JABO: Troy Tulowitzki Is More Aggressive, Less Productive
Troy Tulowitzki has been in the news lately because of his desire to be traded away from Colorado (and then his desire not to be), but less publicized is the fact that he’s also in the midst of one of the least productive offensive stretches of his career. His above average walk/low strikeout plate approach has done a 180 this year, with the Rockies shortstop currently posting a career-low walk rate and career-high strikeout rate. With the trade rumors continuing to swirl, we have to wonder: what’s going on with Tulo?
Since first being promoted to the major leagues in 2006, Tulowitzki has shown one of the best all-around toolsets at the shortstop position: he’s hit for power, he’s walked at an above average rate, and he’s limited his strikeouts. Those abilities, combined with great defense, have made him one of the best players in baseball when healthy. Following another season that hinted at what could be if he was able to stay on the field, his numbers have been less than stellar in 2015. In addition to a conspicuous lack of home run power, other parts of his game have fallen off. To start with, let’s take a look at his career walk and strikeout rates compared to league average, updated with this season’s numbers:
As we can see, a slight uptick in strikeout rate might not be terribly worrisome, given the fact that we only have just over a month and a half of the season under our belt. However, the almost total cratering of Tulowitzki’s walk rate is concerning: after a career built on walking at an above average clip, he now has the 7th-lowest walk rate in the majors among qualified hitters. It’s unusual to see such a drastic decrease in walk rate among an established player, and it requires some attention.
Owen Watson writes for FanGraphs and The Hardball Times. Follow him on Twitter @ohwatson.
I can’t really begrudge the guy for wanting to take the bat off his shoulder and make something happen, OBP be damned.
That might be true if he was actually making something happen when he swung…
Well ‘Adam Jones’ Tulo isn’t working.
He just doesn’t look right at all, have to wonder if he’s still not fully healthy and comfortable after last years injury. Why otherwise would his approach change so suddenly? It’s ridiculous.
maybe he really needs that extra 1 minute between pitches outside of the batters box to really think it through.
Any team willing to trade anything for Tulo is crazy. He’s making $20 million a year, on the wrong side of 30, and given his decline phase and health is just as likely to produce 1 WAR as he is to produce 4 or 5. At what point does his WAR just completely fall off a cliff, despite bouts of productivity, if it hasn’t already? Sounds a lot like Vernon Wells or Albert Pujols to me. No thank you.
Add Josh Hamilton to the mix as well for the Holy Triumvirate of Bad 30 Years Old+ Angels Acquistions.
The Tulo Tankjob
Lest we not forget that Tulo figured to be one of the most affected by the new pace rules.
Perhaps an update to Sullivan’s Tulo/pace article is in order?
Straight from that article:
If this habit took time to grow into, how much time are we allotting him to grow out of it?
I’ll buy your share, if you’re looking to cut bait while he figures this out.
In that same article Jeff also notices how his time between pitches didn’t really change, only thing different is now he keeps one foot in the box. Can’t help but think a major league hitter shouldn’t be affected by not walking around for 30 seconds between pitches.
Interesting you go the whole article without mentioning that he’s coming off serious hip surgery
That’s true, but hip surgery doesn’t affect his eye sight or ability to leave the bat on his shoulder. If he feels that his hips are sapping his power, he should be even more willing to take pitches and walk if he feels he can’t hit the ball with authority.
I guess we know what side of the Brandon Phillips/Joey Votto production argument Tulo’s on! herpderp…