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Rockies Year in Review: Troy Tulowitzki

By James Keating |

Today, we are featuring former Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.

Here at Rox Pile, we are starting a player review for each and every player that suited up in a Colorado Rockies uniform this season. This series will be going all the way up until Dec. 16 with player profiles posted every day.

In case you have been living under a rock or in the most remote parts of the Amazon for the past few months, you know that the Rockies traded Tulowitzki to Toronto at the trade deadline in exchange for high-caliber pitching prospects (and an aging Jose Reyes). Ultimately this review doesn’t come down to what Tulowitzki gave to the Rockies this season, or any season really, it’s more about what he left behind; and, it’s a lot more than just a gaping hole at shortstop.

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Now that we all have had some time to process the departure of an all-time Rockies great, we can reflect. Tulo played a total of 87 games for the Rockies in 2015. In that time, Tulo hit an even .300, with 19 doubles, 14 home runs and 53 RBI’s. To put those numbers in perspective, it took Ben Paulsen 116 games to hit 19 doubles, 11 home runs and 49 RBI’s. The best thing to see is that Tulo’s stats away from Coors are virtually even. That’s not surprising, we already knew that Tulo could hit with yard stick in water if he had to. What’s more impressive is that in my experience with interacting with other Rockies fans, it’s not Tulo’s bat most fans want to talk about it, but it is usually his elite defensive.

Recognizing how great Tulo was for the Rockies and what I am sure he will accomplish in the future, the injury history has always been the elephant in the room. Ultimately it is because of this fact that I supported the Tulo deal, although it took a while before I could say it out loud to myself. I am a little relieved that it is Toronto fans that are now cringing every time Tulo lays out for a ground ball. For the record, Tulo did hit the DL soon after arriving in Toronto and played through pain in the playoffs (I count this as an early win for the Rockies front office).

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It is far too early to know if the Rockies made out good on the deal, but both the Rockies and Tulo are in better situations. Tulo is now a part of a franchise that can win now and benefit greatly from his leadership and fierce competitiveness. As for the Rockies, they can stop wasting prime years of the game’s best all-around shortstop, and start getting serious about building a pitching staff we can be proud of.

We have no idea what the future holds for Tulo and Rockies. All I know is that Toronto is all-of-sudden my favorite AL team, and Rockies fans are in the midst of a changing-of-the-guard. Tulowitzki’s departure left a void, not only in the line-up, or in the field, but as the face and heart of Rockies Nation. There is little question to who is going to fill that void. Rockies fans are lucky to be able to now turn to a guy in Nolan Arenado (who is great friends with Tulo) who can almost seamlessly step into Tulo’s shoes as “The Franchise”.

Next: Two Rockies Named NL Gold Glove Finalists

My overall grade is only a reflection of Tulo’s 2015 season contributions and not comprehensive of his tenure in Colorado.

Overall Grade: A

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