TORONTO — Troy Tulowitzki doesn’t feel 100 per cent quite yet; he probably won’t until he has the benefit of a full off-season to rest the injuries he suffered in an outfield collision with Kevin Pillar. But he is feeling good enough, and says he’s ready to play in the post-season, which is all that really matters.
“I’m not pain-free. There’s still some soreness in there,” Tulowitzki said. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t play.”
This was always going to be the question for Tulowitzki—how much pain could he tolerate in order to be on the field? The 30-year-old cracked his right scapula and suffered severe bruising in the muscles surrounding it as a result of that collision at Yankee Stadium. It happened just three-and-a-half weeks ago, which is hardly enough time to fully heal the injuries he sustained. If this were April or May, he’d likely still be resting. But this is the post-season.
Tulowitzki’s recovery was fast-tracked in order to get him back in the Blue Jays lineup, which happened last weekend in Tampa, where he went 3-for-8 with two doubles across two games just three weeks after the injury. Tulowitzki says he felt good in those games, and his manager, John Gibbons, didn’t think the shortstop looked limited at all. In fact, he wishes he could have gotten Tulowitzki some more at-bats.
“I would have really liked to see him play a few more games just for his timing’s sake,” Gibbons said. “But he looked pretty good in those two games down there. His timing was better than I thought it was going to be.”
Tulowitzki, on the other hand, says he’s more than happy to enjoy the three-day break the Blue Jays have been provided between the last game of the regular season and the beginning of the ALDS on Thursday. He’ll spend it getting treatment, taking ground balls and batting practice, before starting for the Blue Jays throughout the playoffs.
“It’s good. It’s a long season. You look at everybody in this locker room, they’re probably dealing with some sort of injury or soreness,” Tulowitzki said. “So, I think it gives us a chance to get healthy again and get our bodies right so we can play our best.”
Gibbons wants Tulowitzki to hit fifth in the Blue Jays batting order, behind the powerful trio of Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, and the manager thinks he’s seen enough from Tulowitzki, who hit seventh during his two games in Tampa, to give him that assignment.
But regardless of where he hits, Tulowitzki’s presence in the Blue Jays lineup will be a boon for a team long on dangerous hitters but short on playoff experience. Tulowitzki’s been to the post-season twice in his career with the Colorado Rockies, including 2007 when they went to the World Series.
LISTEN: At the Letters previews Blue Jays vs. Rangers ALDS
“It’s special. It’s been a while for me,” Tulowitzki said of going to the playoffs with the Blue Jays. “This is what you want to be doing. Not sitting at home watching. … The guys that haven’t been in the post-season before are excited. For the guys that have been to the post-season, such as myself, it’s all about winning and trying to win this whole thing.”
Tulowitzki carries a well-earned reputation as one of the game’s truly elite shortstops, featuring a .297/.369/.508 career line at the plate and some of the most sublime defending you’ll see at his position. Any team would be happy to have that on its playoff roster. But Gibbons says there’s another intangible reason he’s delighted to have Tulowitzki back in his lineup.
“I think we have a lot of guys in that room who have personalities that thrive on big time events,” Gibbons said. “That’s not always the case. I think those guys out there want that and enjoy that—to kind of show off who they are a little bit.”