He's been their best hitter this season, but the Brewers aren't yet using Rowdy Tellez every day

PHILADELPHIA - No hitter in blue and yellow is swinging the bat better than Rowdy Tellez right now, but don’t take that to mean he will be in the Milwaukee Brewers lineup every day.

Tellez, who leads the team in home runs (three), OPS (.920), wRC+ (160) and runs batted in (eight), enters the Brewers’ three-game weekend set against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park after homering in consecutive games to conclude the series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The 27-year-old first baseman was not in the starting lineup for Friday night’s game against Phillies starter Ranger Suarez, with Keston Hiura getting the start in his stead.

Friday night’s lineup decision was no surprise considering Suarez’s success against left-handed hitters. Suarez, a southpaw, gave up 11 hits and only two extra-base hits in 101 at-bats against lefties last season. His .109 batting average against was the best in baseball among pitchers who faced at least 75 lefties.

To date, all of those days for Tellez have come with lefties on the mound. He has only one start – against Baltimore’s John Means – and five total plate appearances against left-handers.

“I think there’s going to be days when we give Rowdy a day off,” Counsell said. “I think we have a good player we can put in there. I think 162 games at this point is a lot for Rowdy. I think it’s important to keep him fresh.”

Hiura has gotten the start at first in each of those games while only playing once against a right-handed starter, coming Sunday against St. Louis’ Dakota Hudson.

What’s unique about the Brewers first-base platoon is that Tellez has a relatively minor splits difference against lefties and righties (career .784 OPS vs. RHP vs. .752) while Hiura’s are the exact reverse of what you would expect (.839 vs. .536) from a right-handed batter.

The Brewers, however, believe Hiura is a better hitter against southpaws than he has shown over 215 plate appearances against them.

They are also facing something of a lineup conundrum when it comes to their desire to get Hiura playing time thanks to a logjam of other position players they want in the lineup everyday. To get Hiura in against righties at this juncture, it would require sitting one of Tellez, Christian Yelich, Hunter Renfroe or Andrew McCutchen and, to date, Counsell has shown a commitment to playing each one nearly every day.

“I’ve never really put much thought into it and just go up there and hit,” Hiura said earlier this month of facing righties and lefties. “Just try to go up there and barrel the ball every time regardless of which side it’s coming from.”

On Monday, Counsell noted he was pleased with how the playing time for his two first basemen had shaken out when asked how challenging it had been to balance playing time for Hiura while giving Tellez a near-everyday role.

“I’m actually really happy with that,” Counsell said. “(Keston’s) not in an every day role right now and he’s not going to be at this point, but he’s gotten at-bats and there are ways to continue to get him at-bats.”

Both showcased their ability to elevate the Brewers offense during the Pirates series. Tellez hit a two-run homer Tuesday, then he and Hiura each went deep to account for all of Milwaukee’s runs in a 4-2 win Wednesday.

While Hiura, with the third-fewest plate appearances of any Brewers position player this season, is adjusting to an off-the-bench role, Tellez is being given his best chance at consistent playing time of his career.

Tellez debuted with Toronto in 2018 and, over the next four seasons before being traded to the Brewers, started 182 of a possible 334 games over his four seasons with the Blue Jays. He was in Class AAA at the time of the trade and blocked for the foreseeable future at first by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

If there was a player on the Brewers most likely to break out and reach an offensive ceiling not yet seen, it would probably be Tellez.

“Rowdy’s a young player in terms of experience,” Counsell said. “He’s still getting better because he hasn’t had a lot of big league at-bats. We have a fairly experienced position player group but he’s a guy who can still get better just because he’s in that sweet spot where experience means something for him.

“It’s another year of experience for him. It’s more at-bats under his belt. He’s a dangerous hitter. He’s super strong, he hits the ball really hard and you can tell he’s going to be a home run threat every time he’s in there.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers managing playing time for Rowdy Tellez, Keston Hiura