The reasons why Troy Tulowitzki is such a special player

Flair for the Dramatic

Troy Tulowitzki has a flair for the dramatic. When it comes down to the wire, he is always coming up with a big hit, as he has shown us over the course of the past two seasons in postseason action. Even when Tulowitzki is struggling, he is always one of those guys you want at the plate with the game on the line.

In the 2015 playoffs, he had two of the biggest hits for the Toronto Blue Jays.  In a win or go home game 3 of the ALDS, Troy Tulowitzki came up with two men on base and hit a three-run home run over the left field fence for one of the bigger moments in Blue Jays postseason history. Tulowitzki also came through with a huge three-run home run off Johnny Cueto in a huge game three of the ALCS win. In the 2016 playoffs, Tulowitzki had a few more huge hits of his own, including a three-run triple that really got the Blue Jays going to start off the ALDS.

Troy Tulowitzki hits a huge 3 three run home run in game 3 of the 2015 ALDS

Troy Tulowitzki hits a base clearing triple in game 1 of the 2016 ALDS

With all this postseason success, Tulowitzki is tied for third with Jose Bautista on the Blue Jays all-time leaderboard for playoff RBI’s, just behind Blue Jays postseason heroes, Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter. Troy Tulowitzki has a knack for coming up with a big hit when most needed.

Professionalism

Troy Tulowitzki has a calm, cool and collective way of handling himself on the baseball diamond. He brings a Cal Ripken Jr, Derek Jeter type style that we don’t often see much of anymore in today’s game. In this day and age, we see a lot of emotion on the baseball field. Tulowitzki himself loves to show his emotion every once in a while, but even when he does, it is in a professional manner and is used to energize his teammates. When Tulowitzki is making a spinning play deep in the hole or running to his right to make a terrific throw on the run, you will always see him run back to his position or back to the dugout (depending on the situation) in a way that shows people watching, “you should expect me to make this play every time.”

Troy Tulowitzki makes a great spinning play

He plays the game in such a polished way, which rubs off on his teammates, that kids watching the game learn from his example, which parents can point to as the right way to play. Tulowitzki’s professionalism on the baseball diamond is a huge asset to his everyday game that is often times overlooked.

Clubhouse presence

Tulowitzki has made a huge impact in the clubhouse and is always going the extra mile to help out his teammates. In one of the best interviews I have personally watched on the first Thursday of spring training, Tulowitzki spoke to the media and he went in-depth about his willingness to sit down and chat with any of his teammates, whenever they have a question for the 32-year-old infielder. Tulowitzki also talked about how he will often be found working early with second baseman Devon Travis. Tulowitzki spent the interview also talking about other players improvements, and a lot of his teammate’s improvements come from Tulowitzki’s presence. 

Troy Tulowitzki chatting with Josh Donaldson 

Not everyone believes in intangibles like being a good teammate having much of an impact on a team’s success, but I personally do. The Blue Jays have made the postseason two years in a row and a huge part of that is the defensive improvements of Travis and Josh Donaldson. Tulowitzki, a five-time all-star, is often found sitting on the top step of the dugout, learning and paying close attention to everything happening on the baseball diamond, so he can help not only himself, but everyone around him.

Supportive Teammate

Troy Tulowitzki is always supporting his teammates. Whenever there is a disagreement on the baseball field, Tulowitzki is frequently the first player to stand up for his teammates. We have seen this occurrence time and time again, most recently against the Tampa Bay Rays, after the final out of a game back in September of 2016. Steven Souza Jr and Russell Martin had a disagreement, and Tulowitzki immediately came to the veteran backstop’s defence.

Benches clear at the Rogers Centre 

Tulowitzki is the type of player/person who is always about supporting and backing his team first.  He is also the first player the congratulate a teammate on a job well done on the baseball field or talk to them about what they can do differently next time.  In the video shown below, Tulowitzki is the first player there to back up catcher Russell Martin, and knowing a player has your back is a huge key to success on the baseball field. There are not many better teammates than Tulowitzki, and his intangibles are a huge reason why.

Two-Way Player 

Troy Tulowitzki is a terrific two-way player at one of the most demanding positions in baseball, the position of shortstop. “Tulo” is a very productive offensive shortstop, who is one of the best power hitters at his position in all of baseball. He is also as solid as it gets on the defensive side of the game. Last June, Gibbons raved about Tulowitzki’s defence saying “If you eliminate anything he did with his bat, just on what he did defensively for us last year, he was worth it.” That just goes to show you, just alone what his defence has meant to the Toronto Blue Jays in his short time playing in the city. 

Tulowitzki hits a three-run home run off of Johnny Cueto

Troy Tulowitzki 2016 Defensive Highlights

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Tulowitzki is still a very productive offensive player, although he may not be the .300/.370/.520 hitter, he was in Colorado. He is still a huge middle of the order bat that any team would be lucky to have. Last year, Tulowitzki had a slash line of .254/.318/.443 and hit 24 home runs while driving in 79 runs in just 131 games played. Troy Tulowitzki is a terrific all around shortstop, and there is a lot more in the tank for him to put up even better offensive numbers in the 2017 baseball season.