Helton helps top 1st base prospect fulfill potential
For the Rockies’ first baseman of the future to realize his potential, he’s tapping into the club’s great first baseman of the past.
The partnership began in spring training this year when Michael Toglia headed to a back field at Salt River to work on the intricacies of playing first base with Todd Helton, who re-joined the club as a special assistant. In those early-morning sessions, Toglia put on Helton’s mini-glove, and the bond between Rockies past and Rockies future began where no one was watching.
“He would throw me a bunch of picks and I would train with his mini-glove, and we’d talk about the game, how we approach it,” Toglia said. “We immediately bonded over the fact that we played first base, we took a lot of pride in our defense. We established a strong connection through (those back-field sessions), and throughout the year he’s come out to Hartford and we’ve been able to build our relationship even more. We talk hitting and defense and the mental side of baseball.”
Toglia, 23, is slashing .209/.316/.421 with 15 home runs and 47 RBIS through 75 games for Double-a Hartford. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound switch-hitter is tracking to make his major league debut in the next year or two if he improves at the plate. Helton sees a potential Gold Glove talent who has “great hands” around the bag.
“He still needs to work on his lower half, getting his feet in tune with his upper body (defensively),” Helton said. “But other than that, he can really field the baseball. He works hard at it. He can use some work at the plate, but there is really nothing big he needs to work on defensively.”
Helton, Colorado’s alltime leader in doubles (592) and home runs (369), is attempting to pass on the knowledge that made him a Hall of Fame-caliber gap hitter with power — much like the hitter Toglia hopes to become.
Helton describes his role as “an evaluator and a parttime teacher,” and he travels once a month, usually spending about a week with a Colorado minor league affiliate.
“He’s helped me a lot with redefining my approach, and honing in on how to use the whole field, stay to the middle, and use that opposite field gap on a fastball that allows you to stay on offspeed a lot easier,” Toglia said. “He talks about how he did it consistently and how it could work for me and other guys.”
Both master and apprentice acknowledge there’s still room for growth as a hitter.
Toglia has a 34.3% strikeout rate this year, which has contributed to his dip in average from the Class-a levels last year. He said “there’s no doubt about my ability to get it done, it’s just learning about how to be more consistent about it.”
Helton believes “a bigger load” will help Toglia be more consistent, and develop more power, for the next level. Helton thinks Toglia should be shifting more weight onto his back leg before the pitch.
“He just has so much natural power that he doesn’t do that,” Helton said. “He’s not recognizing some pitches because he’s not getting back far enough (in his load).”
Toglia’s bat heated up over the past month as he’s acclimating to Double-a pitching, and Rockies farm director Chris Forbes noted “you can tell he feels very comfortable in going to the oppo-gap, and he’s making quicker adjustments during (at-bats and in-game).”
The Rockies are also considering expanding Toglia’s defensive versatility to include third base.
“There’s more of a corner profile that we can add, even as he’s a very solid first baseman,” Forbes said. “(Offensively) he’s recognizing pitches and he’s recognizing what the plan of attack (against him) is, so we’ve just to keep on that trend. Those conversations that he has with Todd are certainly helping in that.
“To create a dynamic where you’ve built a relationship with a potential Hall of Famer who’s a homegrown Rockie, that’s fantastic. Please do, and we’ve got other players who are doing it. Between Todd and what (former manager and current special assistant) Clint Hurdle brings to the table, there’s a lot of baseball conversations going on every day, and we’re using those two guys not only as resources but as mentors to these guys, too.”
PHOENIX — The Rockies entered a Saturday matinee against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field with designs on getting out of the NL West cellar and moving one step closer to a rare road sweep.
Diamondbacks left-hander Madison Bumgarner had other ideas.
Arizona’s ace pitched six effective innings, Josh Rojas had three RBIS, and the Diamondbacks beat Colorado 9-2, ending a twogame win streak for the Rockies that saw them take back-to-back one-run games in Phoenix.
Outfielder Kris Bryant went deep for the third time in two games with a solo shot in the first inning, but the Rockies managed just one run the rest of the game as Bumgarner (5-8) found his rhythm.
He allowed two runs on six hits and struck out five over seven innings to pass Catfish Hunter (84th) and Dan Haren (83rd) on baseball’s all-time strikeout list with 2,014.
“We just didn’t do enough offensively against their pitchers,” Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters after the game. “… We just couldn’t square enough balls up consistently throughout the game.”
The Rockies were playing without first base- man C.J. Cron and shortstop Jose Iglesias — both of whom were injured in Friday night’s 6-5 victor y. Neither is expected to go on the injured list.
A win would’ve moved Colorado one step closer to its first four-game road series sweep since Aug. 16
With a military background, her dad was also her high school principal. In other words, no one got away with much.
“I was raised that way, but I wanted my kids to be that way, too, because if you don’t have any fight in you, you don’t go anywhere,” Lisa said.
Christian hated to lose. Family card games, board games and one-on-one games — all activities seemingly immune to interpreting a winner — were up for debate, according to Lisa. Christian earned the nickname “The Lawyer,” because he wouldn’t ever concede. If he lost, he inevitably asked to run it back.
“I was young, but I was ornery, for sure,” Christian said when he was relayed a story about smashing Missouri ornaments from the family Christmas tree, leaving only Jayhawk decorations to dangle.
“I was just a competitive kid. Loved sports from the beginning. Whatever sport it was. It didn’t matter, football, baseball, basketball.”
Lisa admitted she was tough on Christian, perhaps, at times, too tough. On one occasion, she kicked him out of the gym for acting up. After a bad game, according to Christian, it wasn’t rare to “hear it the whole ride home.”
But the tough love had benefits. Christian knew it came from a good place and understood his mother was trying to instill a work ethic in him. After all, Lisa said she harbored resentment looking back at her high school basketball days because her coach was akin
COL 000 000 — 2 7 0 ARI 001 23x — 9 12 0 Colorado AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Joe 1b 3 1 1 0 1 0 .268 Bryant dh 4 1 1 1 0 1 .299 Blackmon rf 4 0 1 1 0 0 .262 Rodgers 2b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .258 Grichuk cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .244 Daza lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .303 Díaz c 3 0 0 0 1 1 .208 Montero 3b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .176 Hampson ss 4 0 1 0 0 2 .226
Totals 34 2 7 2 2 9 Arizona AB R H BI BB SO C.kelly c 5 1 2 0 0 1
Rojas 3b 5 1 3 3 0 0 Marte dh 3 1 0 0 2 1 Walker 1b 3 0 0 1 0 2 Luplow rf-lf 4 1 2 2 0 1 Kennedy 2b 4 1 2 0 0 0 Alcántara 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 Hummel lf 3 0 0 1 0 0 Varsho rf 0 1 0 0 1 0 Thomas cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 Perdomo ss 3 2 2 2 1 0
Totals 34 912 9 4 6
LOB — Colorado 7, Arizona 6. 2B — Joe (14), Hampson (3), Montero (2), C.kelly (5), Rojas 2 (13). HR — Bryant (4), off Bumgarner; Luplow (11), off Freeland. RBIS — Bryant (10), Blackmon (46), Walker (43), Luplow 2 (23), Hummel (11), Rojas 3 (26), Perdomo 2 (17). CS — Perdomo (2). SF — Walker.
Runners left in scoring position — Colorado 3 (Hampson 2, Blackmon); Arizona 5 (Thomas 2, Marte 2, Walker). RISP — Colorado 1 for 6; Arizona 6 for 12.
Runners moved up — Bryant, Hummel.
Colorado IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Freeland 7 6 6 2 3 99 4.70 Estévez 1 0 0 1 1 13 4.82 Chacín 1 4 3 3 1 2 40 7.32
Arizona IPHRERBBSO NP ERA Bumgarner 7 6 2 2 0 5 107 3.65 Ramirez 1 0 0 0 1 2 27 4.95 Smith 1 1 0 0 1 2 20 4.65
W — Bumgarner (5-8). L — Freeland (4-7).
Inherited runners-scored — Estévez 2-2.
WP — Chacín.
Umpires — Home, Bruce Dreckman; First, Paul Emmel; Second, Pat Hoberg; Third, Brock Ballou.
T — 3:03. A— 21,819 (48,686). 101 300
Avg. .171 .284 .265 .211 .178 .224 .163 .172 .238 .246 .208
19, 2018, at Atlanta.
Colorado hasn’t swept a road series longer than two games since Aug. 24-26, 2020, at Arizona. Instead, the Rockies will go for their fourth series win away from Coors Field this season (out of 13 total) on Sunday. to a co-ed gym teacher and may have just been punching a clock.
“I felt like nobody invested in me,” said Lisa, prior to arriving at Missouri and playing under legendary women’s coach Joann Rutherford. “So whenever I had my kids, I went all-in.”
The running joke once Christian fixated on Kansas?
“I always told Coach (Bill) Self, when he recruited me, there was nothing he could say that could throw me off because I’ve heard it from my mom,” Christian said.
At Kansas, Braun was adored for his passion. To the untrained eye, his boisterous barking could come off as arrogant, but both he and his mom bristle at that description.
Heading into a Dec. 11 showdown against Missouri this past season, where his mother, brother, aunt, and uncle all played, Braun told his family he wouldn’t start talking trash until the Jayhawks had a 10point lead. But when Braun
COL 121 100 — 6
ARI 100 001 — 5 Colorado AB R H BI BB SO Blackmon dh 5 0 0 0 0 4 Bryant lf 4 2 3 2 1 0 Rodgers 2b 4 1 1 1 1 1
Cron 1b 2 0 1 1 0 0
1-Joe pr-1b 1 0 0 0 1 0 Mcmahon 3b 4 0 0 1 0 2 Iglesias ss 3 1 2 0 0 0 Hampson ss 1 0 0 0 0 1 Grichuk rf 4 0 0 0 0 1
Daza cf 3 1 1 1 1 0 Serven c 4 1 1 0 0 0
Totals 35 6 9 6 4 9 Arizona AB R H BI BB SO
Rojas 3b 3 1 2 3 1 0 Thomas cf 3 0 1 0 0 0 b-marte ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 Luplow rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 Peralta lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 Walker 1b 2 0 1 0 2 0 Varsho rf-cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 Hummel dh 4 0 0 0 0 2 Perdomo ss 3 3 2 0 1 1 Alcántara 2b 4 1 1 2 0 1 Herrera c 1 0 0 0 1 0 a-c.kelly ph-c 2 0 1 0 0 1 2-Kennedy pr 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 32 5 9 5 5 8
a-struck out for Herrera in the 7th. b-singled for Thomas in the 7th.
1-ran for Cron in the 5th. 2-ran for C.kelly in the 9th.
E— Serven (4). LOB — Colorado 7, Arizona 6. 2B — Cron (19), Serven (2), Iglesias (18), Bryant (7), Rojas (11). HR — Bryant (2), off Gallen; Bryant (3), off Nelson; Rojas (5), off Kuhl; Alcántara (2), off Kuhl. RBIS — Bryant 2 (9), Mcmahon (40), Rodgers (42), Cron (66), Daza (18), Rojas 3 (23), Alcántara 2 (12). SB — Rojas (7). CS — Thomas (1), Iglesias (3). S — Rojas.
Runners left in scoring position — Colorado 4 (Mcmahon 2, Joe, Iglesias); Arizona 3 (Thomas 2, Luplow). RISP — Colorado 0 for 8; Arizona 2 for 9.
Runners moved up — Mcmahon, Grichuk, Alcántara. GIDP — Serven, Peralta, Varsho.
DP — Colorado 2 (Rodgers, Hampson, Joe; Hampson, Rodgers, Joe); Arizona 2 (Herrera, Perdomo, Herrera; Perdomo, Alcántara, Walker).
Colorado IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Kuhl 5 6 4 4 3 4 87 4.02 Stephenson 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 6.08 Gilbreath 1 1 0 0 1 1 13 3.55 Bird 1 0 0 0 1 1 12 1.69 Colomé 1 2 1 1 0 1 23 2.81
Arizona IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Gallen 5 6 4 4 3 7 86 3.62 Poppen 1 1 1 0 0 12 3.91 Nelson 1 1 1 1 1 0 21 2.00 Middleton 1L 0 0 0 0 1 19 2.45 Weaver 1 1 0 0 0 1 19 10.32
W — Kuhl (6-5). L — Poppen (1-2.
S — Colomé (4-5).
Inherited runners-scored — Nelson 1-0, Middleton 1-0. HBP — Gallen (Cron). WP — Kuhl, Colomé.
Umpires — Home, Brock Ballou; First, Bruce Dreckman; Second, Paul Emmel; Third, Pat Hoberg.
T — 3:28. A— 15,524 (48,686). 100 120 9 1 9 0 Avg. .262 .301 .258 .295 .268 .238 .297 .225 .248 .304 .284
Avg. .275 .246 .268 .168 .245 .213 .238 .176 .202 .163 .209 .161 .204