Monday, October 06

DENVER -- Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar has been through enough pain and losing this season to make a player scream, either in public or private.

But this is Tovar, 24, who emerged over the previous two seasons as a quiet star, culminating with a National League Gold Glove Award in 2024. Two devitalizing injuries, which forced Tovar to expend much of his energy rehabbing, and the Rockies’ worst-in-MLB record didn’t change him. At the conclusion of Sunday’s season finale against the Giants, Tovar will let 2025 go without punching it on the way out the door.

“You can go to the beach,” Tovar said through interpreter Edwin Perez. “You let all the bad vibes, all the little bad energy out there, [and] go enjoy yourself and forget the bad things.

“Any time I’m doing bad, the bat has no guilt in that. I’m not going to show it on the bat. I don’t like to show that emotion. I don’t want to show others that. I just try to stay keen. You’ve got to stay yourself, be true.”

Tovar hasn’t forgotten his true self. Last year, he posted a .764 OPS, led the NL in doubles (45) and extra-base hits (75), led the Rockies with 26 home runs and provided defense deemed quite honorable. With just three games remaining this season, Tovar wrapped up Thursday night’s game in Seattle with a .686 OPS, eight homers and 29 RBIs. He’s played in just 92 games this year as opposed to 157 last season, but the reasons for the decline are deeper than that.

Tovar’s season, like his team’s, went downhill almost immediately.

He was playing in Tampa on a George M. Steinbrenner Field surface that was hardened by a full Spring Training, with no time for revamping for the regular season. Tovar’s left hip hit the ground hard on a fielding play in the Rockies’ first victory of the season, but he showed no pain at the time.

However, soreness persisted until he had to go to the injured list after his 16th game. By then, the Rockies were in one of the worst starts in big league history. Even before Tovar’s injury, the club’s middle infield hopes took a hit when second baseman Thairo Estrada, who was signed to give Tovar an experienced double-play partner, sustained a fractured right wrist when hit with a pitch during Spring Training.

The injuries to Tovar, who entered the year poised to become one of the game's stars, and Estrada were two of many factors that have the Rockies headed for one of the worst seasons in the Modern Era.

After missing a month, Tovar went 5-for-6 with a home run and a triple at Arizona on May 17 -- his second game back in the lineup, and the first victory under interim manager Warren Schaeffer, who had replaced Bud Black. Tovar batted .333 over 14 games in May, but sustained his second injury on June 2 -- a left oblique strain.

In a rotational sport such as baseball, an oblique injury is a double-whammy. Even when a player feels good, he is advised to take more rehab time because of the tendency to reinjure the muscle. That means a longer period of rehab, which is every bit as taxing as playing in games.

“It’s something that takes a lot out of you,” Tovar said. “You never want to be out for any time. And when you have that kind of injury, you’ve got to start from zero. You have to be able to fully recover. You have to get your timing back -- do everything like you’re starting from Spring Training.”

In another aspect of a Rockies season gone wrong, Estrada had even less fortune with injuries than Tovar. The wrist fracture, a second hand injury in June and, finally, a right hamstring injury conspired to limit him to 39 games all season.

How has Tovar remained so stoic?

“Somebody asked me who I’m most proud of on the team -- (All-Star catcher) Hunter Goodman for his year, and then No. 2 is ‘Mr. Tovie,’” said Shaeffer, who had worked extensively with Tovar as the third-base coach/infield instructor before taking over for Black. “Everybody knows what he expects of himself in terms of his production. In his mind, he hasn’t met that this year.

“And every day he goes out there, he’s the same guy, the same leader. Guys can look to him, and they see him going about his business the same way. It’s impressive to me. That’s the stuff that men are made of. I’m very, very proud.”

Tovar said his nature is to work on shortcomings but give himself grace by acknowledging his accomplishments. 

For example, Tovar has trimmed his strikeout rate from a career-high 28.8 percent last year to a career-low 24.9 percent. His walk rate -- a figure so low that it was historic for a player with so many extra-base hits – rose from 3.3 percent to 5.6 percent. His chase rate, which will always be a challenge because of the slight difference in pitch location from the one he drives the other way for extra bases to the one he whiffs at, improved from 44.1 percent last year to 40.6 percent.

“When I’m going to reflect on [the season], I’m going to focus on the little things I did right -- what I can take into next season, what I can do as a sequel,” said Tovar, who next season will enter the third year of a seven-year, $63.5 million contract. “I’ll continue to evaluate things, but overall there have been some successes.”

Outfielder Sam Hilliard received proper honors at the end of the season at Triple-A Albuquerque, where he spent a majority of his 2025 campaign. Hilliard earned Most Valuable Player and Fan Favorite honors, and received the honor of getting a standing ovation when leaving the Isotopes’ final game.

Here are the Isotopes’ season-ending honors. More >>

Other major notes from the Rockies’ Minor League system:

• Trade acquisition Griffin Herring (High-A Spokane) is up for MiLB.com Pitcher of the Year honors. More >>

• Three Spokane players are Northwest League All-Stars. More >>

• Albuquerque led the Pacific Coast League in attendance for the fourth straight season. More >>

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