Watch: Rowdy Tellez gets revenge vs. team that traded him

Seattle Mariners Rowdy Tellez. Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Watch: Mariners' Rowdy Tellez gets revenge with homer off pitcher he was traded for

By Kevin Henry | Last updated Apr 18, 2025 8:08 PM ET

Rowdy Tellez of the Seattle Mariners was looking for a way to improve his early offensive numbers. One swing of the bat on Friday not only did that, but it also gave him a bit of revenge against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Tellez blasted a 373-foot home run off Toronto starter Bowden Francis in the second inning of Friday's game to knot the score at 1-1. While the blast to right field boosted the .111 average Tellez brought into the at-bat, it also likely boosted his morale as well. After all, Francis was part of the return package for the Blue Jays when they shipped Tellez to the Milwaukee Brewers before the 2021 MLB trade deadline.

Rowdy Tellez, welcome back to Toronto

Exit velo: 113.1 mph
Launch angle: 20°
Distance: 373 ft.
Hang time: 3.8 seconds pic.twitter.com/vVQrmF5PzA
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) April 18, 2025

Tellez was traded from the Blue Jays to the Brewers on July 6, 2021 for Francis and fellow right-hander Trevor Richards. The move marked the end of Tellez's three-plus seasons with Toronto, a team that selected him in the 30th round of the 2013 MLB Draft.

#Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns talks about trading for 1B Rowdy Tellez. pic.twitter.com/UKU6jy8wX6
— Tom (@Haudricourt) July 6, 2021

Following the trade, Tellez did help the Brewers make the postseason, slashing .272/.333/.481 in 174 plate appearances. He played 46 games for Milwaukee at first base, solidifying the position after Daniel Vogelbach went down with a severe hamstring strain.

The now-30-year-old Tellez slashed .241/.301/.458 in 760 plate appearances with the Blue Jays. Since the trade, he has seen action with the Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Mariners.

Kevin Henry

A member of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), Kevin Henry has been covering MLB and MiLB for nearly two decades. Those assignments have included All-Star Games and the MLB postseason, including the World Series. Based in the Denver area, Kevin calls Coors Field his home base, but travels throughout North America during the season to discover the best stories possible

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