Troy Tulowitzki is back in the lineup. It remains to be seen when his vaunted swing will return.
The Rockies’ shortstop, mired in a slump that’s left him hitting just .163, will bat in the No. 7 hole against the Cubs tonight at Coors Field.
Tulowitzki has been batting second, but tonight, Clint Barmes, starting at second base, will hit second.
The red-hot Cubs, winners of eight of their last nine games, have a shot at winning the 10,000th game in franchise history tonight. Only the New York/San Francisco Giants, with 10,192 victories, have more all-time wins as a franchise.
Manager Clint Hurdle benched Tulowitzki for Monday’s game against Philadelphia, hoping “a breather,” would get Tulowitzki back on track. Tonight, he hopes moving Tulowitzki farther down in the order will help lift the 23-year-old out of his funk.
“It’s place where he’s comfortable at and he’s done well before,” Hurdle said. “There is a little less pressure on him, and he’s got some barrel in his bat. Maybe he will catch some people napping and do some damage. We’ve seen it before.”
Tulowitzki, however, said his place in the lineup has nothing to do with his slump.
“I know I can hit, no matter where I am, I just have to start doing it,” he said this afternoon.
Numbers back that up. Last year, as runner-up in voting for NL rookie of the year, he hit .297 with 14 homers in 290 at-bats from the two-hole. Batting seventh, Tulowitzki hit .294 with eight homers in 238 at-bats.
Hurdle also said today that he has no plans to relieve Manuel Corpas of his duties as closers, even though Corpas blew his third save of the season Monday night.
“Manny has been resilient, but saving (4-of-7) is not a percentage we’ll continue to deal with,” Hurdle said. “When it comes to the point where he’s not closing out games with the success we think he should, then you talk about a change. But right now, we’ve got a lot of wheels spinning. It all comes down to us playing a better team game.”
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com
