Tulo the sissy

[Mithrandir]

I took this thought from another website because i agree with it.

Thoughts?


Am I the only one who doesn't understand the difference between playing in a minor league playoff game and a major league regular season game for a team that has nothing to lose? How is he not ready to return to the big club, but yet can play full games hitting/fielding in the minors? How is he more apt to reinjure during a major league game as opposed to a minor league game?

[senorsheep]

Believe me, it's not Tulowitzki himself holding things up - he has been very vocal about the fact that he wants to get back in a Rockies uniform and play ball ASAP. Your "sissy" characterization is completely off base.

Supposedly the club is unconvinced that his groin is 100% based on his rehab stint. He was evaluated again yesterday, so maybe we'll know something today or tomorrow.

If you suspect that the club is dragging their feet for another reason: Maybe, in a season that means nothing, they feel like their infield playing time is better used evaluating which of the kids can contribute at 2B, 3B, or off the bench next year?

[Mithrandir]

Yeah i was a little harsh in my thread title.

Thanks for the insight Sheep.

[Erik]

Take it to the Mith thread!

[dannahann]

Wanted to share my takeaway from the minor league playoff series cited. I attended the final 3 games in Springfield of said 5 game playoff series in large part to get a look at how Tulo was mending. I purposely selected seats just a couple rows behind the visiting dugout (3B) so I could have a good look at him in the field, running bases, and coming on and off the field between innings. If you don't want to wade through this longish post, the short version is not at all encouraging but to hang this on Tulo as 'a sissy' is really unfair.

Game 3 Fri night 7 Sept (Cards and Drillers tied at 1 game each following first 2 in Tulsa): Good News/Bad News is that Tulo didn't play in this game. I'm not sure if this was the plan all along or if mother nature had her say? Hours before game time it was known with certainty that we'd get a huge storm that would clear out later that evening and an expected 2 hour delay was announced well before lineups were exchanged. Did it ever storm too, but the tarp stayed on the field until the game finally started 2 hours late, still raining (but lightly), very cold, and with a howling wind. The Cards came out of it about at midnight up 2 games to 1 and I don't think Tulo ever popped his head out of the dugout (if he was even in there after the delay).

Game 4 beautiful Sat evening: Tulo played SS and batted 3rd. From the very beginning of the game he moved carefully in the field, on the bases, and even at the plate. Describing an early chance is probably the best picture of him in the field. On a ground ball toward the hole to his right, rather than plant his right leg to form a strong throwing base and reach across his body to backhand it as he typically does, Tulo instead 'circled' that ball with shuffling mini steps to get to it and continued his circle walk around to get his throw to 1B (the arm still looks amazing). He didn't really 'run' the bases either, jogging toward first on the 2 ground balls he hit. He didn't swing aggressively either, even on fastballs when ahead in the count. It was pretty evident he and the Drillers were instructed to go easy. Bad news is despite the best intentions, Tulo's ballplayer instincts took over, in I believe it was the top of the 6th, and I'm pretty sure HE AGGRAVATED THE INJURY. With the Drillers up 3-1 and Arenado on 1st with 1 out, Tulo made his first decent contact of the night and grounded what looked to be a certain base hit up the middle. Garcia (SGF's SS) however made a tremendous diving stab, forced Arenado at 2nd and Tulo exploded out of his jog toward first and barely beat being doubled off. Everything changed immediately. You could see the demoralized and concerned look on his face. His mincing careful gait became much more pronounced and you could see him trying to covertly 'test' the groin without being obvious to his dugout. They knew, you could hear it from inside. His first base coach tried to consult with Troy but you could tell he was trying to downplay it and avoid him. In fact, after waving back his manager coming out of the 3B dugout, Tulo deliberately avoided looking that way while on 1st. He was noticeably favoring the legs even more, taking tinier almost mincing steps and his 'lead' if you could call it that was taken standing up. He never even attempted to squat into a normal position to facilitate pushing off either leg. The inning ended with the next hitter making out and Tulo gingerly made his way out toward SS without looking toward his dugout. His manager intervened anyway, intercepting him before he got there and ?somehow? Tulo convinced him to stay in. I heard (and lip read) something about careful and pulling himself and I think something about knotting up? He was defensively replaced before the 9th inning and he didn't have any direct chances after the apparent aggravation, just covering 2nd on a force and a couple plays where he shuffled toward the OF for cutoffs. On the one cutoff he caught, what he did could in no way be considered a relay pivot. After taking the throw, he instead mini stepped around toward 3B and threw into Arenado to prevent the runner moving up. There was never going to be a play so he didn't have to pivot but it certainly showed him being ultra cautious, if not hurt? With Tulo sitting out the final inning at SS, Tulsa held on to even the series at 2.

Game 5 for all the marbles, beautiful Sun afternoon: I was a little surprised that Tulo again started at SS and hit 3rd. He really wasn't moving any worse than he did early in the previous game. Gingerly for sure, protecting himself in the field and at the plate. Just like the prior night he even walked carefully too and from his dugout. The only real new injury insights from this tilt occurred in the top of the 9th. Tulo played a full 8 innings of defense and came to bat with 2 outs in the 9th trailing 3-1. Tulo singled up the middle, only the 2nd Driller hit of the game. Upon reaching first, Tulo was immediately replaced for a pinch runner. Not because they were looking to steal a base, not down 2 and with potentially just one out remaining in their season. I'm pretty sure they yanked him just so he couldn't possibly hurt himself in the event a big play happened. I get that a AA playoff series isn't big time for him but he looked truly invested and involved with his team mates. In any event the next hitter lined out hard to Oscar Tavares and the series ended in the Card's favor, Tulo never in the lineup at the end of any of the 5 games in the series.

He really doesn't look ready yet. He looked real bad at the plate. Poor timing, swinging tentatively, basically owned by the AA Card's #3, 4, and 5 AA starters in the 3 games here. Tulo is my key asset in my primary keeper league. Our league is such that were are obligated to the longterm contracts we sign he's my longest. Me or someone will be paying for him through 2016. I really hope the Rox don't push him. He wants to play badly, that was evident, but he probably shouldn't. Oh the other thing, other than the storm game talk about a generous guy, gracious to the long lines of those looking to meet him or seeking autographs. Been a long time since he was riding buses to minor league parks, but you sensed he was enthusiastic about being back on the diamond.

[Fresno Bob]

Wanted to share my takeaway from the minor league playoff series cited. I attended the final 3 games in Springfield of said 5 game playoff series in large part to get a look at how Tulo was mending. I purposely selected seats just a couple rows behind the visiting dugout (3B) so I could have a good look at him in the field, running bases, and coming on and off the field between innings. If you don't want to wade through this longish post, the short version is not at all encouraging but to hang this on Tulo as 'a sissy' is really unfair.

Game 3 Fri night 7 Sept (Cards and Drillers tied at 1 game each following first 2 in Tulsa): Good News/Bad News is that Tulo didn't play in this game. I'm not sure if this was the plan all along or if mother nature had her say? Hours before game time it was known with certainty that we'd get a huge storm that would clear out later that evening and an expected 2 hour delay was announced well before lineups were exchanged. Did it ever storm too, but the tarp stayed on the field until the game finally started 2 hours late, still raining (but lightly), very cold, and with a howling wind. The Cards came out of it about at midnight up 2 games to 1 and I don't think Tulo ever popped his head out of the dugout (if he was even in there after the delay).

Game 4 beautiful Sat evening: Tulo played SS and batted 3rd. From the very beginning of the game he moved carefully in the field, on the bases, and even at the plate. Describing an early chance is probably the best picture of him in the field. On a ground ball toward the hole to his right, rather than plant his right leg to form a strong throwing base and reach across his body to backhand it as he typically does, Tulo instead 'circled' that ball with shuffling mini steps to get to it and continued his circle walk around to get his throw to 1B (the arm still looks amazing). He didn't really 'run' the bases either, jogging toward first on the 2 ground balls he hit. He didn't swing aggressively either, even on fastballs when ahead in the count. It was pretty evident he and the Drillers were instructed to go easy. Bad news is despite the best intentions, Tulo's ballplayer instincts took over, in I believe it was the top of the 6th, and I'm pretty sure HE AGGRAVATED THE INJURY. With the Drillers up 3-1 and Arenado on 1st with 1 out, Tulo made his first decent contact of the night and grounded what looked to be a certain base hit up the middle. Garcia (SGF's SS) however made a tremendous diving stab, forced Arenado at 2nd and Tulo exploded out of his jog toward first and barely beat being doubled off. Everything changed immediately. You could see the demoralized and concerned look on his face. His mincing careful gait became much more pronounced and you could see him trying to covertly 'test' the groin without being obvious to his dugout. They knew, you could hear it from inside. His first base coach tried to consult with Troy but you could tell he was trying to downplay it and avoid him. In fact, after waving back his manager coming out of the 3B dugout, Tulo deliberately avoided looking that way while on 1st. He was noticeably favoring the legs even more, taking tinier almost mincing steps and his 'lead' if you could call it that was taken standing up. He never even attempted to squat into a normal position to facilitate pushing off either leg. The inning ended with the next hitter making out and Tulo gingerly made his way out toward SS without looking toward his dugout. His manager intervened anyway, intercepting him before he got there and ?somehow? Tulo convinced him to stay in. I heard (and lip read) something about careful and pulling himself and I think something about knotting up? He was defensively replaced before the 9th inning and he didn't have any direct chances after the apparent aggravation, just covering 2nd on a force and a couple plays where he shuffled toward the OF for cutoffs. On the one cutoff he caught, what he did could in no way be considered a relay pivot. After taking the throw, he instead mini stepped around toward 3B and threw into Arenado to prevent the runner moving up. There was never going to be a play so he didn't have to pivot but it certainly showed him being ultra cautious, if not hurt? With Tulo sitting out the final inning at SS, Tulsa held on to even the series at 2.

Game 5 for all the marbles, beautiful Sun afternoon: I was a little surprised that Tulo again started at SS and hit 3rd. He really wasn't moving any worse than he did early in the previous game. Gingerly for sure, protecting himself in the field and at the plate. Just like the prior night he even walked carefully too and from his dugout. The only real new injury insights from this tilt occurred in the top of the 9th. Tulo played a full 8 innings of defense and came to bat with 2 outs in the 9th trailing 3-1. Tulo singled up the middle, only the 2nd Driller hit of the game. Upon reaching first, Tulo was immediately replaced for a pinch runner. Not because they were looking to steal a base, not down 2 and with potentially just one out remaining in their season. I'm pretty sure they yanked him just so he couldn't possibly hurt himself in the event a big play happened. I get that a AA playoff series isn't big time for him but he looked truly invested and involved with his team mates. In any event the next hitter lined out hard to Oscar Tavares and the series ended in the Card's favor, Tulo never in the lineup at the end of any of the 5 games in the series.

He really doesn't look ready yet. He looked real bad at the plate. Poor timing, swinging tentatively, basically owned by the AA Card's #3, 4, and 5 AA starters in the 3 games here. Tulo is my key asset in my primary keeper league. Our league is such that were are obligated to the longterm contracts we sign he's my longest. Me or someone will be paying for him through 2016. I really hope the Rox don't push him. He wants to play badly, that was evident, but he probably shouldn't. Oh the other thing, other than the storm game talk about a generous guy, gracious to the long lines of those looking to meet him or seeking autographs. Been a long time since he was riding buses to minor league parks, but you sensed he was enthusiastic about being back on the diamond.

Thanks for this, its posts like this that make RJ awesome

[DJBeasties]

I don't understand the original post at all but this Tulo write-up is fantastic!

[Mithrandir]

I don't understand the original post at all but this Tulo write-up is fantastic!

What's not to understand. Question was, Tulo was playing in the Minors, so why couldn't he play in Colorado?


Dannahann answered it quite extensively.

Is Tulo a good pick for next year? Or is a he always an injury waiting to happen and will people take that into account much more in 2013?

[Sour Masher]

Is Tulo a good pick for next year? Or is a he always an injury waiting to happen and will people take that into account much more in 2013?

I can only speak for my league, but players like Tulo are almost always a bit overvalued in my league. Most would agree that Tulo is the best offensive SS in the majors when he is healthy. But he frequently misses time and he often starts slow; however, these limitations don't stop folks in my league from being enticed by the "what if Tulo stays healthy and doesn't start slow" mind set. Of course he is discounted some, but is that discount down to the level of his likely production? In my league the answer is probably no,the discount doesn't go quite that low because of the folks see the upside there if Tulo misses less games than expected or doesn't start as cold as he often does.

[joncarlos]

Is Tulo a good pick for next year? Or is a he always an injury waiting to happen and will people take that into account much more in 2013?

As the guy who paid way too much for him and ended up with an awful lot of Ryan Theriot and Luis Cruz as a result, I would say no.

[DJBeasties]

Sorry I read it wrong Mith. Forget my confusion.

[Mithrandir]

When is Tulo scheduled to see his gyno????

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Mithrandir]

When is Tulo scheduled to see his gyno????

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I don't think the widdle baby is going to pway any games the rest of the way.

WAHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I know next year he'll go OFF since i won't own him..unless he's to cheap to pass up.

[madducks]

I don't think the widdle baby is going to pway any games the rest of the way.

WAHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I know next year he'll go OFF since i won't own him..unless he's to cheap to pass up.

You're better off without him. He would have just dragged down your first place team.

[Mithrandir]

You're better off without him. He would have just dragged down your first place team.

I know all teams sustain injuries but the way these two were handled, at least through the press, was the ridiculous part..Tulo will be back in Mid-august..no late August..no early September...no mid-september...no the last week...BAH!!