The “story” to begin the baseball season in the National League was that of the young SS of the Colorado Rockies, Trevor Story. He is an early favourite to win rookie of the year honours and has made the departure of Troy Tulowitzki easier for Rockies’ fans to swallow. A feeling of deja-vu may be occurring in Colorado as Tulowitzki himself once took home ROY honours in 2007 while with the team. However, as Trevor Story’s career is just beginning, Troy Tulowitzki’s has taken a new turn.
Drafted 7th overall in 2005 by the Rockies, he was destined to be an elite player at the MLB level and he has surely lived up to the hype over his career thus far. In his 2007 rookie campaign, his stat line jumped off the pages and gave the Rockies a shortstop to build around and have a promising future. He compiled 177 hits over 155 games with 33 doubles and 24 home runs. He added 99 RBIs, all of this while maintaining a .291 batting average. Needless to say, Tulo Time had arrived.
Before being drafted, “Tulo” attended Long Beach State where he built a name for himself with his outstanding defensive ability, finishing his career there with a .962 fielding percentage. His .310 average and 31 multi-hit games are nothing to shake a stick at either. This player was well deserving of a top ten pick.
As a member of the Rockies, he was a five-time National League All Star and won back-to-back Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards in 2010 and 2011. If healthy and able to play a full season, he was a sure fire 150+ hit player who would do so with 30 home runs and 100 RBI’s, all while maintaining a near .300 batting average.
The injury bug did bite him a few times throughout his career though. A left wrist fracture caused him to miss forty games in 2010, arguably the best year of his career. He missed most of 2012 with a left groin injury and only played in 91 games in 2014 due to a left hip flexor. Despite only playing half a season that year he still compiled 107 hits with 21 HR and a .340 average.
Although these recurring injuries may be worrisome to many, it did not stop the Rockies from, what seemed at the time, locking him down and making him their franchise SS for the decade. He signed a 10-year, $157.75-million-dollar contract and had firmly established himself as one of the best SS in the game. A player who can guarantee you 20 home runs, 100 RBI’s, and a .300 average each and every season is well deserving of a monster deal of that calibre.
Then, in July 2015, one of the biggest blockbuster trades in recent memory occurred. The Blue Jays traded their struggling shortstop, Jose Reyes, along with pitching prospects Miguel Castro, Jeff Hoffman, and Jesus Tinoco to the Rockies in exchange for Tulowitzi and relief pitcher LaTroy Hawkins. At only 31 years old, Tulo still has many solid playing years left and Toronto had found another middle of the order bat and reliable fielder to add to an already imposing roster. With the impending, and more and more likely, departure of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion this trade will have even more value in the 2017 season.
His .188 average may show that he’s having a slow start, but a two home run game versus Oakland on Saturday might just be what the doctor ordered to get his season on track. He’s a career .295 batter, so fans need not worry – history has a way of repeating itself and Tulo will hit. He is also approaching some career milestones. He is a mere three home runs away from 200 on his career and sixteen RBI’s from 700.
Thank you again for checking out my weekly Blue Jays player profile and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @GHam614 along with Super Two Sports @SuperTwo_Sports.
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