Two Stories: Some Say Tulowitzki the Next Crosby, Some Say He's Better
by Jack Etkin, Rocky Mountain News
June 19, 2006 Scanning the box scores is a daily ritual for Troy Tulowitzki. He knows who's doing what in the big leagues, particularly the shortstops. Tulowitzki plays that position for Double-A Tulsa, so he's simply paying close attention to what he hopes will soon be a peer group.
Not surprisingly, Tulowitzki pauses a little longer over the Oakland box score to digest the doings of Athletics shortstop Bobby Crosby. They are friends, bound by comparisons, none particularly new.
Crosby and Tulowitzki are big for their position but very adept defensively. They are run-producing middle infielders. They are Californians drafted in the first round out of Long Beach State. The Oakland Athletics took Crosby 25th overall in 2001 and gave him a $1.35 million signing bonus. Tulowitzki received a $2.3 million bonus from the Colorado Rockies, who selected him seventh in the 2005 draft.
Beyond these facts is the more subtle common ground of trying too hard around the major leaguers. For Crosby, that occurred in September 2003, when the A's brought him to the
big leagues after he just had completed a robust season at Triple-A Sacramento.
"When I first saw him, I didn't know if he was going to be able to handle it," A's third baseman Eric Chavez said. "Everything was quick and out of control, in the field and at the plate. I really, honestly didn't think he was ready."
Miguel Tejada was then the A's shortstop but a free agent after that season and a good bet to leave. Crosby was his heir apparent. He played 11 major league games that September and went hitless in 12 at-bats with five strikeouts.
"Right when you get called up, some people can come up and handle it well and be like, 'It's no problem,' " said Crosby, who blossomed in 2004 and was the American League Rookie of the Year. "But for me, it was like everything was going a million miles an hour."
Fast forward to spring training this year. Tulowitzki briefly was in camp with the Rockies. Somewhat in disbelief, Rockies executives watched Tulowitzki swing at pitches up at his eyes in limited Cactus League action. Two things were obvious. First, he wasn't going to be cheated at the plate. Second, gaining a better knowledge of the strike zone and doing less to help the pitcher were going to be offensive priorities at Tulsa.
"If they threw a paper airplane out of the stands, he would've swung at that, too," Rockies assistant general manager Bill Geivett said.
Some of that was to be expected, given Tulowitzki's limited professional experience, sky-high profile and aggressive approach to hitting.
"Going into spring training, I was a little anxious and tried to show the big league club that I was worthy of that seventh pick and the money I got, when I should have just relaxed and kind of just played my own game," Tulowitzki said.
"But I think since the season started, I've been doing that and have been much more selective and even taking some walks here and there. So I think it's all coming together."
Geivett was just in Tulsa, along with special assistant Walt Weiss, a former shortstop. Both said Tulo- witzki's progress was notable. The best view of that belongs to Tulsa manager Stu Cole, who also was the manager last season at Single-A Modesto, where a quadriceps injury limited Tulowitzki to 22 games and 94 at-bats.
"He has calmed down a great deal, and he's not up there just hacking right now," Cole said. "Before, they would get two strikes on him and throw him a fastball up in the zone, and it was an automatic swing and he would strike out. But he's gotten a lot better.
"He's got a ways to go, but not a long way. He's made great strides and he's gotten to the point now where he understands that he can't go up there and just be swinging. And he's learning how to take what the pitcher gives him."
Not that being overaggressive is the worst thing for a young player. Weiss said it's a way to learn your swing, to control the barrel of the bat and even to square up balls outside the strike zone.
"The old saying, I think, applies here," Weiss said. "I'd rather have to pull on the reins than crack the whip."
Rockies roving hitting coordinator Jim Johnson said it's hard to make hitters more aggressive and have them step in the batter's box with the edgy attitude that, "This first pitch that comes over the plate, I'm going to whack it if it's in my zone."
With Tulowitzki, it's all about correctly defining that strike zone. Johnson said he and Tulowitzki have had discussions pertaining to some of the mental aspects of hitting, but Johnson has not changed a thing with Tulowitzki's approach.
"I look at (Gary) Sheffield and Manny Ramirez and all the guys that have great torque in the lower half," Johnson said. "Hip velocity creates hand velocity. And (Tulo- witzki) has the lower- half rotation that is unbelievable."
"Tulowitzki's got a major league stroke right now," Johnson said. "He doesn't have a big ego to the point he turns you off. But he's got a hitter's arrogance and a ballplayer's arrogance. He knows he can play, and he wants to get better. He wants to know how to get better. He asks all the right questions."
Fast tracks
Crosby, 26, grew up in a baseball family. His father, Ed, was an infielder who played 297 games in the majors from 1970-1976, and later was a scout.
"My dad never put pressure on me to play baseball or succeed in baseball," Crosby said.
"It was something I chose to do, and he was the first one to help me out and give me advice if I wanted it. I think the reason I still love it is, I was never forced to play baseball."
After beginning his professional career, Crosby would return to Long Beach State in the offseason to work out. That's how he met Tulowitzki in fall 2002. Crosby just had split that year between Modesto and Double-A Midland.
"Going into Long Beach, I don't think they expected me to be the next Bobby Crosby, because I had to win the starting shortstop (job) from a senior," Tulowitzki, 21, said. "They also brought in two other young guys who were shortstops, too."
Long Beach State coach Mike Weathers recalls it took Tulowitzki about a month as a freshman to become a full-time shortstop, ushering in the Crosby comparisons.
Crosby is 6-foot-3 and about 215 pounds. Tulowitzki is listed at the same height and 10 pounds lighter. Nonetheless, Tulowitzki's size gave Weiss initial misgivings when he saw him at Coors Field working out soon after signing.
"My first impression was a shortstop who's going to move to third, because I heard he had some pop in his bat, and I saw the size of him," Weiss said. "Then I saw him take groundballs, and it was pretty impressive for a guy that size to move like a true shortstop. You don't see that."
Tulowitzki's extremely strong arm - it's another similarity he has with Crosby - enables him to sit back on some routine groundballs and still throw out the runner.
"When it's a true charge play, he comes and gets it hard, and he charges the ball well," Weiss said.
Weiss said middle infielders in professional baseball typically have good hands. The feet are what separates those who continue to play the middle infield at a high level.
The game speeds up in the major leagues, where, for one thing, there are more speedy runners sprinkled throughout a typical lineup. Ultimately, Weiss said, this will force Tulowitzki to change.
"On routine balls, where you'd like to see someone take a positive move to the ball, his feet are moving, but he doesn't really cover any ground," Weiss said. "He plays what I call laterally a lot, because his arm strength is very, very good.
"It's not like there's an overhaul (needed) here or anything. These are little tweaks that put the finishing touches on your game."
Strong guidance
Tulowitzki is from Sunnyvale, Calif., in suburban San Jose. In 2004, when Crosby was on his way to winning Rookie of the Year, he invited Tulowitzki to watch a couple of games in Oakland and visit the A's clubhouse.
By then, Tulowitzki was entrenched as Crosby's successor at Long Beach State, and they had bonded as friends, training together in the offseason.
"I think it was much easier for Troy because of who Bobby is," Weathers said. "He is here a lot in the offseason. He took to Troy right away. . . . He was very helpful in probably taking some of the pressure off (Troy) not to (try and) live up to Bobby's time here and not to (try and) live up to what everybody wants. He was somebody for Troy to bounce stuff off of, and Bobby was very receptive to doing that."
Bobby's agent, Paul Cohen, became Troy's agent. Cohen has been an agent for 17 years. He said that, compared to a typical elite college player, whose professional ride begins with a gilded start after the serendipity of the draft, Crosby and Tulowitzki are more grounded.
In Crosby's case, Cohen said, that was largely due to knowledge handed down from his father, who had played and scouted.
"Bobby had a vision and understanding of what the business was and a dream of where he'd like to end up one day," Cohen said.
With Tulowitzki, who also was an outstanding basketball player in high school, Cohen said the grounding forces were more intricate. There was Tulowitzki's father, Ken, who Cohen said "kept him on the straight and narrow," and in college, there was the guidance of Crosby. And there was something else.
"I think the nature of (Tulowitzki's) personality," Cohen said, "is to look inward instead of, 'It's me, me, me,' and making sure everyone knows what he's doing. I think he's always looking inward, saying, 'What can I do better?' "
Getting close
Rib and ankle injuries put Crosby on the disabled list twice last year, when he hit .276 with nine homers and 38 RBI in 84 games. This season, Crosby has missed time because of three minor injuries but has avoided the disabled list.
He primarily has batted third or fifth this year and in 60 games is batting .254 with eight homers and 29 RBI.
About once a week and particularly when the A's are on the road, Crosby said he will check the Tulsa statistics to see how Tulowitzki is faring.
"I pull for him," Crosby said. "I'm one of his biggest fans. I love reading stuff written about him, and when they compare him to me, that's a compliment to me, because I know he's going to be a great one."
Tulowitzki is in a 9-for-50 slide that has dropped him to .274 with nine homers and 35 RBI in 62 games. He has batted first to get him more at-bats, hastening his development and assuring that at least once a game, he starts an inning so he can focus on being selective at the plate to begin a rally.
"To me, he's really just plate discipline away from being a major league hitter," Geivett said. "He's got all the tools and earmarking of a very good major league hitter."
A victory Sunday on the final day of the first half enabled Tulsa to win the North Division of the Texas League. A few Drillers can expect promotions soon. It will be no surprise if Tulowitzki is one of the Tulsa players eventually moved up to Triple-A Colorado Springs, putting him a step from the big leagues.
"I think you have to put that in the back of your mind because you have to be ready if it comes," Tulowitzki said. "So I'm preparing myself already and want it to happen. But the organization will make the best decision, and all I can do every day is play every day and try to prove what I can do." |
