Troy Tulowitzki May Rejoin Colorado Rockies Today

Now that it’s September 1, the active major league rosters will expand to allow room for 40 players, and it’s entirely possible that the Rockies may utilize this additional space by bringing back star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki as soon as today. Tulowitzki, 27, has not appeared in a game since May 30 due to a groin injury that required surgery. Despite appearing in only 47 games on the season, Tulo has compiled a solid 1.6 WAR on the season and is hitting .287/.360/.486.

In four games of minor league rehab, the two-time All-Star, Gold Glover, and Silver Slugger winner is raking, going 6-12 with two home runs and a double. Any team would benefit from adding a healthy Tulowitzki to its lineup, so if seeing some playing time in September doesn’t run the risk of re-aggravating the injury, the Rockies might as well get him out there.

Then again, it’s not their offense that needs help — coming into today, Colorado leads all National League teams with a .770 OPS and ranks second in the league in runs scored with 619. Playing half of their games in Coors doesn’t hurt, but there are some legitimately talented hitters in this lineup. Because the run prevention side of things hasn’t gone quite as well (it’s actually been awful, in fact), the team finds itself at 53-77 and 20 games out of first place. Even the streaking Padres have left them behind in the NL West, so a last place finish in 2012 is all but assured.

That said, the Rockies do have a solid core of young hitters to build from in the coming seasons, and getting Tulowitzki back on the field could at the very least give the team a chance to show how dangerous they can be when fielding a full lineup.

Can’t get enough of Spencer? Check out his work at StanGraphs and follow him on Twitter at @shendricks221.