Toronto Blue Jays prospect Rowdy Tellez has been riding a steady learning curve all season.
His latest lesson? Don’t believe your own hype.
“[Toronto general manager] Ross Atkins and [team president] Mark Shapiro were always saying DBTH—don’t believe the hype—and gave me some stories about players that they had dealt with,” Tellez told The Toronto Star‘s Laura Armstrong over the weekend.
“I tried my best not to do it. Subconsciously, maybe it happened a little bit and that’s why I’m not having the season (I wanted), but it’s a learning experience,” he said
There has been plenty of hype around the first baseman, especially at the beginning of the 2017 season. His strong play during spring training even had some wondering if we might be seeing the slugger make his major-league debut sooner than later.
Since then, however, his numbers have fallen off. The 22-year-old’s hitting .210/.284/.336 with six homers and 36 RBI through 81 games with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons.
“Unfortunately it hasn’t been the year I planned, but it’s all about learning and understanding what you need to work on,” said Tellez, who later added that he was “playing to not make errors instead of playing to make plays.”
“I’m grateful that I’m here learning,” he said. “I’ve always felt like I was ready to be up there, but looking back now it’s better to do it here than have a whole bunch of eyes up there watching you.”
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