Taz Tulowitzki swings a big bat — especially for a kid not to his second birthday. He barely can walk, but he can line a hardball off a tee like a colossal tot.
Cincinnati fans might catch a glimpse of the kid during warm-ups Tuesday while his dad, Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, preps for a fifth appearance in the All-Star Game.
“The one part I was bummed about when I wasn’t on the all-star team wasn’t for myself,” Tulo said. “I felt bad my son wouldn’t get to experience it. Last year he was there, but he was too young. This year, I think he’ll take it in.”
Tulowitzki sneaked onto the National League all-star roster as an injury replacement for the Miami Marlins’ Dee Gordon, who suffered a dislocated thumb Saturday. San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who will steer the NL team, picked Tulowitzki as the best available position player to replace Gordon.
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Tulo slowly, hitting only .262 in May with two home runs. But he lit up in June, hitting .381 with 21 RBIs. He entered the all-star break with a .313 batting average, 49 RBIs and 10 homers.
“He set the bar so high for himself that anything short of an MVP-type season, maybe people look down upon,” said Rockies manager Walt Weiss.
In his first all-star season, 2010, Tulowitzki hit .315 and had 95 RBIs. His best season was also his shortest. In 91 games last year, he hit .340 and had 52 RBIs and 24 homers.
“This hasn’t been my best year by any means,” Tulowitzki said. “But I’ve found ways to grind out at-bats and try to help our club win.”
After season-ending hip surgery last August, he rehabbed through the offseason trying to regain his health, at the expense of getting better at baseball. It hurt him in April and May.
“Last year, after hip surgery, what was going through my head was if I’ll ever play this game again,” Tulowitzki said.
His batting average ranks 12th in baseball — two spots ahead of Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu, another all-star. Tulo has the highest OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) among big-league shortstops at .831 and ranks second in RBIs.
“I battled at the beginning of the year,” Tulowitzki said. “I work every single day in the offseason to be a better player. But that was taken from me. So I had to play catch-up. I am hard on myself, but sometimes I need to sit back and realize I’m still a decent player.”
Nick Groke: ngroke@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nickgroke
