Don't worry about Rollins yet
Jimmy Rollins has slumped before.
Don't worry about Rollins yet
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Sixty years ago, they made a baseball movie called “It Happens Every Spring.” The plot is a fantasy, about a chemist who accidentally discovers a formula that repels wood and then becomes a pitcher who puts his potion to work for fun and profit. And, no, they didn’t test for the potion back then (or HGH, for that matter).
It happens every spring. There is no evidence that Jimmy Rollins has ever seen the movie, but he clearly knows the effects it describes. Pretty much every season he has been in the major leagues, Rollins has endured a long slump in the first half of the season. (There are a couple in the middle of the season, too.) At least one of them was worse than what Rollins had done so far this year, but there really have been a bunch of them.
It is why there no reason to worry yet.
Spend a half-hour with a strong cup of coffee and baseball-reference.com and you can do the same thing. It is a Rollins trait, these slumps. I tried to pick out time periods that approximate the 131 plate appearances that Rollins has had so far this season.
With that, here are the numbers:
DATES PA AVG HR RBI
April 5 to May 10, 2009 131 .195 1 9
May 18 to June 14, 2008 123 .231 2 9
June 18 to July 25, 2008 135 .228 0 10
May 4 to June 3, 2007 126 .214 0 12
April 13 to May 18, 2006 140 .199 4 11
April 19 to May 19, 2009 125 .203 3 8
April 5 to May 13, 2004 128 .209 0 6
May 21 to June 24, 2002 132 .180 1 8
June 18 to August 3, 2002 187 .157 3 17
Again, Rollins is slumping and it is worse than most of the slumps cited above (but not all). But history says it happens to him, and that he’ll pull out of it, and that he’ll end up hitting about .270 or so by the time they fill in the last line on the 2009 scorebook.
Worry if it lasts another 2 or 3 weeks. Not yet.
I will agree not to worry about Rollins as long as I CAN worry about Lidge. He is looking like the post-Pujols Astros version - a lost look in the eye, poor pitch location, slider not working as well, etc.— dick k- don't look now, but Utley is batting .208 for the month of May. thanks, in no small part, to the bone bruise delivered in the HBP from the Mut's Mike Pelfrey on May 1. inquiring minds: how serious is this? and how long will it last? hardly a word in print from those covering the team.— defg0003
- Best SS in Phillies history, but his best year (07) is behind him. He's still a top-5 SS. But, he'll be more Omar V. than Cal R. for the rest of his career. Too bad, because if he focused on hitting for power, he'd be Jimmy Wynn reborn.— Bake McBride
- Has Rich Hofmann ever written an article critical of the Phillies?— duffers
- Rollins is 24/123. If he ends the season hitting .270, that means, assuming he gets 600 AB's, he'll finish with 162 hits. That'll give him an average of .289 the rest of the way. I can live with that, especially if he continues playing Gold Glove caliber SS.— joe$
- Here I was feeling all right about the guy and prepared to say something bright and positive here. Until I read the posting by 'Mark1pt' that is. That REALLY bums me out. Now I'm going to be worried about the guy for the rest of the year. I guess the only bright spot to talk about is his defense, because that remains the linchpin of his usefulness to this team. I don't care if he has to bat 8th, you NEED his glove out there. Also, I think that it is times like these that make Charley miss his great bench coach, Jimy Williams, that helped him iron out situations like this.— TBear
- Awl - I said "currently terrible". Doesn't mean it isn't going to get better...maybe someone else said just plain "terrible", but I don't see it. And dch27 - good point on conditioning. Someone's obviously doing it, since the majority of our starting pitchers are "currently" getting shelled by guys who had the same spring training as our guys.— B in DC
- I feel like its starting to be too easy to excuse a bad performance on these springtime slumps. These athletes should prepare themselves to be ready for the season. It shouldn't take them 2 months to heat up. It's just as important to win games now as it is to win them in september. Maybe jroll should stop swinging at the first pitch and learn how to hustle on ground balls.— dch27
- Did somebody really say that his fielding makes him a 'decent' player? Are we that spoiled after last year that Rollins is now considered just decent? He's still the best SS this team has ever had and he is still the leader of this team. A 3 month slump 7 seasons ago has you worried? I think you need to change your name from Braniac, it really does not fit you.— smfree31
Comment removed.- Wow, someone actually did some research...nice work.— JimG
- Have a beer. Take a pitch. Hit to right/left.
- The minute Rollins hurt his ankle last season, I warned everyone on this board that he would never again be the offensive player we had come to expect. Believe me, I take no joy in that. I am as big a Phan as there is, but from a purely medical standpoint and looking at his advancing age, it was clear to me (as a medical practitioner) that his best years were behind him. It's a shame, but it's nature and you can't change it....unless......he hooks up with some of Barry's and ARod's friends.— Mark1npt
- Do people realize that starting pitchers only pitch every 5 days? Cole had a good quality start his last game and so did Myers (even though we lost). Park also had an impressive outting against the Mets, but we'll have to see what he does tonight since he's been inconsistent. Moyer and in a sense Blanton could be problems, but overall, I don't think the starting pitching is "terrible". They were really bad in the beginning of the year, but it seems like they are starting to get their grove back. I get the feeling that Happ will start soon, but some of you sound as if starting pitching should be fixed overnight. It takes a week for each player to pitch at least once and evaluate. I saw signs of promise the past week, although not where everyone needs to be. But I'm still encouraged.— awl
- starting pitching is obviously very important, but if Myers only gives up only 1 run and the team still loses because of the hitting. Bullpen gave up 3, but hitting is still an issue. Not saying they need to get 10 runs a game, but when the team scores runs, there's less pressure on the pitchers. When Myers (our PITCHER) draws a walk and then Rollins swings at the first pitch and pops up, it's absolutely maddening! Especially since Victorino right after him draws a walk. Baseball is not played in a vacuum. Both pitching and hitting are required to win games. Right now, Rollins is a big part of the reason why we're not scoring runs.— awl
- For all I care, he can hit .125 in the first seven innings if he gets big hits in the eighth and ninth. It's not like the currently terrible starting pitching is going to hold a lead from the first inning anyway. He'll probably hit .400 in June and we'll all have to shut up until the next slump rolls around.— B in DC
- A ss hitting 270 with a great glove is not good enough??????? Since when?— pattymac3
- Personally, I love Rollins...long-time Phillie, class act for the most part. But I wonder if he's even an everyday player anymore. His OPS since the end of 2007 is in the low 700s, below average for anyone, but certainly for a leadoff guy. I suppose he's earned the rest of 2009 to be the everyday shortstop, but I'm thinking that he's prematurely close to being done. Unless there's a sudden turnaround, I see 2010 (he's signed through then) as his last year here. And before that time, it may be wise to give Iron Pigs SS/prospect, Jason Donald, a look beyond a few innings in late September. It's time to start the concept of moving on without JRoll, unfortunately.— saLvo_PHL
- don't worry becuase he might hit .270 again? since when is .270 good enough? the guy was good in 2007. every other year, he drives us kinda crazy. his fielding still makes him a decent player, but not the kind you love to see leading off an inning. the fact that he almost always goes through a slump that lasts at least a month is already known, that doesn't make it alright. by the way, look at 2002. you list 2 slumps that only overlap a few days meaning it was a nearly 3 MONTH SLUMP of batting .170! we cannot afford that.— Brainiac
- I don't care how many home runs he hits, I'd just like to see him get on base. I'd like to see him be more patient at the plate and draw some more walks if he hasn't found his hitting stroke yet.— esesjay
- I never was worried about him. Some teams will pay for this slump and when I look at this years defense, to me one of the best in baseball and I don't see Jimmy out there that bothers me. Look at all 8 guys we now have playing and tell me we our great defense will not not be responsible for winning a lot of games.You might think of moving him down but as a fan I never want him removed until he gets his stroke back. Jimmy feels the pain believe me.— pattymac3
- the only three things to be concerned with: starting pitching, starting pitching, starting pitching... besides Cole - do you feel confident with anyone who starts? nothing else matters.— AllDawk_AllTheTime
- I still think he should be dropped in the lineup, even if it's just until he gets out of the slump. No need to hurt the value of the lead-off position until Rollins gets it in gear. By the way, the number of HR's Rollins hit since his MVP season in '07? 12. I don't think he's going to duplicate anything near that season again.— awl
- All your historic stats are great, unfortunately, his annual slump is compounded by faulty pitching and the rest of the offense being erratic. The rest of the team is not picking up the slack. One final thought--when Howard or Utley slump, the fans can fell their pain. Rollins acts like he's having a stroll in the park. He has a crappy attitude.— Tomme
