Comments on: How Will Benching Help Rollins?

By: Brian of CO

Brian of CO — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:35:39 +0000

papa thompson, the job of a lead off hitter is to get on base. A walk gets him on base, and with his speed, a walk SHOULD be able to lead him to scoring position. I would rather take a walk then what he did today against the Braves which is 0-4 and a SO no walks. Great his batting average is now .208. If he doesnt have the lowest BA of any consistent starter in the league, he is VERY close. If he had walked in either the 3rd or the 5th inning the Phillies would be up 5-3 right now rather than 4-3.

By: The Little Guy

The Little Guy — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:49:29 +0000

NJ, i expect at least 30 wins from our 4 and 5 starters. Haha Just Kiddddding.

By: NJ

NJ — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:44:51 +0000

Dipsy didn’t mean to pounce on you, am just trying to avoid the usual tirade of we should get this guy, why haven’t we got this guy, our front office sucks, our number 4 and 5 starters should be putting up 20 wins with a sub 2 ERA etc.

By: The Dipsy

The Dipsy — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:20:19 +0000

NJ – I know Lee will probably not be traded short of a king’s ransom being offered. Just wanted y’all to know what I heard. Lastly – My view is that Jimmy is a good offensive player who just happens, by necessity, to bat leadoff. He bats leadoff for a lot of reasons. 1) The way their lineup is configured he couldn’t bat 3 or 4; 3) He’s fast; 2) He’s a SS. Don’t laugh but I think old school managers have a thing that middle infielders and CFs are traditional leadoff types He’s kinda like Soriano in that he IS dynamic and you see the problems that teams had finding a place for him to bat. Personally, I like Jimmy at 2. He bats lefty so he has the hole and he doesn’t strike out that much and its tough to double him up. But then you have to find a leadoff guy :)

The Dipsy

By: Papa Thompson

Papa Thompson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:04:23 +0000

Right, his walks went up, but his productivity was down overall. You’d rather have that? Walks are that important?

By: Brian of CO

Brian of CO — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:57:10 +0000

we finally agree on something…”Last year, Rollins was far closer to the protypical lead-off hitter in the sense he hit only 11 HRs and his walk total ballooned”

By: Brian of CO

Brian of CO — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:55:54 +0000

My bad he was ’07, it was Howard who was ’07. Either way, likes I have said in every other article, he USED to be a lead off hitter, he lost his patience and edge. Might want to check the numbers this year, when he is NOT hitting leadoff, he has a much higher average. Take away those games of not hitting leadoff, he is UNDER .200. Nive stat for a lead off hitter isnt it. You also seemed to entirely skip over Utley, who was also in front of Rollins in ’06, ’07 and ’08. He was in front of Rollins by close to .035 points that year of average, a few less homer, 10 more doubles, and about 12 more RBI’s I think. I dont argue he USED to be a darn good lead off, but really do you want your leadoff hitter hitting .211? Really, that is the MAJOR question. And as an FYI, in 2007 among NL SS’s with over 400 AB’s he was number 3 in average, and barely #1 with those same shortstops in HR’s. He was #3 in average by almost .040 points. So YES seeing how he wasnt in the top 10 in the NL, 3 for SS, and 4 for Phillies, his GLOVE won it. Might want to compare everything. Howard on the other hand had as you describe a MONSTER year in 06 with 313 average and the homers and everything.

By: Papa Thompson

Papa Thompson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:43:45 +0000

Also, in looking at Rollins’ stats I noticed ’07 was a season with one of his lowest walk totals — 49 walks in 162 games. Only twice has he had fewer walks in a season (48 in ’01 and 47 in ’05, both in 158 games). And for his career, he averages 53 walks a season.

This says to me he’s better when he’s taking fewer pitches. Last year, Rollins was far closer to the protypical lead-off hitter in the sense he hit only 11 HRs and his walk total ballooned to 58 in just 137 games. His OBP even went up from his MVP season, even though his average dropped by nearly 20 points.

But who wouldn’t rather have Rollins in ’07 form, when he was anything but typical. So what’s this sudden love for small ball?

By: NJ

NJ — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:40:27 +0000

Dipsy- Just cause the Indians are in sell mode doesn’t mean Lee’s moving in the next month…

By: Papa Thompson

Papa Thompson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:28:49 +0000

Rollins won the MVP in ’07 — not ’06. He hit .296 with 30 HR, 94 driven in, 139 scored and became the first NL player EVER to join the 20-20-20-20 club. He stole 41 bases. Since you seem to have all but forgotten that MONSTER offensive year, I’ll point out that most of this was out of the lead-off spot. Oh yeah, but his glove won him the trophy.

By: Brian of CO

Brian of CO — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:39:06 +0000

slight correction papa thompson, he USED to be a lead off hitter, and “first and foremost” he won MVP from Defense, Offense didnt hurt him. a quality lead off hitter does NOT swing for the fence, and have a batting average UNDER .215, a quality lead off hitter IS in the top 50 hitters in the league. For reference, the former MVP is hitting a WHOPPING .211, and is #85 in BA. Dont forget, J-Roll did NOT win the MVP “first and foremost” because of his offense, he won it because he is by far the BEST DEFENSIVE SS in the league. When J-Roll won the MVP he had a .277 BA (4th on the Phillies for players with more than 400 AB’s, and 6th on the Phillies for players with more than 200 AB’s). Might want to check again, but if howard in ’07 was hitting .277, with 25 HR’s, and his defense the way it used to be, Howard would NOT have won the MVP that year. J-Roll was RESPECTABLE offensively in 06 at .277 BA, 25 HR’s, 83 RBI’s, and a very nice 127 in Runs. the only category he lead the Phillies in was SB’s. Thats it. and the Runs was a factor of walks and his speed. If J-Roll wopuld be more patient, he would walk more, but he isnt even drawing walks now. The reason J-Roll won the MVP in 06 was his DEFENSE. He was and remains to be the best defensive SS in the league. At this point, the BEST (consistent)player in MLB that has NOT won MVP is Chase Utley. His offense is always in the top 3 of the Phillies, and while when he started out in the league, he had a decent glove, he has gotten better every year, and now, if Utley is not the BEST defensive 2nd basemen in MLB, he is a close 2nd. Scratch that defensive part actually, just plain best all around 2nd basemen.

By: M.P. aka A.J. #54

M.P. aka A.J. #54 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:19:10 +0000

As long as J-Roll comes back ready and hitting, he can hit #1, #6 or heck, he can pitch and hit #9 for all I care. I want the Jimmy we love back.

By: M.P. aka A.J. #54

M.P. aka A.J. #54 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:17:53 +0000

Little Guy – I am AJ, I was so sick of taking heat for Lidge and from the Mets fans I decided to be stealth.

By: Papa Thompson

Papa Thompson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:34:41 +0000

Jimmy won the MVP, first and foremost, because of his offensive output — in the lead-off spot. He IS a lead-off hitter. He might not fit the prototype, but who cares as long as he’s producing, which of course he’s not. The thing I haven’t seen mentioned here is the idea that Shane is no better suited than Jimmy to hit lead-off. He and Jimmy are cut from the same mold when it comes to plate approach. Neither takes many pitches. Both try to go long. And while Shane’s got better numbers now, he’s prone to the same kind of slump Jimmy’s in. And does anybody really want to see Werth bat lead-off? His numbers are good this year, but I swear, exactly half of the swings I see him take, he ends up on one knee. And, as pointed out, it takes away our right-handed power bat. I think Charlie did the right thing here by trying to right Jimmy and keep him _ and everybody else _ in spots where they’ve excelled.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:18:05 +0000

Well, we won the WS with Pat Burrell in LF, that doesn’t mean he’s that good of a defensive left fielder.

By: The Dipsy

The Dipsy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:22:24 +0000

Did you also hear Buster Olney say that the Indians are officially in sell mode?

The Dipsy

By: The Little Guy

The Little Guy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:16:35 +0000

If anyone was watching Daily News Live, Murphy had some great points about Rollins and Charlie’s thinking about the “benching” and team meeting called.

By: The Dipsy

The Dipsy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:57:47 +0000

Atta guy, Miles.

The Dipsy

By: Miles

Miles — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:49:51 +0000

If we really think about it people, this isn’t as big of an issue as we are making it. At least the leadoff issue isn’t. JRoll struggling is a serious matter to the team and anything that can be done to stop the bleeding would be great. But a good leadoff hitter does not translate to a more successful team, just as a bad one does not translate to a bad team.

If you look around the league, good leadoff hitters are hard to find because the unique skills they often have so rarely pan out at the major league level. Look at Michael Bourn. The point is that you would rather have a full lineup of players that are better than your opponents, even if they don’t all fit into particular slots.

We can all agree on one thing. JRoll is so important to this team that we have 60 posts in response to his benching….on an off day. The guy is that crucial to this team and we all realize this.

By: Caleb

Caleb — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:06:23 +0000

It’s kind of weird, BJ Upton, Soriano, and Rollins are all struggling. They are very much alike lead-off hitters.