|
Tulowitzki's Time at Hand
by Jack Etkin, Rocky Mountain News
February 14, 2007
Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was at Coors Field extensively last month,
working out for the second consecutive January. Same setting. Entirely
different circumstances.
Last year, when he was among a handful of players recovering from
injuries who were invited to the stadium, Tulowitzki was eyeing the
start of the 2005 season, his first full one as a professional, with
Double-A Tulsa (Okla.).
This year, he fielded dying- to-know questions from other participants
in the Rockies winter development program, questions that astonished
him.
"It's awesome," Tulowitzki, 22, said. "Some of the young
guys, they're
pretty much the same age as me, they're coming up to me, asking me
questions (about) how to improve their game to get to the big leagues.
'How is it up there?' And that's awesome to be able to tell someone
you've experienced that."
To be sure, Tulowitzki's experience in that rare air is somewhat
limited. In addition to Coors Field, he has played at Arizona, San
Francisco, San Diego, Chicago and Los Angeles, so he has yet to take
groundballs in 10 National League ballparks.
That soon could change. Tulowitzki finished last season as the Rockies
shortstop. He replaced Clint Barmes, the victim of a prolonged slump.
In spring training, a determined Barmes, confident he has found an
offensive approach that will breed success, will compete with
Tulowitzki for the shortstop job.
Tulowitzki, the seventh pick in the 2005 draft out of Long Beach
State, reached the majors after 126 games and 517 at-bats in the
minors. Most were with Tulsa last year, where he batted leadoff to
increase his number of at-bats and to improve his plate discipline.
He joined the Rockies, made his major league debut Aug. 30, and
started 23 of the team's final 31 games. Sandwiched around a 1-for- 13
start and 2-for-22 finish was a stretch in which he went 20-for- 61.
He finished with a .240 average, one home run and six RBI and added to
a season that already seemingly was endless by playing 23 games in the
Arizona Fall League for upper-level prospects.
"Going in that fall league, I was real tired, not as strong as I
normally was, either," Tulowitzki said. "Didn't have much power,
but I
was grinding it out. That was what the organization told me was
important, was to get more at-bats. I got my at-bats against some good
competition, and I think it's going to help me a lot this year."
Tulowitzki finished the fall league with 79 at-bats, hitting .329 with
one home run and 10 RBI. With an equal number of walks and strikeouts
(11), he ended with a .398 on-base percentage and was chosen by
Baseball America as the best prospect in the fall league.
"He sprays lines drives to all fields with above-average bat speed
and
has enough raw power to hit 20-25 homers annually," Baseball America
wrote. "A premier defender at short, Tulowitzki has the range, hands
and plus arm strength to lock up the position long term."
Not surprisingly, Baseball America recently rated Tulowitzki the top
prospect in the Rockies organization. He batted seventh in more than
half his starts last year and likely will be protected toward the
bottom of the order this season if he is the regular shortstop. But,
ultimately, the Rockies envision Tulowitzki as a middle-of-the- lineup
run producer.
Competing during spring training with Barmes and getting established
in the majors are priorities for Tulowitzki.
He's in the vanguard of what the Rockies see as their second wave of
prospects, basically the group that began last season with Tulsa. It's
the job of management to envision the future composition of the
Rockies, and Tulowitzki's responsibility is to play. That said, he can
appreciate the front office's emphasis on developing homegrown players
and the potential payoff from that strategy.
"I think we have some awesome young players that can make for
something special," Tulowitzki said. "And that's what is great
about
being in the Rockies organization. They gave us young guys an
opportunity to come up here and prove ourselves. And I think we're
headed in the right direction, and it's starting to work."
|
