Rowdy Tellez made his third relief appearance of the season on Wednesday, giving up one run on three hits. Tellez, a first baseman by trade, has hit 12 home runs this season, but this isn't a Shohei Ohtani situation.
Tellez keeps pitching because the Pirates stink. Pittsburgh has the worst record in the NL Central and are 11 games out of the wild card. They'll soon be officially eliminated from the playoff hunt. In the meantime, they're just trying to get through the season.
That's why Tellez took the mound in the eighth inning of the Pirates 12-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs. Just don't ask manager Derek Shelton about it because he appears to be done talking about it, which is why he kind of snapped when Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette asked him about the decision after the game.
Derek Shelton snaps in his postgame media session in Chicago after being asked about Rowdy Tellez pitching again
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"It's 11 to nothing," said Shelton. "It's 11 to nothing. Bednar and Holderman both pitched yesterday. Santana's been our best reliever. Chapman I'm not going to pitch in that situation. Come on. You've watched enough baseball to know that. It's 11 to nothing. Seriously. No. No, you don't have to ask. There's a better question than that. Seriously. I mean, it's 11 to nothing."
This is Shelton's fifth year as manager of the Pirates. The team is 283-402 during his stint. They have not finished .500 or better since 2018 and haven't been to the playoffs since 2014.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Pirates Manager in No Mood to Talk About His First Baseman’s Third Relief Appearance.
