DETROIT — Earlier this week, on the occasion of the 2,000th hit of his career, Todd Helton lamented that he’d lost bat speed since getting his first big-league hit on Aug. 2, 1997, at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium.
So how come, at age 35 and playing with a surgically repaired back, Helton is hitting .343 and cranked out the fifth grand slam of his career Thursday night in Atlanta?
“It’s his plate discipline and his confidence at the plate,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “One of the most overrated things in this game can be bat speed, because if you don’t have the hand-eye coordination to go with it, it doesn’t play out.”
Hurdle also noted Helton’s uncanny ability to work a pitch count. Helton got behind 0-2 against Braves reliever James Parr before hitting a 3-2 fastball for his grand slam.
“He can put the barrel on the ball, and he’s probably as good as anybody in the game with two strikes,” Hurdle said.
Goodbye, Rusch.
Reliever Glendon Rusch’s career with the Rockies is over. Rusch, designated for assignment last week, said Friday he will not report to Triple-A Colorado Springs, though he’s not retiring.
“I don’t want to go there and go through that again, especially if they start calling up younger guys as the season goes on,” Rusch said. “I would rather stay home with my family.”
Hot Hawpe.
Brad Hawpe says it’s way too early to talk about the All-Star Game, but he’s been one of the few shining lights for the Rockies. His sixth-inning single drove in Troy Tulowitzki and marked the seventh game in the last 10 that Hawpe notched an RBI. Hawpe is hitting .486 (17-for-35) with runners in scoring position.
Grilli grilled.
As expected, Tigers fans serenaded Rockies reliever Jason Grilli with a chorus of boos when he entered the game in the eighth. Grilli, traded from Detroit to Colorado early last season, was a favorite whipping boy for the Tigers’ faithful. When Placido Polanco led off with a single, Detroit fans cheered as if it were a home run. Next, Grilli walked Clete Thomas and was yanked from the game.
Footnotes.
Seth Smith got the call as the club’s first designated hitter this season. “I’ve never been the DH in the majors, so we’ll see,” Smith said. He had a two-run homer in the ninth. … Hitting coach Don Baylor, hospitalized because of pneumonia, rejoined the club in Detroit after missing the first seven days of a 10-day road trip.
Patrick Saunders and Troy E. Renck, The Denver Post
