Troy Tulowitzki
2006–2019 · SS

Troy Tulowitzki

6' 3", 205 lbs·Lived to 42·Bats R / Throws R
2×Gold Glove2×Silver SluggerThis Year in Baseball ROYAll-Star
The Almanac's Take

Tulowitzki's 2014 season stands as one of the most dominant shortstop campaigns in recent memory — a .340 average with an OPS+ of 148 that would have been even more spectacular if he hadn't been limited to just 91 games. That injury-shortened brilliance tells the story of his entire career.

When healthy, Tulo was everything you want in a shortstop: elite defense (two Gold Gloves), legitimate power (225 career homers), and clutch hitting (.290 career average). His OPS+ of 114 over 14 seasons places him among the better offensive shortstops of his era.

The cruel irony is that his peak coincided with Colorado's pitcher-friendly humidor era, yet he still managed to be 48% better than league average in 2014. Injuries robbed fans of seeing what a fully healthy Tulowitzki decade might have looked like — but the glimpses were magnificent.

Career Highs
1.035
Best OPS · 2014
32
Most HR · 2009
105
Most RBI · 2011
.340
Best AVG · 2014
Career Arc · OPS
13 seasons
Statistical Comps

Career · Batting

13 seasons
YearTeamGABHRRBIAVGOPSOPS+
2006COL259616.240.60979
2007COL1556092499.291.838110
2008COL101377846.263.73298
2009COL1515433292.297.930124
2010COL1224702795.315.949130
2011COL14353730105.302.916127
2012COL47181827.287.846117
2013COL1264462582.312.931130
2014COL913152152.3401.035148
2015COL1284861770.280.777108
2016TOR1314922479.254.761103
2017TOR66241726.249.67890
2019NYY51111.182.853113
Career12914804225780.290
Barrel Surface

Every ball this hitter has put in play — how hard it left the bat, and at what angle. The red field behind the dots shows how much damage that kind of contact does, league-wide: the darker the red, the better things go for the hitter.

966 BBE · 2015–2019 · 89.3 mph avg EV · 7.0% barrels
406080100-60-3030600EXIT VELOCITY (MPH)LAUNCH ANGLE (°)BARRELZONE
LEAGUE xwOBA0.02.0
BATTED BALLS11025+

The field — league-average xwOBA (what a batted ball is typically worth: 0.0 is a sure out, ~2.0 a sure home run) for every exit-velocity × launch-angle combination, measured from 1.3 million regular-season balls in play since 2015. The dark ridge — balls hit 105+ mph at 25–30° — is the barrel zone, where contact becomes near-automatic extra bases.

The dots — this hitter’s career regular-season balls in play, grouped to a fine grid; a bigger dot means more batted balls at that exact combination. Dots piled onto the red ridge are damage; dots low on the pale field are weak or mishit contact. Spring training and the postseason are excluded.

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