DENVER – Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar has been so stoic for the last year-plus out of necessity. Through hip and oblique injuries limiting availability and production last season, and a poor start to this season that had him below .200 as recently as two weeks ago, he figured that hard work would beat wasted emotion.
All the emotion he was holding came alive in a grin that sparkled through the light show that celebrated his second two-run homer on Friday night – a one-out walk-off against Caleb Kilian in an 8-6 victory over the Giants at Coors Field.
Tovar has looked more himself lately – hits in 14 of his last 18 games and appearances on base in 14 of his last 15. A homer at Dodger Stadium on Monday ended a career-worst 48-game stretch without one.
On Friday, Tovar’s celebration of the first walk-off homer of his career wasn’t as emphatic as Hunter Goodman’s following his game-tying, three-run shot off Kilian earlier in the inning. Goodman stayed at the plate, willing the towering drive to stay fair, then flung the bat into the sky with both hands and sprinted the bases.
After contacting Kilian’s first-pitch knuckle curve, Tovar raised the bat aloft and held the gaze of a guy who knew he crushed the ball. He practically floated around the bases before a two-footed stomp on the plate.
“I’m not a robot,” Tovar said, with Edwin Perez interpreting. “It’s going to eat at me sometimes when I’m not executing the way I want. It’s going to hurt me a little. But I understand that no matter what happens, I’ve got to trust in God that things are going to come.”
Tovar’s homer in the eighth on a first-pitch fastball from Keaton Winn cut the difference to 4-3, but still came amid the Rockies going 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position on the night. That awful stat included multiple hard-hit balls and the occasional robbery – especially Jung Hoo Lee battling stadium lights in right field to rob Troy Johnston of two sure RBIs in the fifth inning.
Goodman ended the RISP nightmare with a homer that “Hit the Mitt” – triggering a $5,000 donation from UCHealth via the Colorado Rockies Foundation for Athletics & Beyond.
Tovar and the Colorado Rockies Foundation have a donation plan based on doubles, which Tovar hits regularly when swinging well.
This time, though, Tovar benefitted the Rockies themselves, who had come back from a day off following a 16-day stretch of games during which the team won just four.
Tovar finding himself would be an important part of potential improvement for the Rockies (21-37). Manager Warren Schaeffer has said in recent days that he has seen it coming for his 24-year-old shortstop as the result of work and study.
“The hard work that he’s been putting in and the adjustments that he’s been making, that’s the big deal,” said Schaeffer. “The emotions are just a separate thing, but he looks more comfortable at the plate in his approach.”
Even in this stretch of improvement, there have been downs. One in particular came last Saturday at Arizona, when Tovar’s poor eighth-inning bunt led to a rally being extinguished in a one-run loss.
A quietly important scene played out in the clubhouse. Third-base coach Andy González visited Tovar at his locker, same as he had during some of Tovar’s worst stretches this season. Tovar said the visits are not commiserations. Yes, they’re supportive, but they’re accountability sessions.
“Andy is someone who has been very important to me,” Tovar said. “No matter how good or bad it’s going, he’s the one who always keeps it real. That’s better for a person, because if you have someone who’s always applauding you, that’s not going to help you at all times. You need someone that’s going to be telling you what you need to fix.
“There are times when I won’t see him right away, and he goes out of his way to check and let me know. He’s been, honestly, a huge person for me ever since I got here.”
In 2024, Tovar earned a National League Gold Glove Award at shortstop and led the NL with 45 doubles. Last season and the start of this season are reminders that there are no guarantees.
On Friday, he took full advantage of the opportunity to light up the night. But, given his matter-of-fact manner the rest of the time, he won’t forget that the pregame work makes the spotlight possible.
“I’m not always focused on the results,” he said. “I know that it’s a whole process. The process is fine as long as I’m working hard and doing everything I can do in practice. The results will show when you can keep that progression. So, I always have to keep my head up high, no matter what, and the results are going to come.
“They’re starting to come.”