Ian Stewart and Troy Tulowitzki: The Next Great Infield Tandem

Troy Tulowitzki and Ian Stewart.  The similarities?  Both are 24, and both have been brought up in the Rockies' farm system.  They both can play on the left side of the infield, and they were born just 369 miles away from each other, in California.  What else?  Both have been absolutely tearing up any bit of pitching they have seen in 2009.

Stewart, a utility third baseman and left fielder, has thrived with the departure of new Oakland A's left fielder, Matt Holliday.  With Holliday gone, this gave Stewart the opportunity to show his raw talent.  He was battling with Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins to get any playing time that he could get.

Ian Stewart has been lighting it up for the Rockies.  His two home runs, six RBIs, and .389 batting average has been stellar for his spot in the batting lineup, which has been second between center fielder Dexter Fowler, and first baseman Todd Helton.

In 18 at-bats this year, has reached base eight times.  Stewart also has just four strikeouts, and has been held hitless just four times his year.

Last night, April 18th vs the Dodgers, Stewart went 1-for-3, with a sacrifice fly in the sixth, and a solo shot to right in the eighth.  The Rockies, however, lost 9-5.

Troy Tulowitzki, the Rockies' young phenom at shortstop, showed the country who he was in the Rockies' 2007 postseason run.  Most Rockies fans feel he got robbed of the 2007 Rookie of the Year Award, which was won by Brewers' left fielder Ryan Braun. In that 2007 season, Tulo hit .291, hit 24 dingers, and drove in 99 RBIs, which was tied for the best rookie NL shortstop season ever.

Tulowitzki is trying to rebound after a disappointing, injury filled, 2008 season where he only played 101 games, and batted just .263.

Troy Tulowitzki, despite his batting average, has been just as successful as Stewart.Batting sixth in the batting lineup, Tulo has three home runs and five RBIs on the year.  Troy started the season hitting home runs in three of the first five games, but hasn't hit one out of the park since April 11th against the Phillies.

Tulowitzki currently has a three game hit streak, and hopes to continue the trend.

Tulo has been batted .235 on the year, which is about the team's average.  However he has an on base percentage of .350, which makes up for his poor batting average.

On January 23rd, 2008, Tulowitzki signed a 6-year, $31 million dollar deal to remain with the Rockies, which shows he's here for a long time.  He, along with the 2008 July NL Rookie of the Month, should bring much success to the Rockies' baseball organization in the coming years.