Fail.

Mistakenly, I thought the fact that nobody would really debate this fact other than you would be enough to prove it. But since you asked, I won’t go into great detail with regard to why he’s better than Hanley Ramirez but since your quest is to prove Jose Reyes to be better I’ll stick to that.

Let it be known, I WISH Reyes was better than Tulo. Admitting he’s not makes me nothing more than somebody who doesn’t see the world through rose colored glasses.

Troy Tulowitzki is 26 years old, at 26 he’s been the face of his franchise for the last 3 years. He’s been the leader of that franchise side by side with Todd Helton for those last 3 years. There’s never ever been a discussion “is Tulo a leader?” like you hear or see with Reyes. He’s never to my knowledge shown signs of immaturity like Reyes has and Tulo is younger.

So there is no question Tulo carries intangibles.

I noticed you mentioned Coors Field, how is it that you can use his stadium against him but then never mention what those splits are?

Tulo’s team didn’t build a stadium specifically for his talent. He can’t help where he plays.

From 2008-2010 Tulo has 36 HR at home, and 31 on the road. He had 99 RBI at home, 76 on the road. His OBP at home is a .383, and a .350 on the road. His OPS at home is a .935 and on the road it’s an .832.

Up until 2011, Jose Reyes’ best OPS in an entire season was .841 in 2006. Currently he sits at .884 but his home OPS is .948 compared to an .834 OPS on the road. Don’t those numbers seem pretty interesting? See sentence above.

You don’t get labeled the best SS in baseball simply because you finally have a superstar caliber season at 28 years old. It’s a nice thought Alex, but when I say Tulo is the best SS I consider his 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons.

Reyes is labeled a “table setter” yet he’s scored 100+ runs three times to Tulo’s 2. Reyes has never driven in more than 81 runs in a season, Tulo has done that 4 times.

Tulo’s on base percentage has been over .360 3 times. Reyes once.

Reyes has never had a season OPS of .900+. Tulo has done it 3 times.

Tulo was voted the best defensive SS and the player with the best infield arm in the NL by the Managers of the NL for the last 2 years. Reyes was not.

Tulo has won a gold glove, Reyes has not.

Tulo has been a Top 5 MVP vote getter twice, Reyes has never been.

For our Sabermetric friends, Tulo’s Wins Above Replacement in 6 years is 23.8 an average of 3.96. Essentially 4 wins over a replacement.

Reyes in 9 years has a WAR of 27.7, an average of 3.07 wins.

When the sporting news and baseball america have discussions about the best SS in baseball, the conversation is about Tulo v. Hanley every time.

In April 2011, the former General Manager of the NY Mets, the guy who saw Jose Reyes come up through his system said the following:
“There was a time when I thought Hanley was the best player in the National League,’ said Steve Phillips, the former New York Mets general manager. “Right now I’d have to put Tulowitzki slightly ahead of Hanley, but that’s only a tribute to Tulowitzki and not a criticism to Hanley. Tulowitzki seems have that special leadership gene. He’s a guy who can pull people along with him.’

Barry Larkin, a guy who was a pretty good SS himself said

“Hanley and Tulo are definitely on top at this particular point,” he said, “but to be a top shortstop, for me, you’ve got to do it over a period of time and you have to be consistent, and that takes years.’

Now I am sorry, but being fast and flashy doesn’t make you the best SS in the game. Tulo has been there year after year. Jose had a stellar start to his season this year, but 1 year doesn’t make you the best. You have to be there every year and Tulo has been.

Does Tulo have some health issues as well? Yes. One of his longest DL stints was getting beaned by AJ Burnett. Just as we don’t say Wright is injury prone due to the Matt Cain fastball, I can’t hold the beaning against Tulo. Still, he averages 130+ games a year on the field. In the last 3 years, Tulo has averaged 133 games, to Reyes’ 89.

What reasons do you have to say Reyes is better than Tulo? Other than he steals bases and had a great 98 game season this year?

Thanks Alex, that was pretty easy.

Tulo gets little injuries here and there, no denying that. In his 5 years as an Opening Day player he’s averaged 131 games a year. He’s not on the shelf as much as Reyes. He hasn’t had a whole season wiped out due to injury following by 2 long term DL stints. He broke his wrist thanks to an AJ Burnett fastball, nothing he could do about that. Not a chronic injury.

And yes he’s a superstar. He’s the best all around SS in baseball. Combines amazing fielding, elite arm and the best hitting SS in baseball.

If you don’t think he’s a superstar or you think Reyes is a better overall player than him than you are either a homer, or not paying attention or both.

The guy had a SICK first half, then got hurt AGAIN and fell out, and then hurt one more time.

Exciting – YES
Spark Plug – YES
Inconsistent – YES
Superstar – Not when you are on the DL that much