Tellez aces major test for first time with huge grand slam

TORONTO — Regardless of one’s views on the concept of “clutch”, there’s no doubt that Rowdy Tellez has been exactly that so far in his young big-league career.

The 23-year-old entered Tuesday’s action with a .407/.419/.926 line with men in scoring position. In high-leverage situations he was hitting a more human, but still extraordinary, .313/.333/.688.

When he stepped to the plate in the eighth inning on Tuesday, the situation wasn’t supposed to be high-leverage, as the Blue Jays were down by five runs with only five outs to play with. He changed that in short order.

At the conclusion of an eight-pitch duel with left-hander Tony Watson, he sent a 111.8 mph bullet train of a grand slam to right-centre.

“I was just looking for a pitch I could handle,” Tellez said of the at-bat. “He’s got a good slider, he’s got angle on his fastball. I was just looking for something out over the plate with two strikes, just to battle and put it in play, just get at least one in. I was fortunate enough to get something I could handle and put a good swing on it.”

It was a significant long ball for a couple of reasons. Most immediately, it put the Blue Jays back in the game, even though they ultimately lost by a run. It also padded the gaudy clutch stats he came into the game with.

Probably most importantly, it was his first home run against a left-handed pitcher in his big-league career.

“He’s got a chance to hit a grand slam any time he comes up with the bases loaded, I know that,” manager Charlie Montoyo joked. “That’s why we kept him in against the lefty. He’s got a chance in every at-bat. He’s got power, he’s got a chance to hit a ball out.”

Montoyo has largely shielded the young slugger from southpaws and the at-bat was just his 10th plate appearance against a lefty in 2019 and the 33rd of his career. In that small sample he’d managed just three hits and no home runs with 14 strikeouts and just two walks prior to the bomb against Watson.

Even at Triple-A Buffalo last season, Tellez didn’t homer off a left-handed pitcher in 101 at-bats — although he did post a respectable, if punchless, .277/.378/347 line against them.

A single home run, even one this loud, even one at the end of a very strong at-bat, doesn’t tell us that Tellez has figured out lefties. It does give the team a greater incentive to give him a couple more looks against same-handed pitching, though.

“Right now he’s swinging the bat good so I felt good about leaving him in against a lefty. He might be playing tomorrow against a lefty.”

If the Blue Jays want Tellez to be a long-term solution for them at either first base or designated hitter, he’s going to have to hit lefties from time to time. Even if they keep him away from tougher southpaw starters, there will be late-inning situations like one that arose Tuesday. Ultimately if he’s a defensively-limited platoon guy, that makes him more spare piece than core piece.

His long-term prognosis as a hitter at the highest level is still up for debate, let alone his approach against southpaws. That doesn’t mean Tuesday’s milestone wasn’t significant. It was a glimmer of what Tellez can do, even if it’s far too early to know if he’ll be able to do it with any degree of consistency.

Unfortunately, from the slugger’s perspective, a loss took all the air out of the developmental achievement.

“It’s a tough one. For me, it’s a meaningless home run in the scorebook. But mentally it’s nice to have a good at-bat against a tough lefty out of the bullpen.”

Although the thunderous home run might not have meant something to Tellez, it may just have said something about him.

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