What is wrong with Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins and is a change what he needs to get rolling?
J-Roll goes into Tuesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers batting a lusty .195 with an on base percentage of just north of .230.
The Phils need J-Roll to get rolling to be successful. Rollins was the offensive spark plug that gets things going for the Phightins in the past -- they need that again.
Rollins' hitting approach was frustrating to watch last weekend. On Sunday, the Phils trailed 4-2 in the ninth inning when Rollins came up to bat as the tying run. He swung at the first pitch and popped out.
J-Roll could take a pitch or two every once in a while instead of flailing at this first thing he sees. The team needed a good at-bat by their leadoff hitter Sunday -- instead their leader made an easy out.
The recent slump give cause to ask whether or not the man they call J-Roll was overrated throughout his career. Yes, Rollins did win the MVP award in 2007, but other than that season, his offensive numbers were average at best.
Was everyone aware that Rollins never batted .300 in his career? J-Roll’s highest batting average was in his MVP season where he batted .296 and his career batting average was a mediocre .275.
There’s no doubt that Rollins is a good all around player because of his skills at shortstop and on the base paths.
He fields the ball like a human vacuum cleaner sucking up every ball that comes in his direction. He also creates a lot of havoc for pitchers when he’s successfully getting on base. His speed on the bases is lethal to opponents.
It may be best to portray Rollins as a good player, but not the superstar that the media and baseball analysts propped him up to be.
With Rollins hitting under the Mendoza-line at the moment, should manager Charlie Manuel consider moving him down in the lineup? Maybe shuffling J-Roll down will be the change he needs to get rolling again.
It certainly couldn’t hurt to experiment and try something different. Perhaps Shane Victorino should leadoff temporarily while Rollins works out the kinks in his swing.
What we know is the Phils need the 2007 Rollins to please stand up. Until that man shows up, maybe fans should refrain from calling him J-Roll.
The 2009 season is more than a month old. When will Jimmy Rollins show up to play?
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