Colorado Rockies player profile: Troy Tulowitzki

Tulo has wings when he plays defense
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Last season he spent time on the bench. Too much time on the bench. He was stirring because he couldn’t help his team and he was boiling because when he was on the field he wasn’t helping his team. All the ingredients that made for a bad season. He was a mixture of feelings, mostly rotten, that would make any chef turn their nose in disgust.

Troy Trevor Tulowitzki has been the prize of the Rockies organization since he burst onto the scene in 2007 to help the Rockies advance to the World Series. He has a personable side to him that warms him to the fans and makes him very likeable. He has a rifle for an arm and uses it to impress the fans every game with the heat he throws from the hole between second base and third. His bat is mighty, cranking out 24 home runs in his first full season with the Rockies.

Tulo (as everyone in Denver calls him) has been blessed with the ability to swing a wooden stick. At Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, CA he batted .536 as a junior and had a record of 15 – 1 on the mound. In his senior season he batted .519 and hit 24 home runs. Along with the diamond prowess he could also handle the round ball on the hard court as he averaged 22.6 points per game and earned two letters in basketball while in high school. 

Tulo anchored a very good left side of the infield while he attended Long Beach State. He and Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays were room mates. At Long Beach State all Tulo did was bat .310 with 20 home runes and 117 RBI in 155 games played during his three seasons. Baseball America rated him as having the best arm and the best defensive shortstop in the Big West Conference. All of this bought him a ticket to the Colorado Rockies organization. He was the seventh overall pick in the 2005 draft.

Tulo started 2009 running
(AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)
 

At the age of 21 Tulo made his debut for the Colorado Rockies (third youngest in franchise history) in 2006. He was the second fastest Rockies player to reach the big league after being drafted and the second position player from the entire 2005 draft to make it to the big leagues (Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals was the first). While a lot of top college players do not spend a lot of time in the minor leagues, Tulo still only played 126 total minor league games between A and AA ball. In his first season in Colorado he batted .240 with one home run in 108 plate appearances. He got his first base knock on August 31st, 2006 off of Oliver Perez of the New York Mets. His first Major League home run came on September 4th at Petco Park against the San Diego Padres and Woody Williams.

In 2007 Tulo became a house hold name around the Rocky Mountain region. He played in 155 games for the Colorado Rockies and had 682 plate appearances. He drove 24 baseballs out of Major League ballparks, knocked in 99, scored 104 himself and swiped seven bags all while batting .291 with a .359 on base percentage. When scanning the rookie leaders for 2007 Tulo’s name is all over the books: 3rd in home runs and 3rd in average stand out. He also had the highest fielding percentage, total chances, assists, putouts and double plays among all qualifying shortstops, rookie or not. To top all the defensive accolades he also had an unassisted triple play on April 29th against the Atlanta Braves.

Tulo is his name and glove work is his game
(AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)
 

For as great as 2007 was for Tulo, 2008 was not. He did sign a six year extension with the Rockies in January of 2008 for $31 million. After that he struggled. He started off the season batting a paltry .152 in April which lead up to a quad tear in the first inning on April 29th against the San Francisco Giants. He missed all of May with the injury and returned to the Big Leagues on June 20th. He lasted only a few weeks before he went back onto the DL on July 5th after cutting his right wrist when he decided to fight his baseball bat in the tunnel leading to the locker room. He returned on July 21st against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He struggled at the plate in August, hitting .258 but then he warmed up in September. In the final month of the season he batted .330 with three home runs and 14 RBI.

The 2009 version of Tulo looks to bounce back. In the first week of the 2009 season Tulo hit 3 home runs and got on base over 40% of the time. Tulo has all the ingredients required to make a stellar recipe of offense and defense and he has plans to cook up an incredible 2009 season.

2009 Update: Rockies fans thought Tulo should have won the Rookie of the Year award in 2007 and that Tulo was robbed of the award by Ryan Braun. Tulo had an amazing 2007 and he out performed 2007 in most all offensive categories. Tulo hit for a higher average, got on base more often and hit with more power. He slumped early and then made a correction to his batting stance (stood taller in the box) and the ball started jumping off of his bat. Mix in his gold glove caliber defense and the Rockies might have a future MVP on their roster.

Fans are already dying to chant “TU-LO” at Rockies games in 2010 and the gem of the Rockies organization will be on display at the premiere defensive position.