Colorado Rockies start shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was leading the in National L eague in batting average (.340), on-base percentage (.432), slugging percentage (.603) and OPS (1.035). When you add to that his unbelievably stellar defense you have a N.L. MVP candidate and one of the best shortstops in the game.
But there is one problem. Tulowitzski simply cannot stay healthy and it has been getting harder every year to not label him as “injury prone.” Unfortunately, as amazingly talented as Tulo is, he does get hurt A LOT.
Tulowitzki has been sidelined since mid-July with a hip injury and went to see doctors and trainers to look at his options earlier this week and sadly his only option will be season ending surgery on his left hip, according to MLB.com’s Thomas Harding.
#Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki will undergo labral repair surgery on his left hip Friday in Vail, Colo. will miss rest of season.
— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) August 14, 2014
This will be the second time in three seasons that Tulowitzki has played fewer than 100 games in the seasons. Tulo has missed 35 games in each of the last five seasons and when you combine the last three seasons alone, Tulowitzki has missed a total of 222 games according to Bleacher Report’s Tim Keeney.
This is obviously the end of Tulo’s MVP run and it may mark the end of him ever being traded. No matter how good he is healthy most teams will not want to risk trading for a player with such a large contract. Tulowitzki is owed $114 million over the next six seasons. That is quite a bit to gamble on him remaining healthy considering his health history.
Hopefully, Tulo will be able to stay healthy after this surgery. With his obvious potential as a hitter and defensive shortstop, he could be all but unstoppable.