The Toronto Blue Jays, with a middling 50–50 record through Monday, July 27, made their intentions known by acquiring Colorado’s five-time All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki—Toronto is officially buying at the deadline hoping to make a run at the New York Yankees.
Despite outscoring their opponents by an AL-best 95 runs on the season, Toronto is seven games behind the streaking Yankees in the AL East.
In exchange for the 30-year-old veteran Tulowitzki and veteran reliever LaTroy Hawkins, the Blue Jays sent their starting shortstop, 32-year-old José Reyes, rookie pitcher Miguel Castro, and minor-league pitchers Jeff Hoffman and Jesus Tinoco to Colorado.
But the real story is how Tulowitzki, who’s finished in the top 10 in MVP voting three times, will hit outside of Colorado’s famously thin air.
If his extreme home/road splits are any indication, Tulowitzki’s years of hitting .300 (he’s a career .299 hitter) are probably done. The two-time Silver Slugger has an impressive .321/.394/.558 (average/on-base/slugging) batting line in 526 career home games. On the road though, he’s a much more average hitter at .276/.349/.468.
