Why Red Sox Should Be Thankful Blue Jays Traded Rowdy Tellez To Brewers

The Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday traded first baseman Rowdy Tellez to the Milwaukee Brewers for reliever Trevor Richards and minor league pitcher Bowden Francis.

The Boston Red Sox, in turn, should have one reaction: Good riddance.

Tellez has tortured the Red Sox at various points over the past four seasons, batting .340 (32-for-94) with 12 home runs, 25 RBIs and a 1.184 OPS in 110 career plate appearances against Boston.

Small sample size? Somewhat. But large enough to indicate that Tellez has been a problem in his 32 career games against the Red Sox and that Boston probably is better off with him playing outside the American League East. And outside the AL altogether? Well, even better.

Tellez, 26, is batting .321 (18-for-56) with five homers, nine RBIs and a 1.043 OPS in 67 career plate appearances at Fenway Park. And who could forget this monster blast back in 2019?

(Note: It later was determined this wasn’t actually the longest home run in Fenway Park history, but you get the point. It still was an absolute bomb.)

Now, it’s worth noting that Tellez’s opportunities to do damage against the Sox have decreased recently thanks to his inconsistent role with the Jays. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has shifted across the diamond to first base, with Cavan Biggio holding down the hot corner, and George Springer, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Teoscar Hernandez and Randal Grichuk make for a crowded outfield/DH situation when everyone’s healthy.

That said, Tellez’s offensive production against the Red Sox is undeniable. And for comparison’s sake, Boston has fared relatively well against Richards, a right-handed starter-turned-reliever who spent portions of three seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays (2019-21) before landing with the Brewers in May as part of the trade that sent Willy Adames to Milwaukee.

Richards is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA in three career appearances (two starts) against the Red Sox, yielding eight earned runs on 14 hits across 12 innings.