Tulo making Blue Jays’ nest feel like home
‘Difficult transition’ is over, new-found comfort evident
DUNEDIN, FLA.— For one of baseball’s most accomplished stars, Troy Tulowitzki goes about his business in decidedly understated fashion.
The five-time all-star can dazzle with his play on the field, but he is anything but flashy. The fact he owns the highest fielding percentage of any shortstop in baseball history reflects a devotion to clear-eyed efficiency more than anything else.
That’s what makes his budding bond with Josh Donaldson so compelling. Donaldson is loud and gregarious, entirely unsubtle. He swings ferociously and his defensive play at third borders on reckless. Tulowitzki, meanwhile, is often a picture of refined order. Together, they give the Blue Jays arguably the best left side of an infield in the game today.
“We have probably more similarities than we do differences,” Donaldson said of what was suggested to be an unlikely kinship. “Our demeanour is a little bit different, our swag is a little bit different, but at the same time, he’s a competitor.”
That’s where Tulowitzki’s and Donaldson’s personalities align. When the game begins, they share a steely focus and relentlessly competitive nature.
“He wants to win and he wants to be the best,” Donaldson said. “That’s what makes him who he is.”
Tulowitzki, 31, has admitted that last year was an uncomfortable one for him. It took him a while to acclimatize after a stunning trade from Colorado.
“The guys were more than great to me,” he told the Star. “It was just, obviously, a difficult transition at times. But there wasn’t a time when I was like, ‘I don’t belong here.’ It wasn’t like that at all. It was just, you know, difficult.”
But after spending a full spring training with the Jays, he says he already feels more at home. That comfort seems to have translated to the field. While spring-training stats should be taken with a grain of salt, he has been among the team’s most productive hitters in exhibition play.
“He seems more comfortable, more open,” agreed Jose Bautista, the Jays’ right fielder. “He looks like he’s enjoying himself and having a lot more fun. It’s showing on the field and in his demeanour every day.”
Bautista said it wasn’t as if Tulowitzki was brooding or unhappy last year. “He’s a professional. He’s always going to be trying his best and doing what he can do on the field for us. But I can’t help but to notice that he’s enjoying himself more, which is always good.”
Tulowitzki, who is owed $20 million (U.S.) in each of the next four seasons and another $14 million in 2020 as part of the 10-year contract he signed with Colorado in 2010, has arguably been the best all-around shortstop in baseball since his rookie season in 2007.
He dramatically improved the Jays’ infield defence upon his arrival — replacing Jose Reyes, whose deteriorating play in the field had become untenable — and he enjoyed a handful of big moments at the plate in the post-season. But overall, he underperformed offensively after the trade compared to his career norms. If he returns to form this season he would make what was already the best offence in baseball even more dominant. But when it’s suggested to Tulowitzki that Jays’ fans have yet to see what he’s capable of, he shrugs.
“All I was worried about was winning games and going out there and playing hard every day. I feel like I did that last year.”
“He wants to win and he wants to be the best. That’s what makes him who he is.” JOSH DONALDSON ON TEAMMATE TROY TULOWITZKI