CINCINNATI – For the first time in his major league career, Rowdy Tellez plays first base every day.
And so far, he’s made the most of his opportunity, hitting .258 with seven home runs while leading the Milwaukee Brewers with 24 RBIs and an .887 OPS.
“The players earn it,” manager Craig Counsell said before his team’s series opener against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night at Great American Ball Park. “That’s something you have to earn.”
Tellez also earned a major honor Monday, being named the NL Player of the Week after hitting .321 with three home runs, 12 RBIs and a 1.107 OPS to help the Brewers to a 4-2 record. .
Most of the damage suffered by Tellez came last Tuesday, when he hit a pair of home runs and set a Brewers record by driving in eight runs to fuel an 18-4 victory over the Reds at American Family Field.
Seven of Tellez’s nine hits for the week were extra-base hits.
“I don’t think he’ll ever waver,” Tellez said when asked what his confidence level was this season, as he’s become a staple of Counsell’s daily lineups.
“My confidence is always pretty high, regardless of whether I’m doing well or not. I think confidence, for me, doesn’t come with numbers, but with consistent at-bats. Numbers will always keep you confident, but being able to get the numbers and the good, consistent at-bats.
“Look at the games I’m 0-for, there’s still two good at-bats; I’m hitting the ball hard at least twice a day. I think when you have a team that has that kind of confidence in you as a player Being in the lineup every day also builds confidence in the individual.”
Tellez, a first-time winner of the award, gives the Brewers back-to-back NL Players of the Week with Willy Adames having previously won the honor.
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It’s only the fifth time Brewers players have accomplished the feat in consecutive weeks, with Lyle Overbay and Ben Sheets the last to do so in 2004.
Larry Hisle and Don Money (1978), Jim Gantner and Robin Yount (1987), and Paul Molitor (two weeks in a row in 1987) were the others.
Pitcher José Ureña moves on
José Ureña cleared waivers on Monday, was sent straight to Class AAA Nashville and elected a free agent, ending his tenure with the club.
The right-hander signed a minor league contract on March 29, was selected to the 40-man roster a day later, and made the opening day roster despite pitching only once in the Cactus League.
He hasn’t impressed in four starts this season, posting a 3.52 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP with five strikeouts in 7⅔ innings.
He lost his roster spot last Monday when Luis Urías was reinstated from the disabled list.
“Look, he just didn’t throw a lot with the way we were structured and the way we were throwing,” Counsell said. “We didn’t see much of it, and we had to make a decision without seeing much of it.
“Obviously it is a right and a decision that the players have (to choose to go ahead), and we wish him all the best.”
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