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Starting over with Dodgers, Rollins alters his swing

LOS ANGELES - Jimmy Rollins is fighting. The three-time all-star is fighting time, age, Los Angeles traffic and the manse ballparks of the National League West.

LOS ANGELES - Jimmy Rollins is fighting.

The three-time all-star is fighting time, age, Los Angeles traffic and the manse ballparks of the National League West.

But the title fight? That's his fight at the plate every day.

The Phillies' all-time hits leader simply isn't hitting right now. And hasn't been all season. The hits that used to come in bunches and go for extra bases are falling for outs. He can't pull the ball anymore, and he knows it. Rollins is batting .208.

So he has enlisted the help of his new team's hitting coaches, Mark McGwire and John Valentin. It's the middle of the season, but he has completely changed his swing.

Drastic? Maybe. But if he's going down, he's going down swinging. And he means that in both the literal and figurative senses.

"You're going to go down trying to do it your way," he said. "And if that way is successful, you can keep doing it. When it isn't, you have to try something new. You have to. If you're going to go down, go down and give yourself the best chance. I've been able to pick myself up."

With a revamped swing, he's confident that if he hasn't already picked himself up, he will soon. But it's not going to be easy. Not much has been since the Phillies traded him to L.A. in December.

In his first season with the Dodgers, he already has been through two rental homes and two different swings. There are myriad reasons why he says this season has been the most challenging of his career.

"I don't think you realize how much of an adjustment it is until you look back at the beginning," he said. "Looking back on it a little bit, I think, 'This was actually more of an adjustment than I thought.' "

Some things came naturally. Rollins grew up in Northern California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, so the West Coast still feels like home. He has seen his family more this season than he has in the last few combined.

The glove is still there, and there's an obvious chemistry between Rollins and his double-play partner, second baseman Howie Kendrick.

But he is far from the player he once was and still far from the only place he knew as his baseball home. Life in L.A. has been one big adjustment after another for the 36-year-old former Phillies hero.

The former MVP has been putting up less than MVP-caliber numbers. He has dipped below the Mendoza Line (.200) on a few occasions. At one point, the career leadoff hitter found himself batting ninth for the first time. It's hard to lock up the leadoff spot in a lineup that boasts Joc Pederson and Yasiel Puig - two of baseball's most explosive young talents - at the top of the order, but never in his 14-year National League career had he ever batted below the pitcher.

With the Dodgers' hot-hitting shortstop prospect Corey Seager believed to be close to major-league-ready, there have been calls for him to replace the aging veteran. But club management has never veered from its support of Rollins. Manager Don Mattingly said he has never heard a complaint and values Rollins' clubhouse leadership.

If you ask the Dodgers, they're confident that he'll turn a corner. If you ask Rollins, he's in the midst of the turn.

"Changing your swing in the middle of the season, you're going to have those days when you're not good. One day it's like, 'Wow, it worked,' and the next you're feeling lost because your body is trying to figure out what the heck you're asking it to do," he said. "Hopefully, I'm past all of that. I feel like I'm past all of that."

Rollins can still hit the sweet spot of an inside pitch, but pitchers are continually pitching him away. Without the ability to pull the ball anymore, the solution is to cover more of the ball. The result? A hot streak in which he hit nearly .300 through the last two weeks of June.

"The physical part? That part is easy," he said. "It's the mental [part]. Staying committed to it, that you're going to see through. And I've done that."

On Monday, Rollins will face the only other big-league team he has ever played for when the Phillies are in town for a four-game set. He said he hadn't thought about how he'll feel when he sees the familiar faces from the other dugout. Emotions can be dealt with later.

Rollins is aware of what's going on with his old club. Sometimes Ryan Howard tells him what's going on with his former team, but mostly his mother-in-law in New Jersey keeps him updated on the Phillies' ongoing saga. And he says that he can't say he didn't see this coming.

But that battle isn't his to fight. Not any more, at least.

Rollins is doing quite enough fighting of his own on the West Coast. He's betting on himself to win this bout.