Tulo’s dream job:
Fivetime All-Star Troy Tulowitzki is running with the chance to play shortstop for the Yankees.
TAMPA, Fla. – Troy Tulowitzki doesn’t have to wonder if Manny Machado might walk into the home clubhouse here. So that’s one hurdle cleared. Remaining obstacles concern his heels, his ability to handle shortstop regularly again and exactly what happens when Didi Gregorius is ready to reclaim his position.
“The question now, for him, is the ability to bounce back,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “Can he endure the rigors of being a regular?”
A few locker rows down, Gregorius remains optimistic about his recovery from Tommy John surgery, anticipating the earliest comeback scenario, one that has him back by June.
“Didi’s a great player; I like watching him from the other side. He’s come a long way since I was playing against him in Arizona,” Tulowitzki said. “I hope he has a quick recovery.
“For myself, I have a job in front of me and I want to do it to the best of my ability.”
After the sudden October announcement that Gregorius required surgery, the Yankees appeared to be even stronger candidates to land Machado in free agency.
By mid-December, Tulowitzki — with two years and $38 million remaining on his contract — was released by the Toronto Blue Jays. A month later, the Yankees signed him to the league minimum, betting on a 34-year-old former star who missed the 2018 season.
“I love being on the field, so taking a full year off was tough for me,” said Tulowitzki, who had surgery on both heels. “But I think it’s built some character, some toughness. And it makes you appreciate it that much more, being out there.”
Tulowitzki even insisted on a no-trade clause, ignoring the persistent vibe that Machado might yet find his way to the
Bronx.
“Once I signed here, I was committed, no matter what happened. I signed up to be a Yankee,” Tulowitzki said, one day after Machado agreed to a $300 million deal with the San Diego Padres.
“I knew what was in front of me, I knew what could happen, but I’ve always believed in my abilities,” Tulowitzki said. “It’s a different challenge for me, but I’m ready for it.”
Before the heel surgeries, Tulowitzki’s 2017 season was interrupted by hamstring and groin issues, and it ended with a right ankle injury on July 28. That’s the last big-league game in which he has played.
“We’ll ease him in, a few innings, a couple at-bats, then a few days off,” Boone said.
But on a humid, 85-degree day, Tulowitzki was blasting baseballs around Steinbrenner Field; a batting practice that evoked flashes of his prime — a .912 OPS from 2009 to 2015, with five All-Star appearances. And then in his first spring atbat, he homered against the Blue Jays.
Yet trying to gauge the production of a healthy Tulowitzki in 2019 seems a frivolous exercise right now.
“I just want to play in some spring training games,” Tulowitzki said. “Gain confidence.”
By wearing No. 12, Tulowitzki at least has part of the number (2) he wore in Colorado, a nod to his idol, Derek Jeter.
Tulowitzki had opportunities to sign elsewhere this offseason, probably with more guarantees about playing time, but “I’ve always been about winning,” said the right-handed hitter, whose only World Series came at age 22, when his Colorado Rockies were swept by the Boston Red Sox in 2007.
Spending last summer off the field, “I watched a lot of baseball. I saw a lot of this (Yankees) team,” Tulowitzki said. “And I want to help them finish it all with a championship.”