Colorado Rockies: A Mile High history of shortstops from Weiss to Story

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DENVER – JULY 18: Shortstop Juan Uribe #4 of the Colorado Rockies watches the flight of the ball during the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 18, 2002 at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Rockies won 6-4. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /

Moving in the right direction

The early-to-mid 2000s saw the Rockies platoon many players at the position. Between 2002-06, there were eight different options the franchise deployed. Some of the more well known early options included Juan Uribe and Tony Womack between 2001-03, Royce Clayton in 2004, Omar Quintanilla from 2005-10, Jonathan Herrera from 2006-13, and finally homegrown hero Troy Tulowitzki from 2006-15.

Uribe’s first three years in the league consisted of shortstop. Uribe finished with a career .258/.298/.408 slash line with Colorado, and because the team was so bad during that time, Uribe shifted to one of the better-known faces of the franchise despite lackluster production. Womack was terrific in the late nineties but was downright dreadful for Colorado. He played just 21 games for the Rockies, batting just .190 before the team shipped him to the Cubs.

Clayton played a full season for the Rockies, slashed .279/.338/.397, registering double-digit stolen bases. Despite below-average production, Clayton still posted a 1.2 WAR. After one season, the club released him and Clayton signed in Arizona.

Quintanilla and Herrera never amounted to anything but platoon options, however, managed to produce somehow enough to stick around. Herrera would not find solid production until his final year in purple, slashing .292/.336/.364 with a respectable 11.2% strikeout rate. One of the crowning moments of Herrera’s career came when he took then Arizona Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin deep for a solo home run.

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