Ezequiel Tovar

Ezequiel Jesus Tovar

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 162 lb.

• Debut September 23, 2022

• Born August 1, 2001 in Maracay, Aragua Venezuela

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Biographical Information

Slick-fielding Ezequiel Tovar was signed by the Colorado Rockies organization as an international free agent on his 16th birthday. The Venezuelan shortstop signed for $800,000 and began his professional career a year later in 2018 with 35 games in the Dominican Summer League in which he hit .262/.369/.354 with 16 stolen bases. He began 2019 up in the short-season Northwest League, but after hitting .249/.304/.313 with a .955 fielding percentage at shortstop for the Boise Hawks, he was moved down to the Grand Junction Rockies of the Rookie Advanced Pioneer League in mid-August.

The coronavirus pandemic wiped out the minor leagues in 2020, and the minor league system was reorganized for the 2021 season. Tovar began the year with the Fresno Grizzlies of the new Low-A West league. The 19-year-old was impressive in his first year of full-season baseball, and was moved up to Advanced-A at the end of July after hitting .309 in 72 games. He had never hit for much power before, but smacked 21 doubles and 11 home runs for the Grizzlies; he raised his slugging percentage from .347 in his previous season all the way to .510 in Fresno. He struggled a bit after moving up, though, hitting only .239 for the Spokane Indians. He went to the Arizona Fall League after the season, but continued to struggle, only managing a .161 batting average in 25 games. However, he maintained a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage at both second base and shortstop.

The Rockies moved him up again to start 2022, and Tovar found himself with the AA Hartford Yard Goats. At age 20, he was the youngest player on the team to start the season by about a year and a half. And he started out like a house afire: a .333 batting average and .639 slugging percentage in April, followed up by a 12-game hitting streak to end a month of May in which he hit .320. Unfortunately, he was felled by a groin injury a the end of June and was put on the shelf for two and a half months. He was named to the 2022 Futures Game, but his injury kept him from participating. At the time, he was MLB.com's #58 ranked prospect and the Rockies' #2 prospect. He returned to the field on September 15th, but not with the Yard Goats; he was moved up to AAA ball. He only got into five games with the Albuquerque Isotopes before he was on the move again. At age 21, he got the message every up-and-coming ballplayer wants to hear: "Son, you're headed for the big leagues."

His first major league game occurred on September 23, 2022. The #8 hitter in the starting lineup, he collected his first major league hit in the bottom of the 2nd inning in Coors Field off Sean Manaea of the San Diego Padres and went 2-for-4. He hit his first major league home run in Dodger Stadium off none other than Clayton Kershaw on the season's final day. In his cup of coffee, he slashed .212/.257/.333 in 9 games.

He began 2023 not only as the #25 ranked prospect in all of baseball on MLB.com but also as the Rocks' everyday shortstop. However, he got off to a woeful start. Through May 19th, he was hitting .211/.253/.352. But over his next 34 games, he hit .326/.353/.519, raising his season batting average to .266. He spent a few days on the paternity list in late June. He continued to do well after his return, and ended up playing 153 games as the everyday shortstop, batting .253 with 37 doubles, 15 homers and 73 RBIs for an OPS+ of 77. That was dragged down by a poor on-base percentage of only .287, negating most of his power. Still the Rockies were pleased with his rookie season and when they were about to break camp in 2024, they signed him to a seven-year contract extension worth $63.5 million on March 24th.

Further Reading

• Thomas Harding: "Tovar, Rockies agree to 7-year extension", mlb.com, March 24, 2024. [1]
• Patrick Saunders: "Rockies’ Ezequiel Tovar found his American family in Boise", The Denver Post, February 11, 2023. [2]

Related Sites

• Ezequiel Tovar on mlb.com