DENVER -- Saturday afternoon’s 13-1 loss to the Yankees at Coors Field resulted in an early rest for shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, who is going to need the energy to lift the Rockies.
Much like every game he has played since he returned from a 27-game absence with a left hip injury, Tovar was productive – 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored before being removed in the top of the eighth inning.
Tovar has a way against the Yankees – 11-for-32 (.344) with five doubles in eight career games.
“I try to hit well against everyone,” a smiling Tovar said through interpreter Edwin Perez.
Tovar is healthy after playing the first portion of the season compromised by hip pain. He is already making himself difficult for any opponent as he tries to lift his team.
Since his return, Tovar is 15-for-30 (.500) with one triple and five RBIs in six games. He went 5-for-6 in his second game back, a 14-12 win at Arizona last Saturday, and he was 2-for-4 in Friday night’s 3-2 victory over the Yankees.
Saturday’s game was tied at 1 after Tovar scored on Michael Toglia’s triple in the bottom of the fourth.
Then the Yankees scored 10 in the fifth.
“We’re trying,” Tovar said. “In baseball, you’re going to have ugly games. Obviously, today is in that category. We’re getting there. We’re trying to improve.
“We’re going to get there. It’s going to take a whole team effort.”
The Rockies’ 9-43 record is tied with the 1904 Washington Senators for the worst after 52 games in the Modern Era (since 1900), and every loss sparks a misery index update.
Tovar believes the 2025 Rockies can pull themselves off the futility lists. A key is Tovar himself, who was injured in the season’s second game but didn’t go on the injured list until he had sunk into a .212 hole through 16 appearances.
Also, center fielder Brenton Doyle (who also was removed when Saturday’s game spiraled) gained traction this week after a left quadriceps injury and a term on the bereavement list halted his momentum. Jordan Beck has shown promise in the leadoff spot, and Ryan McMahon (out of the lineup Saturday) has slashed .304/.429/.565 in May. Toglia’s triple off Yankees ace Max Fried came after being out of the lineup for three straight games to work on barrel accuracy and swing decisions in batting practice.
Add veteran second baseman Thairo Estrada, who signed with the club on Jan. 9 but sustained a fractured right wrist in Spring Training, and the lineup will be largely as intended. Estrada began an injury rehab assignment with Triple-A Albuquerque on Friday. Only Kris Bryant’s extended absence with a back injury separates the group from what the Rockies hoped they would have entering the season.
Tovar said he’s fighting the temptation to do more than he should.
“There are times when you think about it, that you want to do more for this team, but I think that’s when you find issues,” Tovar said. “I have to trust the guy that’s hitting behind me and the guys who are hitting in front of me. I have to trust this team.”
A National League Gold Glove Award winner last year and a success in the Rockies’ draft-and-develop philosophy, Tovar has demonstrated leadership.
Tovar and rookie second baseman Adael Amador worked two early double plays behind starting pitcher Kyle Freeland. But as the fifth was disintegrating, Amador made a bad-looking play, as his glove slid off his hand and high into the air as he leaped for Paul Goldschmidt’s single. Flinging a glove on purpose is illegal.
“I was like, ‘Hey, did you do that on purpose?’” Tovar said. “He told me no, the glove just kind of fell out – it was not something that he was trying to do or planning. Others talked to him about it. It was a mistake.”
Amador said “I didn’t have the glove tight on my hand,” and he knew if the glove made contact with the ball, Goldschmidt would have been awarded two additional bases.
Manager Warren Schaeffer said he would talk to Amador, but it helped that Tovar and other veterans were proactive. Tovar’s approach to the dugout inquest exemplifies the positivity that he said the Rockies must maintain, even in tough times.
“If we have a negative mindset, if we think things are falling apart, we’re going to keep going down, things are going to keep getting worse,” Tovar said. “I know we’re in a bad stretch right now, but things can get better. You’ve got to have that positive mindset moving forward.”