Tovar returns from IL with hopes of getting himself, Rockies back on track

DENVER -- The Rockies handed shortstop Ezequiel Tovar a seven-year, $63.5 million contract extension before last season embodying their hopes and dreams. The first half was not what they had in mind.

After a first half interrupted by two injured-list stints that held him to 32 games before the All-Star break -- none since June 2, before he went to the IL with a left oblique strain -- Tovar returned to the lineup Friday night against the Twins.

But with Tovar back, the Rockies, whose first half was historically rough, started anew Friday night.

Tovar went 1-for-4 and had a standout defensive play -- a diving stop of Brooks Lee’s grounder and throw to first to end the fourth inning -- as the Rockies beat the Twins, 6-4, at Coors Field. Their 23-74 record is fifth-worst in the Modern Era after 97 games, but the plan is to put the struggles behind them.

“It’s a fresh start -- obviously starting from zero and all that kind of stuff,” Tovar said in Spanish, with Edwin Perez interpreting. “This could be a good second half if we all do our little pieces.

“We’re hoping there’s a better second half, that with the help of God things will get better and things can go our way. But you never know, with those kinds of situations, what it would have been like if I had been out there.”

It’s not a stretch to say Tovar is the Rockies’ biggest piece.

Last year in his second full season, Tovar won his first Gold Glove Award, led the National League with 45 doubles and hit 26 home runs. With Charlie Blackmon having retired at the end of last season and the club hoping against hope that Kris Bryant’s back problems would subside (they have not), Tovar was the team’s beacon.

Tovar, who turns 24 on Sept. 23, wasn’t expected to singlehandedly turn around a team that had lost 100-plus games the previous two seasons, but it’s hard to imagine the record being this poor had he been healthy and available.

Tovar sustained a left hip contusion in the team’s second game but kept playing in a compromised state before going to the injured list in April, with a .212 batting average and no home runs. He returned hot -- batting .306 with three homers, six extra-base hits and six RBIs in 16 games -- before returning to the IL.

“It’s frustrating,” Tovar said. “It’s something that you can’t control. My past two years, especially last year, I didn’t have an injury. I was healthy and able to play. So now I understand the frustrations my teammates feel when they’re injured -- understand what it feels like to be on this side, just watching the team.”

Before batting practice on Friday, Interim manager Warren Schaeffer met with players on the field to emphasize the need to put the first half behind them and begin anew. One of Schaeffer’s key points was the team needed to leave behind its 80 errors before the break -- the most in the Majors.

“We talked about how bad our defense was in the first half,” Schaeffer said. “We looked around the group and saw that it shouldn’t be that way.”

Offense, defense, Schaeffer feels better with Tovar available.

“Any manager likes that,” Schaeffer said. “The whole team likes that.

“Tovie is a big part of what we do. I’m happy that he feels healthy and feels that he’s ready to go. I know it’s been frustrating for him. All he wants to do is play baseball.”

Well, the Rockies almost have the intended defense.

As Tovar returned, second baseman Thairo Estrada, signed in the offseason to provide rangy defense and a strong arm, went back to the IL with a left thumb sprain. Estrada, whose 10-day stint was retroactive to July 11, underwent an anti-inflammatory injection on Thursday.

Estrada missed the beginning of the season with a fractured right wrist when hit with a pitch during Spring Training, missed a few games after his return when he was hit with a pitch, and is back on the IL with an injury sustained on the basepaths. He and Tovar have played just three games together.

Ryan Ritter, called up from Triple-A Albuquerque to play shortstop in Tovar’s absence, has moved to second in Estrada’s stead.

During his brief return earlier this season, Tovar smartly tamped down any inclination to press offensively and performed well.

Tovar has shown strategy, knowledge and calm on the field and off not commonly seen in a player his age. Even players chronologically older look to him. Such dynamics, as well as a lofty contract status, often thrust leadership requirements upon a player.

His lifestyle -- “I married at a young age and have a kid, so I had to mature at a young age for a reason,” he said -- and personality have led him toward a quiet personae. Rather than anoint himself as the team leader, he says “we can support each other each and every day.”

With a contract that can keep him with the Rockies through 2031 (if the club exercises its contract option), he’ll be a part of a lot of those days.

“The Rockies are the team that gave me the opportunity when I was 16 and now I have a contract with this team until I’m 29 or 30,” Tovar said. “I want to be a part of that change.

“Every day, I’m going to take that personally. I want to help the team in that process -- to get out of this little rut.”