CINCINNATI — In what has become the middle infield’s Summer of Glove, two rhythmic elements are working in concert: the ability of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and second baseman Clint Barmes to reach groundballs and their unwavering confidence in first baseman Todd Helton to pick the throws.
“The hardest part is I catch myself watching,” Helton admitted. “When they make a great play my first concern is getting the out. And my second is making sure they don’t get a cheap error. I know what that’s like. They have just been unbelievable.”
Helton said Saturday he’s never played alongside a better second baseman or shortstop. This came less than 24 hours after Barmes made multiple diving grabs to complement Tulowitzki’s Baryshnikov spin as he threw out Wladimir Balentien in the seventh inning.
“On that one, I did say ‘come on.’ What a play,” manager Jim Tracy said.
Championship teams historically are strong defensively, particularly up the middle. Helton believes it’s a big reason the Rockies are contending.
“It’s like I said earlier in the year when people were complaining about Tulo, that, ‘they don’t get it.’ You don’t understand how hard it is to make those plays and how many runs he saves,” Helton said.
“With Barmy, I just draw a circle around myself and stand there because he’s going to get everything else. I told him the other day that he’s the best second baseman I have ever played beside. There’s nothing he can’t do.”
Beimel in, Rincon out.
With shorter hair and sans the beard, Joe Beimel joined the Rockies. To make room on the roster, Juan Rincon landed on the disabled list with elbow stiffness that first developed Thursday. During pregame stretching, Helton went out of his way to greet Beimel, who wears No. 97 because that was the year his son was born.
“Having Beimel gives us two situational lefties, and it will allow me to maximize Matt Daley’s value with better matchups,” Tracy said.
Footnotes.
The Rockies are scheduled to face Cliff Lee in his Phillies home debut Thursday. . . . New Reds acquisition Scott Rolen started at third base and hit fifth. Rolen said he wanted to be traded to Cincinnati to be closer to his Midwest home in Jasper, Ind.
Troy E. Renck, The Denver Post
