Troy Tulowitzki Now a Strong MVP Candidate After September

Troy Tulowitzki continued his uber impressive September on Saturday afternoon, adding two more home runs and four RBIs. Tulowitzki wasn’t being talked about as an MVP candidate just a month ago, but with the September he is having, he must now be included in the conversation. Not only is he performing at a level that isn’t seen very often, but his team is winning.

Following Saturday’s game, Tulowitzki has led the Colorado Rockies to victories in 13 off their last 15 games while blasting 14 total home runs and batting .396 in the month of September. Just 18 days into the month, Tulo is just 3 home runs behind the September record of 17. The most home runs hit in any month is 20, and at this pace it wouldn’t be out of reach for him to eclipse that mark as well. His 33 RBI’s are the second most in any month in the last 75 years. Juan Gonzales is the only player with more in a month during that time with 35. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that he should surpass that in the next few days.

The Rockies playoff chances had appeared to be pretty slim before this 15 game span. Now they stand just one game behind the NL West leaders, the San Francisco Giants. One thing about the Rockies is that they have always been a strong finishing team in recent years. You probably remember 2007 when they were nearly just a .500 team in the middle of September before reeling off 21 of 22 wins to reach the World Series. Don’t get me wrong, the current run is very impressive, but there is no way it’s possible with Tulo’s efforts.

Tulowitzki will have to continue his incredible play if the Rockies are going to make the playoffs. Currently there are three teams in the NL West within one game of first place, but the downside is that the team that finishes second is not in position to receive a wild card berth at the moment. I know that there are some other players that are having exceptional seasons this year, but if Tulo finishes out his September campaign in similiar fashion to the way he’s started it and the Rockies make the playoffs, then he has to be on the short list for the MVP award.

I can’t recall another player playing his way into contention in just one month ever before, but I also can’t say I’ve seen another player perform like this during the month of September either. Did I mention it’s only September 18? Tulo’s got plenty of baseball left to play, eleven games to be exact.