CHICAGO – Returning to Denver to face the Colorado Rockies for the first time since the stunning trade that sent him to the Toronto Blue Jays last summer is sure to stir up all kinds of emotions – wanted and unwanted – for Troy Tulowitzki.

The all-star shortstop wants no part of publicly revisiting last summer’s blockbuster and the spotlight that will be on him at Coors Field, but that’s what looms. Asked last week what coming back will be like for him, he offered only a brief reply and declined a subsequent request to elaborate.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the fans,” he said in Toronto following a 5-2 win over Arizona. “Obviously I played there for a very long time. So, that’ll be cool. And some coaches. I have some good friends there. But with all the other stuff? No, not really. And that’s not saying anything bad about the organization. It’s just one of those things where it’s going to make for a long three days for me. But I’ll try to enjoy it. And hopefully, more importantly, we can just win some games there.”

Where his outlook on the Rockies and their decision to trade him sits currently is an intriguing question, one he’ll face Monday when he meets with media, and is likely to deflect. Blindsided by the trade, Tulowitzki seethed at not being given any warning that a deal might be coming, especially after being assured by the club that he wasn’t going anywhere.

After the Blue Jays were eliminated by the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series, Tulowitzki told three reporters including this one that the trade “threw me for a loop, threw my family for a loop,” and later added that “it’s tough for me now to trust anybody in this game after what happened.”

During spring training, he went even further in an interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Today, saying “I’ll never talk to him, never talk to those people,” in reference to GM Jeff Bridich and the Rockies. “You get lied to, straight to your face, you get upset. I believe in forgiveness, but at the same time, I don’t plan on being friendly with them, or anything like that.”

Still, there are a lot of good memories for Tulowitzki with the Rockies, who drafted him seventh overall in 2005. A five-time all-star, he helped them reach their first and only World Series in 2007, and claim another wild card in 2009. In 2010, he signed a $157.75-million, 10-year extension that he expected would keep him in Colorado for the rest of his career.

It didn’t.

Even as he expressed his anger during the spring, he also seemed to have reconciled himself with his new situation, telling Sportsnet that “now that I look back at it, I’m a firm believer that things do happen for a reason, and I’m definitely happy to be here.”

The 2016 season so far has been a tough one for Tulowitzki, with a slow start giving way to a stint on the disabled list due to a quad injury that cost him three weeks. Since his activation, he’s been far more himself, going 8-for-25 with three homers and six RBIs in seven games, pushing his season totals to .219/.300/.432 with 11 homers and 29 RBIs.

During the downtime, Tulowitzki watched video and made some adjustments to get himself righted at the plate, but also prioritized easing up on himself and letting unsuccessful at-bats go more easily. He’s always been tough on himself, to the point this year that it may have been counterproductive.

“I care deeply about this game and work very hard at it,” he said in an interview over the weekend. “It hasn’t been something like since the trade coming over here, I’ve been harder on myself or anything. It’s been a constant thing my entire career, it’s kind of who I am and what I do. I realize that when times are going tough and you beat yourself up enough, it’s going to affect your game. Coming back, one of my main focuses was to be myself and try to take more positives out of things than negatives.”

Earlier this season, there were lots of negatives for him to fight through as he posted a .162/.266/.306 slash line through his first 31 games of the season. Tulowitzki’s relentless drive meant those struggles didn’t stay at the ballpark.

“I definitely bring it home with me at times,” he said. “It’s not going to affect me being a father or something like that, but it’s on my mind, thinking about, ‘OK, what am I going to do to my swing to make things a little bit better, or how am I going to prepare myself so certain injuries don’t happen?’ Things like that, when you ask yourself questions, instead of being able to leave it at the field, you take it home with you because you care. You can’t just shut that down either and say, ‘OK, I’m not going to think about it anymore,’ because when you say that about something you start thinking about it even more.”

Now, having found more comfort in his stance, he’s heading to the plate in a better frame of mind.

“Trying to get back to some of my old things I did, whether I noticed it on film, just trying to get that feel back,” he said. “I think it was just a feel in that batter’s box that when I went in there, I felt comfortable, like myself. Since I came back off the DL, I’ve really felt comfortable in the box and that’s the main thing that I was searching for at times.”

Tulowitzki would no doubt love to remind the Rockies of the damage he can do when he feels that way.