Rangers Officially Select Rowdy Tellez Ahead of Tigers Series Opener

The Texas Rangers made it official on Friday, selecting the contract of Rowdy Tellez before their second-half opener against the Detroit Tigers.

The move had already been widely reported. The Rangers waited until Friday to officially announce the move. As Texas had an open spot on its 40-man roster, no corresponding move was required.

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They did announce three moves during the break. First baseman Jake Burger was moved to the 10-day injured list with a left quadriceps strain. The Rangers promoted infielder Justin Foscue from Triple-A Round Rock and optioned infielder/outfielder Michael Helman back to Round Rock.

Texas signed Tellez to a minor-league deal on July 5 after he was designated for assignment by the Seattle Mariners. They then assigned him to Round Rock.

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In four games, he slashed .333/.375/.800 with a 1.175 OPS with two home runs and four RBI.

He joined the Mariners to start the season and in 62 games he slashed .208/.249/.434 with 11 home runs and 27 RBI. Even with the awful slash line, he has more home runs that all but four Rangers and is tied with Burger.

Tellez has produced big numbers before. In 2022 with the Milwaukee Brewers, he hit 35 home runs. He’s hit 13 home runs in each of the last two seasons.

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Tellez will probably settle into some sort of first base/designated hitter platoon. Foscue could be a part of that, along with Josh Smith, though Smith will be the starter at third base until Josh Jung returns from his assignment with Round Rock.

Burger is on the IL for the second time in less than a month.

He spent nearly two weeks on the IL after suffering a left oblique strain against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Rangers moved him to the IL on June 21, and he remained there until he was activated on July 2. He spent one day on a rehab assignment.

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After 75 games Burger slashed .228/.259/.401 with 11 home runs and 35 RBI. He struggled to start the season, so much so that Texas optioned him to Triple-A Round Rock in early May for a week so he could work on his swing.

He ended the first half with a slash of .280/.280/.440 with one home run and six RBI in his last seven games.

The Rangers enter the second half of the season 48-49 and 8.5 games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West Division. Texas is also 3.5 games out of the final AL wild card berth.

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