TUCSON — When Troy Tulowitzki was a teenager, the new high school football coach in town begged him to come out for the team. Tulowitzki loved playing quarterback in Pop Warner but believed baseball was his future. Still, he allowed, “I think I would have eventually gotten better in football because I love the mental side of the game.” That is evident in how Tulo plays shortstop. Tulowitzki sat down with Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post during spring training and provided a step-by-step glimpse into his thought process when manning the position.
1. Know your pitchers
“The first thing that goes through my mind is that I know my pitcher better than their hitter. So you go off that. You take your pitcher: Is he a sinkerball guy, is his best pitch a changeup? If it’s (Jeff) Francis against a right-handed power guy, he will go to his changeup. So the hitter is probably going to be out front and try to put it in the (shortstop) hole.”
2. Know their hitters
“After taking into consideration our pitcher and what he does and what he’s doing well that day, you factor in their hitter: Does he pull? Is it a guy like Derek Jeter, who loves to stay inside the ball and hit everything the other way? If it’s a guy that uses the big part of the field, those are the toughest players to get a read on because they can pull or hit the ball up the middle. Then you have hitters who hook everything. You play those guys to pull in any count, against any pitcher.
“You also take into account what other players know. Some veterans have played against a guy a lot and will have a tip. Or I might have seen a guy in college over a number of at-bats. That can help too.”
3. Positioning the infield
“As a shortstop, it’s my job to position myself, then bring guys with me (meaning the second baseman and third baseman). If I shade the hole, then I will tell Ian (Stewart) to cheat the line (at third), and (Clint) Barmes will go toward the middle (at second).
“You have scouting reports and spray charts (that show every ball hit in every count) available. That gives you a good read and a good feel (for the hitter). Those are pretty accurate. But sometimes I will watch batting practice just to see swing paths of certain guys — to see if what the report says is matching up with what a guy is doing. You have to adjust during the game to what your eyes see. A lot of times you can tell by a guy’s first at-bat, let’s say against Ubaldo Jimenez, on what his approach is going to be. Is he trying to hit the fastball? And if so, is he starting his swing early to try to hook the ball? You think like a hitter. You think along with them.”
