Pederson & Tellez Look for Rangers Postseason Run

Over the last two weeks of July, the Texas Rangers plugged in Joc Pederson and Rowdy Tellez, two of the more prolific Jewish sluggers of the 2020s, into their lineup. The former was returning from a 52-game absence stemming from a broken right hand back in May; the latter was joining the Rangers after having recently signed a minor-league contract with their Round Rock Triple-A affiliate following his release from the Seattle Mariners.

The hope was that the two-time All-Star Pederson, a 2021 postseason cult hero of sorts for Atlanta with his ubiquitous pearl necklace, and the well-traveled Tellez would fortify a Texas team jockeying for a postseason wild card berth. Though both have had their moments of contributing over the past month-plus — namely, by belting clutch late-inning homers — the Rangers have floundered of late and don’t loom as a playoff contender as the season enters its final month.

While teamwide success has proven elusive, the waning days of summer have buoyed Pederson and Tellez, at least to some extent. Pederson, an integral part of Atlanta’s spectacular 2021 postseason run with his monster National League Division Series performance against the Milwaukee Brewers, of which Tellez was a member, endured a hellacious start in 2025. An All-Star as recently as 2022, Pederson was grinding through the least productive offensive season of his career, batting only .131 with two homers in 46 games, when the fractured wrist sidelined him in late May.

“It’s pretty frustrating,” Pederson admitted to reporters earlier this summer. “You come into every season wanting to have a healthy year to play and help contribute to a winning team. Obviously, I started tough, so helping the team win was not going well. And then getting hurt on something that I couldn’t control, that held me out a lot longer than I would have liked. The body heals at its own pace. So that was doubly frustrating. I guess you could say.”

A 12-year veteran who spent his prime years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pederson, also an outfielder for Team Israel during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, was annually playing October baseball in the 2010s before helping L.A. capture the World Series in the COVID-truncated 2020 campaign. But this year, with his historically slow start and injury-induced hiatus coinciding with the Rangers fading down the stretch, has been a rather trying one. Especially since it has come on the heels of agreeing to a $37 million, two-year contract during free agency this past December.

“When you’re grinding, it’s hard because the mental load is a lot in this game and the stress that comes with it,” added Pederson, who has shown glimpses of resurgent power since returning to action in late July. “I mean, getting hurt sucks, but part of being a professional is making the best of situations that you’re in. Part of that was recovering mentally and getting in a better spot, mentally and physically, to, like I said, try to help the team win. That’s the end goal.”

Tellez, meanwhile, in many ways has a similar profile to Pederson’s and that of many modern-day sluggers: he’s a constant threat to clear the fences at the expense of posting a healthy average and putting the ball in play on a regular basis. The 30-year-old journeyman, who was born in Sacramento, Calif., to a Jewish mother and a father with Mexican heritage, clubbed 11 home runs and had 27 RBI over 62 games this spring for the Mariners before the Rangers’ AL West rivals designated him for assignment on June 20 and released him six days later. Texas took a flier on the burly first baseman/designated hitter with the minor-league assignment and eventual promotion to the big-league roster. The fun-loving Tellez has a reputation for being a solid clubhouse guy who, while at times a liability in the field, is still a potent bat against right-handed pitchers.

“My job is just to come here and impact the team in any way I can,” said Tellez, who like Pederson, enjoyed an excellent season in 2022, as he finished with 35 homers and 89 RBI for the Milwaukee Brewers. “Whatever [Rangers manager Bruce Bochy] asks me to do, whatever they need me to do, I’m going to come out here and give everything I got and do what I need to do. We’re in a playoff push coming out of the second half. I just want to impact the team and be able to fill any hole they need me to.

“I feel like I’m a very good clubhouse presence. I have fun, I smile. For me, it’s also just bringing a positive attitude and bringing something here. I want to impact the team positively, driving in runs and win games.”

At times, Tellez has done so. In his first 23 games in Texas, Tellez (pronounced ‘teh-LEHZ’) knocked in 10 runs, one of which came on a game-tying solo shot in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 11. After going on to win 7-6 in extras, the Rangers sported a 61-59 record at the season’s three-quarter mark and were squarely in the mix for the final AL wild card spot. Since then, Tellez’s and Pederson’s bats have largely gone quiet while their club has slipped back to .500 at 66-66 as of press deadline. There’s still a month left in the season, but the Rangers will have to go on a torrid run for Pederson and Tellez to ensure another taste of postseason baseball.