Rowdy Tellez (1B, TOR) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

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OWNED IN: 5% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: Since the Toronto Blue Jays dealt away Kendrys Morales to the Athletics, the door opened for Rowdy Tellez to solidify himself as a big leaguer. In the early going of 2019, the left-handed slugger has shown glimpses of a potential top-tier power hitter with three homers in his first 36 plate appearances. Not only his he hitting home runs, but the 24-year-old is crushing controversial 505-foot bombs and game-tying dingers in the late innings. On the other end of the fantasy spectrum, he’s shown his youth and inexperience with a 30.6% K-rate and 14.7 SwStr%, both bottom-tier numbers. The bright side is that Tellez is far from a finished product in the majors and there’s undoubtedly room to grow.

Tellez has a strong history in the minor leagues of respectable K-rates. He’s never finished a year with a K% higher than 20.0%, a track record that dates back to 2013. Tellez also has improved on his patience since his 2018 September call-up with the Jays in which he had a putrid 2.7% BB% in his 23-game sample. This season, he’s elevated this number up to 11.1%, a figure similar to his minor league career-rate of 9.9%. His strikeout rates will improve over time, but don’t expect a dramatic change immediately. This assumption limits his contribution to a good batting average, but we're eyeing him for the apt power numbers. Dating back to his debut in 2018, Tellez has seven big flies in his first 35 games, and a combined 94.9 MPH Exit Velocity and 43.5% Hard Hit% on all of his balls in play. These Statcast measurements place him in the company with the elite sluggers including Giancarlo Stanton and Khris Davis. Tellez will undoubtedly have his slumps in 2019, but if you scoop him up now and stay the course with the young bopper, you may end up with the most prosperous power hitter found on the waiver wire this season.