Rowdy Tellez's Brewers had taken care of business against the Pirates in the first half of 2023, going 5-1 with just a one-run loss. So when they were looking to put away National League Central and claim their second division title in three years, they didn’t figure the Bucs would stand in their way.

But the pesky Pirates, who flustered many a postseason-hopeful division foe in September, erased deficits in two games of their series vs. Milwaukee that month to win their final matchup of the season.

“We felt like we were the better team, but we could never close out the series and it was just a battle to the end,” said Tellez, who agreed to a one-year deal with the Pirates. “I’m excited to be on the Pittsburgh end now, the team that battles and pisses people off.”

As many Pirates said at the end of last season, Tellez believes this team is just “one or two pieces away” from moving from a pestering team to postseason bound. With the acquisition of Martín Pérez on Monday night -- which is pending a physical and has not been confirmed by the club -- and the deal for Marco Gonzales, could those one or two pieces already be among them?

Tellez hopes to be one. He played like it in 2022, when he crushed 35 homers and 23 doubles along with 89 RBIs. He’s consistently at the top of the Statcast leaderboard for max exit velocity, but last season, injuries kept Tellez from gaining any consistency to repeat his strong performance.

On July 5, Tellez was placed on the 10-day injured list with right forearm inflammation. Later that month, he had a freak incident in which he tore off the finger bed of his left ring finger and sustained a fracture in the area while shagging batting practice baseballs at Great American Ball Park during conditioning work. Tellez went from 12 homers in the first half of the 2023 season to just one in the second half.

“I just had a really good start to the season,” Tellez said, “and I think that once that happened -- and then trying to deal with the injuries and not saying anything and just being that guy that goes out every day whether it's right or wrong -- just kind of rolling through it really affected me. But once we got to the offseason, it was a huge focus on getting healthy.”

Tellez was non-tendered by the Brewers after that tough campaign, but now he enters a new situation with a chance to do something he hasn’t in a little while: Start fresh, be himself and have no expectations.

“I think that allowed me to have good times in Milwaukee, and I'm looking to do that here, too,” Tellez said. “Just didn't end the way I wanted to, but I'm happy with where I'm at. I'm excited. This is where I want to be, and I'm super thrilled to be a Pirate.”

Catcher was not a position of need this offseason. However, one swing in the Dominican Winter League changed all of that, as the Pirates announced on Tuesday that Endy Rodríguez underwent UCL reconstruction surgery and had a procedure to repair his right flexor tendon. He will miss the entire 2024 season.

With Rodríguez out, there are three catchers on the Pirates’ roster, but only one with more than seven MLB games at the position. Let’s break down the options.

Jason Delay

Delay got his break with the Pirates in 2022 after Roberto Pérez had his season end in May due to a ruptured hamstring.

Despite debuting only a season and a half ago, Delay has by far the most Major League catching experience of the group, with 920 2/3 innings over 125 games. He was slightly above league average defensively last season, ranking 18th out of 49 catchers in FanGraphs’ defensive rating (9.5) and tied for 20th in defensive runs saved (two).

Delay improved on offense from 2022 to '23, but his OPS+ was 83. It’s a big step up from Austin Hedges’ 29 OPS+ in 65 games last season. The Pirates could use a bit of a boost from him taking another step, but his numbers in the Majors so far are pretty well in line with his numbers in the Minors, so it would require a breakthrough.

For now, Delay’s defense gives him the best chance to be the Opening Day starting catcher.

Henry Davis

It’s weird to call Davis the wild card in this situation. He was the first overall pick in the 2021 Draft as a collegiate catcher who handled some really good pitchers. But Davis was seen as a less polished defender than Rodríguez when both were called up in '23.

However, whether because of Rodríguez’s ailment or simply because the Pirates feel it’s time to give him a chance to prove himself, Davis will come into Spring Training as a catcher. And with the potential he has with the bat -- he had a .947 OPS over 122 Minor League games -- a defensively sound Davis would be an absolute gamechanger.

“If at any point it makes sense for him and the Pirates to do something else, we trust he'll be able to do it. We'll get to that if and when we get to that, but we believe he can catch,” general manager Ben Cherington said. “That's where the focus is going to be. We owe it to him and to us to find that out.”

Ali Sánchez

Sánchez caught only 41 innings in the Majors across 2020-21, but don’t count him out completely. He’s a useful depth option to have in the Minors, especially since he had a career year of offense with Triple-A Reno -- a D-backs affiliate -- last season. Sánchez had a .311/.375/.492 slash line with 11 homers, the only time he’s had double-digit home runs in his career.

I would expect Sánchez to be in a similar role to Christian Bethancourt: A catcher with plenty of professional experience who is waiting in the wings at Triple-A in case he's needed.

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