On Friday night, Troy Tulowitzki hit his 200th career home run (as did Orioles center fielder Adam Jones). In doing so, Tulowitzki became the 10th player in history with more than 200 home runs and greater than 50 percent of his appearances coming at shortstop, according to Baseball-Reference.com. You might wonder, how much higher can the Blue Jays shortstop climb in the coming years?
It's a good question, and the answer hinges in large part on Tulowitzki's health. He's averaged just 107 games over the past five seasons, and hasn't played in more than 130 games since 2011. There's no telling whether Tulowitzki will be able to remain on the field even that much as he nears his mid-30s (he turns 32 in October). Still, Tulowitzki needn't enjoy an unprecedented run of health to close in on Hanley Ramirez (214) before the season ends. Likewise, both Nomar Garciaparra (229) and Jimmy Rollins (230) seem catchable over the coming year.
From there, Tulowitzki's journey up the ladder becomes more difficult, as Vern Stephens (247) and Jose Valentin (249) are the gatekeepers to the top five. Presuming Tulowitzki does find a way to homer 50 more times over the next two-plus seasons, he'll be in position to make a run at Robin Yount (251) and Derek Jeter (260). And after that? Well, Tulowitzki is a ways away from matching Miguel Tejada's 307 -- and less than halfway to first-place Cal Ripken Jr.'s 431.
Here's a look at the top ten shortstops in one handy table:
| Rank | Shortstop | Career | HR |
| 1 | Cal Ripken | 1981-2001 | 431 |
| 2 | Miguel Tejada | 1997-2013 | 307 |
| 3 | Derek Jeter | 1995-2014 | 260 |
| 4 | Robin Yount | 1974-1993 | 251 |
| 5 | Jose Valentin | 1992-2007 | 249 |
| 6 | Vern Stephens | 1941-1955 | 247 |
| 7 | Jimmy Rollins | 2000- | 230 |
| 8 | Nomar Garciaparra | 1996-2009 | 229 |
| 9 | Hanley Ramirez | 2005- | 214 |
| 10 | Troy Tulowitzki | 2006- | 200 |
Of course, there's a chance -- albeit a slim one -- that Tulowitzki won't be among the qualified players as his career winds down. Consider the cases of the obvious snubs here -- like Alex Rodriguez and Ernie Banks, each of whom who moved to a different position before their career ended. Tulowitzki is unlikely to move to another position and see more games there than he has at shortstop, but that doesn't mean a positional change is out of the question -- and who knows, maybe moving to a less-demanding position can help minimize his durability woes.
All told, Tulowitzki has a good chance to finish top five among shortstop home runs, and a solid chance to crack the top three. That's not the lofty accomplishment he seemed destined for a few years back, but it's a pretty good one nonetheless.
