Troy Tulowitzki Career Home Runs

Lore & Background

Tulowitzki was born in Santa Clara, California. He graduated from Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, California. He earned four varsity letters in baseball and two in basketball. He was twice named second team All-State in baseball, and was a three-time team MVP.

As a junior, Tulowitzki had a batting average of .536. He also had a 15–1 win–loss record as a pitcher. In his senior year, he batted .519 with six home runs. In basketball, Tulowitzki won league MVP, and was second team All-State and team MVP, averaging 22.6 points per game during his senior year.

He was named Fremont High Athlete of the Year in 2002. After high school, he enrolled at California State University, Long Beach, where he played college baseball for the Long Beach State Dirtbags for three seasons. Tulowitzki had a .962 career fielding percentage. Offensively, in 155 career games, he had a batting average of .310, with 20 home runs, 117 RBIs, 37 doubles, and a .491 slugging percentage.

He also accumulated 31 multi-hit games in his collegiate career. Baseball America rated him as having the top arm and as the best defensive shortstop in the Big West Conference. Tulowitzki was a two-time All-Big West selection (second team in 2003 and first team in 2004) and a two-time All-Regional Tournament selection, earning Most Outstanding Player honors in 2004. In 2004, he was selected for the United States collegiate national team and helped lead Team USA to a gold medal in the World University Baseball Championship.

Reader's Guide

The Colorado Rockies chose Tulowitzki with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the 2005 MLB draft. He received a $2.3 million signing bonus. He made his professional debut with the Modesto Nuts of the Class A-Advanced California League in 2005, and batted .266 in 22 games. In 2006, Tulowitzki played for the Tulsa Drillers of the Class AA Texas League.

He had a .291 batting average, 13 home runs, and 61 RBIs in 104 games. Though he had a knee injury in June, he appeared in the 2006 All-Star Futures Game. The Rockies promoted Tulowitzki to the major leagues on August 30, 2006. He made his MLB debut that day against the New York Mets.

He had four at-bats and went hitless with three strikeouts. He collected his first Major League hit, an infield single off Óliver Pérez of the Mets, on August 31. Tulowitzki hit his first MLB home run on September 4, off Woody Williams of the San Diego Padres, in a 7–5 loss. He posted a .240 batting average with one home run and six RBIs in 25 games during the 2006 season.

Tulowitzki entered spring training prior to the 2007 season competing with incumbent Rockies shortstop Clint Barmes for the starting role. After a spring that saw Tulowitzki win the team's spring training MVP award, along with Barmes struggling offensively, Tulowitzki began the season as the Rockies' starting shortstop. On April 29, 2007, Tulowitzki turned the 13th unassisted triple play in MLB history, during a 9–7 home victory at Coors Field over the Atlanta Braves.

As a rookie, he established himself as a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop. He led all MLB shortstops in fielding percentage (.987), putouts (262), total chances (834), assists (561), and double plays turned (114). He also ranked first in range factor (5.39) and second in zone rating (.866). Tulowitzki's .987 fielding percentage set an MLB single-season record by a rookie shortstop.

He was also a major contributor in the Rockies' MLB-record .98925 fielding percentage for one season. He won the Fielding Bible Award at shortstop. Tulowitzki was named the NL Rookie of the Month for August. On September 10, 2007, he hit his 20th home run of the season, which set the record for most home runs in a single season by a National League rookie shortstop.

He hit his first career grand slam on September 29, 2007, in an 11–1 home win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, off of Dustin Nippert.

Did You Know?

• Tulowitzki is a five-time MLB All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, and a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner.
• He set an MLB single-season record for RBIs by a rookie shortstop with 99 in 2007.
• He set an MLB single-season record for fielding percentage by a rookie shortstop (.987) in 2007.
• He was inducted to the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.