs scored in 258 games. The left-handed slugger took a step back this past season, though, hitting .215 (67-for-311) with only 13 home runs and 47 RBI in 105 games played for the Brew Crew. The 28-year-old will get run against right-handed pitchers at first base with the rebuilding Pirates in 2024, but Tellez doesn't offer much outside of some power as a corner infield option in NL-only leagues.

The Milwaukee Brewers non-tendered first baseman Rowdy Tellez on Friday, according to a source familiar with the situation. The move sends Tellez to the free-agent market this offseason. The Brewers traded for first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers earlier in the day on Friday, so he will now be the favorite for the majority of playing time at first base for the Brew Crew in 2024. The 28-year-old left-handed-hitting Tellez didn't even make the playoff roster for the wild-card series this fall after hitting a weak .215/.291/.376 with 13 home runs, nine doubles, a triple, 47 RBI and 26 runs scored in 105 games. Tellez is a career .233 hitter with 92 home runs in six big-league seasons, and he should be able to latch on with another team looking for some pop from the left side.

Milwaukee Brewers first baseman/designated hitter Rowdy Tellez is getting the start at first base Monday against the Chicago Cubs and right-hander Jameson Taillon. Monday marks the slugger's first start at first base since back on July 4 before injuring his finger, an ailment that cost him roughly six weeks of action. All three of Tellez's starts since his return have come as the club's DH as Carlos Santana's superior glove has him handling first base nearly every outing for the Brewers. Tellez has caught fire over his last two games with a homer, a double, and six runs driven in over that time. For the season, the 28-year-old is hitting .217 with 13 home runs, 43 RBI, and a .694 OPS across 300 trips to the plate.

Milwaukee Brewers first baseman/designated hitter Rowdy Tellez has been activated from the 10-day injured list on Saturday. Tellez has been out since early July after he suffered a cut on his hand while shagging flyballs during practice. The 28-year-old slugger has 12 home runs and a .678 OPS over 253 at-bats so far this season. He will platoon with the recently-acquired Carlos Santana at first base for the rest of the season, most likely.

Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Rowdy Tellez (finger, forearm) is likely to be activated off the injured list at some time this weekend during the series against the Texas Rangers. It's been quite a bumpy road back for the 28-year-old. He initially experienced right forearm inflammation on July 5 before trying to come back from that ailment on July 15, but he fractured his left ring finger while shagging fly balls during batting practice. Tellez should find himself on the strong side of a platoon upon his return at the cold corner with Carlos Santana, who hasn't supplied a whole lot outside of a few sporadic home runs. The all-or-nothing slugger, Tellez, looks to improve on a career-low .213/.285/.388 triple-slash line with 12 homers, seven doubles, and 36 RBI over 288 trips to the dish this year.

Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Rowdy Tellez (hand) will remain on his rehab assignment until he gets going at the plate, according to manager Craig Counsell. That means he'll be with Triple-A Nashville at least through the Dodgers series, which ends on Thursday. So far, Tellez is batting just .111 at Triple-A so he'll get a few more days to get it going at the dish. He has been out since mid-July after getting stitches on his hand. He'll split first base duties with the recently-acquired Carlos Santana at first base once he's back with the Brew Crew. He put up a lackluster .653 OPS over 253 at-bats before his injury so he's a little hard to trust for fantasy purposes at the moment.

Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell said that first baseman Rowdy Tellez (finger, forearm) is scheduled to begin a minor-league rehab assignment with Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday. Tellez is trying to return from two separate injuries, a fractured left ring finger and forearm inflammation, but he's doing baseball activities and is getting closer to a return to the Brewers. The 28-year-old left-handed-hitting first baseman will be returning to a .213/.285/.388 slash line over 258 at-bats for Milwaukee with 12 home runs, 36 RBI and 23 runs scored. Tellez is an option at the cold corner for the team when they face right-handed pitching, but his playing time will be more complicated when he returns now that the switch-hitting Carlos Santana is in town.

Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Rowdy Tellez (forearm/finger) is closing in on starting a rehab assignment at Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday. The 28-year-old swung in the cage and fielded grounders on Thursday and should continue working out with the club in Milwaukee ahead of his scheduled rehab stint. Tellez originally went down with right forearm inflammation on July 5 before attempting to return on July 15, only to fracture his left ring finger while shagging fly balls amid batting practice. Barring any further setbacks, Tellez appears on pace for a mid-August return. The all-or-nothing slugger is also on pace for his worst season yet, slashing a career-low .213/.285/.388 with 12 home runs, seven doubles, and 36 RBI over 288 trips to the plate.