The good news when it comes to Tovar is that he played most of the season at age 21 and he proved well above average defensively at shortstop. Still, he’s in need of a much improved approach at the plate. Tovar swung more often than every batting-title qualifier other than Salvador Perez this year, and he wound up with a 166/25 K/BB ratio in 615 plate appearances. Even with a .325 BABIP, he hit just .253/.287/.408. The Rockies had him hitting first or second for the much of the year anyway, but the bottom third of the order is where he’s going to belong until he starts having better at-bats.
