Last Friday, during game 2 of the ALDS, the eagled-eyed Twitter user @MetsKevin11 noticed that Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was using a bat belonging to former Rockies teammate Nolan Arenado.
Who said the @Rockies aren't in the postseason? Well, they aren't, but Nolan Arenado's bat is courtesy of Tulo pic.twitter.com/k8zm09jJlX
— Fat Chase Utley (@MetsKevin11) October 9, 2015
The criminally under-resourced Bluebird Banter Department of Investigative Investigations looked into Tulowitzki's recent bat use and found that he is not monogamous with respect to his bat use.
During his first batting practice session as a Blue Jay, Tulowitizki brandished his usual bat, a Tucci Lumber maple wood bat model number TL-271-M. That appears to be his main weapon of choice since his trade to Toronto. (You may have recognized the "Tucci" in the name and indeed it is named after founder Pete Tucci, who happened to be a former Blue Jays prospect. Tucci was drafted in the sandwich round of the 1996 draft and was later traded, in part, to the Padres for Joey Hamilton, who was horrible.)
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
The bat above is inscribed with his autograph but he also uses a variant with his son Taz's name on it. Here it is in use on September 12 (Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports). The "Taz" bat was also seen in an all-black version when he represented the Rockies at the 2015 All-Star Game (Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports).
According to the available photos from Tulowitzki's plate appearances in the August 25 game against the Rangers, he used at least two different bats. First a mysterious natural coloured bat before switching to Edwin Encarnacion's Marucci bat.
Photo credit (both): Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
On September 11, the day before he collided with Kevin Pillar, Tulowitzi was using his "Taz" bat.
Photo credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
When he returned for two regular season games on October 2 and 4, Tulowitzki began to use Arenado's black-and-gold Louisville Slugger, also of 271 turn.
Photo credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
It is unknown why the shortstop decided to switch bats after his injury but he continued to do so for the first two games of the postseason, seen in this screencap from game 1 of the ALDS and more clearly in the following screencap from game 2.
Minor Leaguer's screenshot from MLB Network's broadcast.
After going a combined 0-for-10 in the first two games, Tulowitzki ditched Arenado's wood and returned to his usual "autograph" bat, seen here right before he hit a three-run homer in game 3 of the ALDS. He stuck with that model on Monday's game, in which he went 0-for-4 with a walk. Maybe it isn't the bat that controls how well he hits.
Minor Leaguer's screenshot from MLB Network's broadcast.
While we, as Blue Jays fans, are all looking forward to seeing the series-deciding game 5, the Bluebird Banter Department of Investigative Investigations is also eager to see what bat Troy Tulowitzki will be using when he comes to bat Wednesday afternoon. Will he stick with his Tucci bat or will he switch it up? Tune in to find out!