Rollins dropped from leadoff spot
Two days after expressing reluctance about dropping Jimmy Rollins from the top of the Phillies' lineup, manager Charlie Manuel has Rollins hitting fifth for tonight's game against the Dodgers.
Rollins dropped from leadoff spot
Daily News staff
Paul Hagen reporting:
Two days after expressing reluctance about dropping Jimmy Rollins from the top of the Phillies' lineup, manager Charlie Manuel has Rollins hitting fifth for tonight's game against the Dodgers.
Shane Victorino will bat leadoff.
Rollins pointed out that manager Charlie Manuel has dropped him down in the order before, but made it clear what his preference is.
“I’m a leadoff hitter," he said. "That’s what I do. It doesn’t matter what the numbers say. I’m going to produce. With all the power guys we’ve got in this lineup, it pretty much doesn’t make sense to keep me in a position down in the lineup, where my game is speed when I’m on.”
Here is the lineup:
Victorino, CF
Utley, 2B
Werth, RF
Howard, 1B
Rollins, SS
Ibanez, LF
Feliz, 3B
Ruiz, C
Park, P
Comments (25)
Guess it kinda worked :-) So cool watching Werth steal home!— KarenA- Winning the MVP aware a couple of years ago was the worse thing that happened to Rollins. Ever since then he swings for the fences. A leadoff man's job is to get on base anyway he can. Be it by walk, bunting for a base hit (which he never does), or by hitting the ball on the ground. It's hard to hit the ball on the ground when you swing from your heels. I really think his best days are way behind him. Might be time to look for a replacement.— MB2009
- JohnnySak ___ In the 55 yrs I have been a Phils fan there is one constant that never changes. Baseball is a game of "what have you done for me lately", not what you did last year. When a player is struggling it is one thing, but when he is impacting the team the way Jimmy is at the #1 spot something must be done about it until the situation changes. Charlie is one of the few managers who is reluctant to make changes to the line up without an injury. It is a short coming that other managers in the majors do not share. He also dislikes pressure from the outside to make such moves which has shown on his face last year when there were questions about his batting order. I can't say as I blame him but for God sakes its time to do something.— Wally 24
Comment removed.- Charlie Manuel is a smart smart smart man. I think he is the best manager in Phillies history. This guy knows baseball. He makes the right move no matter what the press says, or what he says TO the press. I can't get enough of him. Manager for LIFE.— Frank Lloyd Wrong
- this is the same reason Grady Sizemore is batting 3rd tonight for Cleveland. Charlie likes flip-flopping righties and lefties in his lineup, which explains why Ibanez is batting behind J Roll.— Crash Davis
- Most of you guys are fools; here's the deal. Even with the worst lead-off man in the majors (Rollins) and the worst starting pitching staff in the league, the Phils are still hanging in there. As soon as Jimmy gets going (and he will), and as soon as the starters turn around, the Phils will start to dominate. That will give Lidge more save opportunities.— JohnnySak
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- feliz will not be a .300 hitter all year first of all... Rollins will start to cry about being 5th... Rollins and Sheldon to zona for boldin??? just kidding relax..... Our pitching stinks and personally i think we should bring up marson asap— fman727
- Rollins is delusional. Leadoff hitters work counts, take walks, get on base. He does none of em— duffers
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- It stinks and when they stop pitching to Howard completely his "K's" will go up and average down. Then it will be Jimmy dragging down two players. I'll say it again!!! Anyone who thinks J-rolls problem are about the pitches he sees is out to lunch. HE IS LATE ON JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING HE SWINGS AT AND THIS ISN'T NEW and happened last year. The last thing he needs to be doing is trying to drive the ball and last time I checked that is the #5 hitters function. All this sounds like a built in excuse for failure so Charlie and Jimmy can say they tried something different and it didn't work. ..... Over the last week it is obvious they have worked with him. He has hit the ball solidly but mosty to someone. That will change if he continues to hit line drives and the singles, doubles, and triples will be there but if he goes back to using the legs to drive balls he takes a step backwards. Maybe tonights line up has two functions 1.) to get everyone off their backs about Rollins and 2.) to make sure Park is finished off for good.— Wally 24
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- here's the problem.. who's pitching?— AllDawk_AllTheTime
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- I actually thought a LaRussa-esque shift of Rollins to the 9th spot wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea. With Werth batting third, it already splits up the lefties, keeps Ruiz in his usual role of failing in front of the pitcher's spot in the order, and if Jimmy does manage to get on base would bring the top of the lineup around with a familiar feel.
- Rollins will thrive in five hole. (I think) He should see good pitches between Howard and Ibanez and plenty of RBI chances with will lead to confidence if he produces. This breaks up lefties too which will be beneficial. Werth has been tearing the cover off the ball lately and has earned a chance to bat third. Now lets just start pitching and we will be fine.— morandini12
- a lead off hitter only leads off once a game....but when his pitch selection is like Rollins he should bat 7th or 9th— goindeep23
- Any spot except the lead off spot or the 7th and 8th spot-where he is a below .250 hitter and won't see good pitches to hit- is good with me. He needs to be in the middle of the lineup to produce and/or come out of the slump. It seems he excels in pressure situations, like men on base, RISP etc. He is a .300 hitter batting 5th and 6th. Hitting between Howard and Ibañez he should get more good pitches to hit. With this lineup Charlie splits the lefties as well. I would rather see him flip flop Jimmy and Werth. That way he would have 4 LH hitters in a row to start the game against righties but this is also good.— EL Zorro
- Utley in the 2 hole, eh? He better hope Vic gets on a lot, or his RBI stats are going down the drain. Not that I think he'll be devastated if someone else is getting the "stats". He seems like he could care less what it says on the back of his bubble gum card...does anyone still call them that? That gum sure was terrible.— B in DC
you think feliz should be batting infront of ibanez? are you an idiot?— MPatt24- Wow! interesting....hope it works!— KarenA
- Yeah, that isn't a terrible lineup. Plus I like the brekaing up of the lefties. This is also a big spot for Werth.— ESFjellin
- Drop Rollins to the 7 spot.— Phandom
Good move. Having a switch hitter with speed and power in the 5 spot isn't a bad thing -- assuming Jimmy can get untracked.— jpk
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