Larry Brown Sports

Oh nothing, just Troy Tulowitzki grabbing teammate Rafael Betancourt in the nuts after the Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants 5-0 on Sunday. Tulo hit a two-run single in the sixth, while Betancourt pitched a scoreless ninth. Betancourt initially put up some resistance to Tulo, but the shortstop would not be denied.

Between Tulo and Jeff Francoeuer, this is turning into the year of the nut shot.

Forearm bash to Deadspin

Colorado Rockies mohawk dude is back for another season. This time, he is paying homage to All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki with his ridiculously high hair.

If you remember, this same fan was in attendance when the Rockies played the Arizona Diamondbacks in the playoffs last season. We also showed you several pictures that prove he uses his mohawk to support all of the other collegiate and professional sports teams in the Colorado area. This guy has found a unique way to show his fanhood and he keeps rolling with it. I ain’t mad at him for that.

Photo via Reddit

Through the early part of the season, Troy Tulowitzki has been uncharacteristically shaky in the field. Typically one of the best defensive players in the game, the Rockies shortstop committed six errors all of last season and won his second straight Gold Glove. Through only 11 games this season, Tulowitzki has already tied last year’s total and is six errors away from posting a career high with 151 games left to play. The problem, he admits, is in his head.

“I’m taking the field and thinking about it,” Tulowitzki said after being held out of the lineup Wednesday according to MLB.com. “I never thought about defense. I just go out there and play, and if I make an error, I made an error. But I wasn’t worried about it. So, yeah, I think about it. It’s in my head. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t in my head. I think about it because I care.”

Perhaps a day off will serve him well. Tulowitzki obviously isn’t going to continue on his current pace, or he’d finish the season with nearly 100 errors. We know that isn’t going to happen. Veteran teammate Jason Giambi says he has been there before and understands how a few errors can start to weigh on a player mentally.

“I showed him some highlights of him playing and said, ‘That’s you.’” Giambi said. “I said, ‘I know. I’ve been there many times, the deer in the highlights look and you’re just reeling.’ He’ll get through this just great. He’ll be fine.”

So much of defense is being confident that you can get to every ball and make every throw, and Tulowitzki is missing that element of his game right now. Given his history, I suspect he will rediscover it sooner rather than later.

Photo credit: Chris Humphreys-US PRESSWIRE

Bad blood rarely boils over during spring training games, but it happens. If not for Ubaldo Jimenez, we may have made it through an entire spring training without a bench-clearing incident. Jimenez, who now pitches for the Indians, drilled former teammate Troy Tulowitzki in the elbow on Sunday. The Indians insist the ball got away from him, but Jimenez reportedly threw his glove to the ground and started walking toward Tulowitzki once he drilled him. Couple that with the fact that there is a history between the two and that would make for quite the coincidence.

To say Rockies manager Jim Tracy is upset over the incident would be a massive understatement.

“It’s the most gutless act I have seen in 35 years of professional baseball,” Tracy said angrily according to the Denver Post. “I have lost all respect for him. To do something like that and walk down off the mound, and if there’s any suggestion whatsoever that the ball got away, I don’t want to hear any of that (expletive). He intentionally threw at him. He should be suspended. I am going to be very disappointed if he doesn’t get suspended. He deserves to be.

“Are you kidding me? Five days before opening day and you are going to take a potshot like that? It was the worst I have seen. I have lost respect for him and that’s a very difficult thing for me to say.”

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MLB Fan Cave finalists have to do a ton to prove that they are baseball’s biggest fan. These guys and gals show off their hundreds of hats, t-shirts, and crazy tattoos just for a chance to take home the honors. As if that wasn’t hard enough work, Troy Tulowitzki and the Rockies had to go and screw with finalist Shaun Kippins.

As you saw in the video above, Tulowitzki was talking to Kippins about his Evoshield arm bands when someone interrupted and acted like there was somewhere the Rockies shortstop needed to be. Tulo then asked Kippins to hold the Evoshield until he got back, but another Rockies staff member came along and said he would take it. Naturally, Kippins obliged. When Troy got back, he had Kippins thinking he was furious that he would let someone else take his Evoshield because it’s so awesome. As cruel as it was, the execution was nearly flawless. Somebody get that kid a change of undies.

H/T SI Hot Clicks

Ubaldo Jimenez was one of the best stories of the baseball season last year. The former Rockies pitcher went 15-1 in 18 starts before the All-Star break and was nearly unbeatable. He had a sub-1.00 ERA in June and had thrown a no-hitter. He rode a fastball in the upper-90s with crazy movement and a wicked breaking ball to unprecedented Coors Field success for a pitcher. Ubaldo finished the year 19-8 with a 2.88 ERA. He had established himself as an ace in the National League and he was expected to anchor the Rockies’ staff for the future. But it all changed this season.

Ubaldo entered the year reportedly dissatisfied with his contract situation. He had seen the franchise give Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez major contract extensions while he remained signed to a team-friendly deal. He got rocked on Opening Day and ended up on the disabled list with a finger injury. Turns out he was battling other nagging injuries since spring training, and it looks like a lack of proper preparation prior to the season is to blame.

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Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is a big Justin Bieber fan, as we’ve written here before. He’s one of a handful of ballplayers who are also teenie-boppers, as he, Cameron Maybin, and Nick Johnson have all used Miley Cyrus for their at-bat music in the past. Which brings me to Tulowitzki during spring training.

Tulo let Rockies fans vote to choose his at-bat music for the season, and Katy Perry won over Ke$ha, Bieber, and Chris Brown. Tulo unfortunately started off the season 0-for-8 and opted for a change over to Justin Bieber’s “Baby.”

The results have been magical.

Since the switch, Tulowitzki’s gone 3-for-7 with two home runs, three runs scored, three RBIs, and and a walk, and the Rockies have won both their games. As Rockies writer Troy Renck said on twitter, no way Tulowitzki switches away from Bieber with the way things have turned. Justin Bieber, good luck charm.