Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki will not demand a trade, according to MLB.com's Thomas Harding.
Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki will not ask for trade
Tulowitzki, who met with his agent on Thursday to discuss his status with the Rockies, plans to stick it out with the struggling team.
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Tulowitzki met with his agent on Thursday in Los Angeles to discuss, among other things, whether it was time to ask out of Denver. The 30-year-old star instead insisted that he needs to play better to help the Rockies win.
"Bottom line, [we need to] play better baseball," Tulowitzki told Harding before Game 1 of the Rockies' four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. "That's kind of vague, but it starts with myself."
The Rockies entered Thursday on an 11-game losing streak. They’re in last place in the National League West with an 11-18 record. The Rockies’ biggest problem has been starting pitching -- their rotation owns a combined 5.48 ERA with 4.8 walks per nine innings -- but Tulowitzki hasn’t exactly been himself, either. The four-time all-star owns the lowest walk rate among qualified NL hitters and is barely above average offensively, taking a 101 OPS+ into L.A.
“When you make the most money on the team and your team’s not playing well, you’re going to be that target,” Tulowitzki explained. “I understand what my contract, what me being here longer than anyone in this locker room, what comes with that territory. That’s fair.”
Tulowitzki’s agent, Paul Cohen, told Joel Sherman of the New York Post about his client’s agenda for the meeting earlier in the week. The face of the Rockies franchise says he did not force Cohen to leak that information to the media.
“The Rockies’ ownership and myself have always been close, so there’s no reason to try to leak something,” Tulowitzki said. “I’d go straight to them.”
Tulowitzki is batting .303/.310/.477 in 113 plate appearances this season. He is coming off of surgery to repair a hip injury that had cost him the final two-plus months of 2014. Tulowitzki hit .340/.432/.603 with 21 home runs in 375 plate appearances prior to that injury.
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