Tellez rips Pirates fans for booing closer Bednar: 'We don't do that' here
Pittsburgh Pirates fans weren't happy with closer David Bednar after his latest rough outing, and their reaction drew the ire of first baseman Rowdy Tellez.
Bednar, last year's National League saves leader, saw his difficult start to 2024 continue Tuesday afternoon against the Detroit Tigers. After entering with a 3-1 lead, Bednar proceeded to blow his third save opportunity of the season by allowing four earned runs in just one-third of an inning. The PNC Park crowd showered the two-time All-Star stopper in boos as he left the mound.
(Video source: MLB.com)
Detroit held on in the bottom of the ninth to grab a 5-3 win and drop the Pirates to 9-3.
The jeers from fans didn't sit well at all with Tellez, who interrupted Bednar's postgame scrum to chastise the behavior.
"This is the pride of Pittsburgh," Tellez said of Bednar, a native of the city. "To everybody: We don't do that (boo) out here. ... We're gonna get our man back on track, but what happened today is, I think, unacceptable. We as a group in Pittsburgh gotta be better."
Before David Bednar spoke to reporters Rowdy Tellez stepped in and delivered a message, backing his closer: pic.twitter.com/xbG3adewZx
— Noah Hiles (@_NoahHiles) April 9, 2024
Bednar has been one of the Pirates' few bright spots during the rebuilding club's last few seasons. Acquired from San Diego in 2021 as part of the return for Joe Musgrove, he quickly broke out as an indispensable piece of their bullpen and one of the better closers in baseball. Last year, the 29-year-old set career-best marks in ERA (2.00), saves (39), and strikeouts (80) while placing third in fWAR among qualified relievers.
Things haven't gone as smoothly for him in 2024, though. Tuesday's outing spiked his ERA to 12.46 and his WHIP to 1.62, while his three blown saves match his total from all of last season.
Bednar seemed slightly surprised but appreciative of Tellez's statement.
"Obviously, there's peaks and valleys through every season, and we're gonna get over this," he told reporters, per Hannah Mears of SportsNet Pittsburgh. "It's definitely tough (to struggle), but seeing these guys have my back, it's huge."
Tellez joined the Pirates on a one-year, $3.2-million contract in free agency this winter. The 29-year-old owns a .273/.385/.364 slash line with one home run and six RBIs through his first 12 games in black and gold.
The Pirates are off to a strong start for the second straight season after surprising the baseball world by going 20-9 last April. However, they couldn't sustain that pace and finished 76-86, their seventh losing record in the last eight campaigns.