Brewers: What is the long-term solution at First Base?

The Milwaukee Brewers have been putting band-aids on bullet holes over at first base since Prince Fielder departed in free agency. The Brewers have seen a different player start at first base on opening day every year thereafter, and countless other players have shifted over to cover innings. Which begs the question, who will finally claim that spot long-term?

The Brewers would love to end this revolving door over at first base moving forward, but what are their options? Today we explore what those options may be.

Internal Options

All things considered, Milwaukee isn’t without some potential options at first. As always the Brewers will perform a self scout at the position before looking at external sources of plugging first base. These are the current internal candidates should the Brewers decide to go that route.

Rowdy Tellez – Club control though 2024

• 1 minor league option remaining
• Career (.246 batting average / .770 OPS)
• 91.3 MPH exit velocity (MLB average: 88.5 MPH)
• 45.9% hard hit rate – MLB average: 39.1%

Rowdy Tellez was a low-risk, in-season acquisition for David Stearns. The Brewers bought low on a first baseman with a good hit tool and some projectable power, he just needed consistent at-bats.

Rowdy isn’t someone who’s going to see a lot of pitches during an at-bat. But he does put the bat on the ball whenever it’s in the strike-zone – consistently hitting the ball hard. Those underlying numbers are usually indicative of a decent hitter, despite what traditional stats may reflect.

Since joining the club, Rowdy Tellez has slashed (.277 AVG/.346 OBP/.833 OPS) with 7 home runs in just 133 plate appearances. He’s posting career high exit velocity and hard hit rates as well, suggesting he’s still improving at the plate.

Rowdy Tellez is squarely in the mix to be the starting first basemen in 2022. The big reservation here is his below average glove on defense. Should the national league implement the DH, Tellez would be the perfect fit – until then he’s going to have to continue to improve on defense.