Charlie Manuel loyal to Jimmy Rollins in Phillies' leadoff spot

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Spring is a great time to scout hitters and pitchers, but it is also a great time to scout Charlie Manuel, especially when it comes to the topics that might prompt a blowup or two from him during the regular season. We've already detailed one such topic, his contract situation. On Tuesday, the Phillies manager revealed another when he reacted testily to a question about whether Jimmy Rollins was still his leadoff hitter. It's a query that Manuel has fielded numerous times since December, when his front office acquired speedy centerfielder Ben Revere from the Twins. So numerous, in fact, that the skipper now seems to feel as if he is being cross-examined whenever the topic is broached.

"I don't think you guys ever see the value in Jimmy Rollins," Manuel said. "Really. Here's a guy, he's averaged 75 to 90 RBI a year. Pull his records out and look at them. That's what he averages. Last year he knocked in 68. He had 102 runs. And who's he knocking in when he's leading off? He's knocking in the eighth and the ninth hitter . . . And why does he knock them in? Because he can hit doubles and triples and homers. He hits extra-base hits. Those guys usually are not good runners. They are slow. They are not good baserunners, so to get those RBIs, who knocks them in?"

Manuel has reason to be defensive. After a season in which he persistently swatted away questions about the possibility of moving Juan Pierre to the leadoff spot, he knows darn well that a healthy contingent of the metro Philadelphia area would like to see somebody other than Rollins at the top of the lineup. In fact, it sounds like a few members of that contingent work for the Phillies. At a banquet in Bethlehem a couple of weeks ago, Ruben Amaro Jr. was asked if he had an ideal lineup spot in mind for Revere. He said yes, but declined to identify the spot. When asked if the spot was the same spot that Manuel envisions, Amaro smiled and said, "I'm not going to tell you that, either." A few minutes later, Manuel mentioned that some members of the organization think that Revere could score 120 runs atop the Phillies' lineup, then launched into a vehement defense of keeping Rollins there.

Manuel's rationale then sounded a lot like it did on Tuesday, albeit presented in a manner that did not so strongly betray his sense of persecution about the matter. But you can't blame the guy for taking offense, because when he says that people do not appreciate everything that Rollins does as a leadoff hitter, he is correct, and yet people use such statements to portray Manuel as some kind of dummy who relies solely on loyalty and muscle memory to fill out a lineup card every night.

Fact is, Revere's career on-base percentage is .319, which is lower than the marks that Rollins has posted in two of the last three seasons. The .316 OBP that Rollins posted in 2012 means that he reached base 12 fewer times than Revere would have given the same number of plate appearances and the .333 OBP Revere recorded last year. But those 12 extra times on base would have created 71 fewer total bases because of Rollins' significant edge in extra-base hits. Rollins finished last season with more home runs alone than Revere's total extra base hits.

So yeah, Manuel resents the suggestion that he should already be contemplating bumping his longtime leadoff hitter down in the lineup. Which is fascinating, because just 15 minutes before the manager's diatribe, Rollins sat on a picnic table outside of Bright House Field and said he would not have a problem with moving out of the leadoff spot. While he acknowledged that a spot atop the order mattered to him more in previous seasons, the 34-year-old veteran said Tuesday that his only concern this season is playing in all 162 games.

"There are more important things, like winning," said Rollins, who added that he has accumulated more wisdom and perspective about such matters as he has aged. "You don't do it for a year, and it's whatever it takes" to return to winning.

So he'd be OK batting somewhere other than No. 1?

"I don't have a choice," he said, adding that he and Manuel have "talked about it. Because I know there will be days when, as Charlie always does, he will change the lineup . . . but there's not going to be too many lineup changes."

He even said Revere - whom he referred to as "Tootsie Pop" - would make a good leadoff hitter.

"Yeah, he's definitely a leadoff hitter from what I've seen playing against him in spring training," Rollins said. "He was batting second last year behind [Denard] Span in Minnesota, but he can definitely do it. He's a fun guy, excitable, steals bases, doesn't get thrown out. Those are things you have to do to find ways to score runs. When you're there, you find out who you are as a leadoff hitter and what you do, and him getting a chance to play every single day in a different division, he'll rediscover who he is and what he needs to do in this league to be successful."

As it stands right now, though, Rollins is better suited to bat leadoff for the Phillies. And Manuel doesn't give a damn what you think about it.