The Mariners have a painfully obvious reason to be worried about Rowdy Tellez

Plenty of people have been in situations where they've experienced some form of co-dependency, whether it be themselves or someone closely associated with them. Well, this is the situation Seattle Mariners fans are witnessing play out with one of their own, in Rowdy Tellez.

We've already devoted plenty of time to the Mariners' issues at first base, with the position producing a team-worst .557 OPS at the time of writing. Donovan Solano in particular has been a disaster and realistically should no longer be on the roster, but we need to consider one of the main reasons to also be concerned about Tellez.

On a peripheral level, we can appreciate there will be those wondering why there is any need to be worried about Tellez. After all, since an unsightly .088 batting average and .341 OPS at the midway point of April, he showed incremental improvement to .200 and .697 ahead of the Mariners' ongoing three-game series versus the New York Yankees.

Rowdy Tellez isn't all that without the Blue Jays

However, to paraphrase Jerry Dipoto when discussing the offense prior to the 2025 season: "There is the perception and then there is the reality". And that reality is that Tellez would be looking a whole lot worse if it wasn't for his production this year against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Again, the 30-year-old's overall stats looked solid enough prior to Monday night's series opener versus the Yankees, including six home runs, 19 RBI, and a 103 OPS+. It's only when separating his production against the Blue Jays that you get a better idea of why there is genuine reason for concern.

Tellez's turnaround in fortunes this year coincided with facing the team which selected him in the 30th round of the 2013 draft. And over the six games he has played versus the Blue Jays this year, he has been phenomenal, with four home runs, eight RBI and a 1.219 OPS.

Mariners seeing little versus the rest of the league

Now contrast this with Tellez's production versus the rest of the majors in 2025, with him contributing two home runs, 11 RBI and a woeful .556 OPS in 26 games. And as if to ram home the point, he then went 0-for-3 at the plate in Monday night's opener against the Yankees. (Although for what little it's worth, he did manufacture a walk.)

Of course, it's good that Tellez was motivated to beat his former team, but the Mariners are now done playing the Blue Jays this year, pending a repeat of their matchup in the 2022 wild card round. If he can't find a way to get up and produce better against the rest of the league, then what's the point of keeping him around?

Supporters of the Sacramento, California native may well point to his 2022 campaign — when he recorded career-highs of 35 home runs and 89 RBI — as evidence of what he's capable of. However, the reality is that season alludes more towards being an outlier for a player who has been producing a sub-.700 OPS ever since.

Overall, the situation at first base is becoming less tenable with every passing day when it comes to the tandem of Tellez and Solano. At what point will the Mariners finally say enough is enough, and give Tyler Locklear the opportunity to make his own claim for the position?

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