Weiss Tells Jim Rome Arenado Could Win Multiple Gold Gloves
DENVER (CBS4) - Colorado Rockies manager Walt Weiss appeared as a guest on The Jim Rome Show on Wednesday and discussed going from coaching high school baseball to managing the Rockies, and his thoughts on Troy Tulowitzki and Nolan Arenado.
Weiss, a former World Series champion, is now in his second season as manager of the Rockies and has the Rockies playing well with a 21-14 record, good enough for second place in the NL West. Rome asked Weiss about the major swing of going from coaching a high school team to managing a major league team in one year.
"There was some on-the-job training … I think that was to be expected. I was familiar with the game, been around the game obviously for a long time," Weiss said. "I was a coach slash special assistant with the Rockies after I got done playing. So I've been around the club, been around that park, played in that park. But still, until you sit in that manager's seat you can't account for everything you're going to have to deal with."
Weiss said it's leadership on a very large scale and he learned a lot over the course of his first season as the Rockies skipper.
VIDEO: Watch The Entire Interview
He's got the Rockies off to a fast start and part of that reason is the play of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who's hitting over .400.
"As we all know …. he's a really talented guy. He's had to deal with some injuries in his career, but when he's been out on the field this guy is as good as anybody in the game," Weiss told Rome. "This is an extremely talented player that's locked in right now and it's fun to watch. I've got the best seat in the house. I get to write his name on the lineup card every night and then sit back and watch this guy do his thing."
Weiss said Tulowitzki is such a factor because he impacts the game on both sides of the ball.
"I think he's one of the best shortstops I've ever seen," said Weiss, a former shortstop.
Rome told Weiss he recently spoke with Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, who is riding a 26-game hitting streak, and he was blown away because Arenado is only 23 years old and also plays excellent defense. Rome asked Weiss where he would rank him defensively.
"I'm careful not to overstate things … I did play with some great third basemen, Gold Glove caliber third basemen … this guy is the best I've ever seen. I watched him last year as a rookie, I'm saying, 'Man, watch this kid, this kid should get a Gold Glove. I hope he doesn't get overlooked because he's a rookie.' But this kid is incredible defending that position and fortunately people did pay attention and he won a Gold Glove as a rookie. But this guy is going to win a bunch of them."
LINK: The Jim Rome Show
