Rowdy Tellez is back with Atlanta and headed into a Brewers series that starts June 19 in Atlanta, a reminder of how quickly the playoff picture can reshape—and how former favorites keep showing up when it matters. The same week has also brought a comeback mom
Rowdy Tellez didn’t spend long on the sideline. Friday night, September 22, 2023, at loanDepot park in Miami, he ended up on the mound for a pitching moment tied to a playoff-clinching win over the Miami Marlins—an unusual chapter that stuck with Milwaukee fans.
Now the next chapter arrives with a different uniform.
Tellez, 31, is back in Major League Baseball, this time with Atlanta after his contract was purchased by the Braves. He has gone 0-for-3 in his first big-league games of 2026. In Atlanta. he will likely see more pinch-hitting than full-time at-bats. with Dominic Smith and Eli White getting more designated hitter and outfield opportunities. respectively.
The timing matters because the Brewers’ week has been shaped by injuries. Cleveland is coming to town soon after star José Ramírez was lost with a broken bone in his wrist. and the Atlanta side of the schedule has its own absence: Ronald Acuña Jr. is out with a hamstring injury before the Brewers visit this weekend.
Acuña’s absence is also what opened the door for Tellez. an old friend for Milwaukee—an infielder who has already been part of the kind of moments Brewers fans remember. He was acquired midway through the 2021 season. spent 2022 and 2023 with the Brewers. and hit two home runs for Milwaukee in the National League Division Series against his future team. the Braves.
This time, the path back to the majors runs through the minor leagues. Tellez signed as a minor-league free agent with Atlanta days before the season began, and he has spent 2026 with the Class AAA Gwinnett Stripers. In the minors this year, he has an .850 OPS across 207 plate appearances.
His latest stop makes the return feel earned rather than sudden. Tellez split time with Seattle and Texas last year, was with Pittsburgh in 2024, and during his Milwaukee run he hit 55 regular-season home runs.
The Brewers will begin their series in Atlanta on Friday, June 19, with Tellez now in the mix—sitting one team away from the fan base he used to wear with pride.
One more baseball story is cutting through the same stretch, and it comes from Madison.
Drake Baldwin, a Madison West High School graduate, is back after missing a month of the season with an oblique injury. His return didn’t arrive quietly. On June 16, Baldwin launched a 473-foot leadoff home run against former Brewers starting pitcher Adrian Houser, now with the San Francisco Giants.
That blast marked the longest home run in baseball this season. Brewers catcher William Contreras followed the attention with his own big hit—an eventual 463-foot blast to center in Las Vegas that sits fourth in the league.
The Baldwin homer didn’t immediately land in the official record books. It didn’t officially enter the stat books until June 17 because the game was rain-delayed and the Braves loss, 7-2, was completed after the delay.
Even the details are part of why his story is sticking. Baldwin is the reigning National League Rookie of the Year. and this season’s numbers reflect a player who has carried over the same punch. He has a .931 OPS when he landed on the injured list, with a .389 on-base percentage. He is also leading fan voting to start in the upcoming All-Star Game. with more than 300. 000 votes ahead of second-place Will Smith of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Across the National League, the voting race has one clearer name near the top: the only player with more votes at any position is Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, with 1,165,133.
Put together, the week reads like baseball changing gear in real time: injuries rearranging lineups, a former Brewer returning to Atlanta through the pinch-hit role, and a local prodigy stepping back onto the field with a distance blast that already has the league talking.
Rowdy Tellez Milwaukee Brewers Atlanta Braves June 19 Drake Baldwin Madison William Contreras Ronald Acuña Jr. José Ramírez All-Star voting
Rowdy Tellez back?? I swear he was just on the Brewers. MLB is so weird now.
0-for-3 already in 2026… give him a break lol. Also why is he with the Braves again like didn’t he get traded or something.
This reads like a playoff story but he’s “headed into a Brewers series” so… is Milwaukee playing Atlanta or what. And Acuna being out is apparently what opened the door for Tellez?? I thought it was just contracts and money.
Acuña injured, Jose Ramirez injured, and now the Brewers have pitching moments and pinch-hitting and all that. Next thing you know they’ll say it’s “because of injuries” every time. I just want someone to hit a home run that actually counts, not this old history stuff. Also the date they mention is 2023 and then somehow it’s 2026—time jumps are confusing.