Troy Tulowitzki told the Denver Post he was upset about being benched for a game after his batting average dropped to .220 following a 4-for-22 road trip.

“I like to be in the lineup,” he told the paper. “I think I have made that clear. I guess if I don’t like it, I need to play better.”

Now that’s a crazy thought. If only he’d had it before he said the first part.

Manager Clint Hurdle told the Post that sometimes you let players try to play through their struggles. Then if that doesn’t work, “you look to back them away for a day.”

Tulowitzki has six walks on the season but had 11 strikeouts heading into Wednesday’s game against Arizona. He was back in the lineup … and promptly went 0-4 with strikeouts in his first three at-bats.

Tulowitzki has the potential to be a solid player. But entering his third season as a starter, he’s far from established enough as a player to be demanding in the media to stay in the lineup, especially with solid reserves like Clint Barmes and Ian Stewart also needing at-bats.

Don’t get me wrong – nobody here is accusing him of being a malcontent or a whiner … yet. I could be reading the quote wrong – he very well might have been simply acknowledging his bad play thus far with the realization that he needs to pick it up.

But the way I read it, Tulowitzki sounded as though he thought the benching was unjust. It wasn’t.

It’d be understandable that he’s frustrated about his struggles. But if he is going get upset about he might want to make sure he answers the bell a little more strongly the next time he gets a shot.

Otherwise some of those other backups are going to continue eating into his playing time while he works on spitting sunflower seeds in the dugout.