Charlie Manuel made an interesting point Monday before the Phillies game when he was talking about the possibility of batting Jimmy Rollins 6th because of his home run power. For the record, Manuel said Rollins can be a 25-30 home run guy. He has 21 this season. Rollins won't bat sixth this year, obviously, because as Manuel said, Rollins is the Phillies' best leadoff hitter even if he does tend to swing for the fences.
This is also Manuel's concern if he were to move Rollins to a more power-producing spot in the lineup. "I wouldn’t want him to concentrate on hitting homers. I want him to get good fastballs to hit that he can drive through the ball. I wouldn’t want to emphasis him hitting more homers. I think he’s got 21, which means he can hit 25 or hit other spots in the lineup, like second, sixth or seventh. Depends on your team."
Contrast that with what Manuel said about Ryan Howard, who by the way has 57 home runs: "He’ll fall into a place where you start trying to hit them, that’s when you swing at bad balls. But he’s done a good job avoiding that. He comes to the ballpark every day and he practices the same way, has the same routine. When he won the HR derby, he stayed in the middle of what he did. He doesn’t try to hook balls or overswing. He’s a technique hitter for a big man."
Basically, the Phillies have a guy who is a decent power hitter in Rollins but tends to overswing trying to hit them, and a guy who's a tremendous home run hitter in Howard who doesn't overswing and hits them anyway.
Could be a lesson there.
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7 comments:
It's something to think about even if they win the wildcard because you're looking at either San Diego or St. Louis in the first round, and J-Roll's always hit Cardinal pitching well. Waiting for Pat Burrell to get the molasses out of his a** just won't cut it.
The only problem if the Phillies make the playoffs and move Rollins down to No. 6 is who leads off? Do you trust Victorino, in his first full season who has never done it in the majors before? He might end up being the leadoff man next year. But now? I don't know. Maybe Rowand can lead off if he's ready to come back. But he was a .260 hitter during the season and believe it or not, he walks less than Rollins.
I'm no fan of Rollins in the leadoff spot, but if the Phillies win the WC, it will be because of them playing well down the stretch.
I wouldn't think the Division Series would be a good time to mess with the lineup.
Outfield will be very interesting next year. Victorino should definately be in it somewhere, he's played well enough to earn a starting spot. The Burrell soap opera continues, and if he makes it through the offseason you have to figure that managment will probably give him a chance (again) to justify his fat contract. The new kid Michael Bourn has proven to be pretty efficient in the minors, so maybe he gets his shot. Rowand is a definate center fielder somewhere, but maybe he sees the resurgent youth movement and takes a contract out of Philly. He'll stay though, i think, if the Phils can guarantee him a better bat hitting behind him at 6 or 7 than what Bell was. If the bottom of the lineup doesnt improve over the offseason, then I think Rowands' a ghost.
Dellucci is probably gone.
Why talk about the future when the future, as George Allen put it, is now?
The Phillies will win the wild card if they get no more than two non-quality starts the rest of the way out. That's not impossible. And, if they win the wild card, they may make some serious noise in the post-season. Don't necessarily get Broad Street ready for a parade, but this team -- for the first time maybe since '93 -- looks and acts like a team that expects to win and gets perturbed (use a stronger word if you like) if it doesn't. Attitude can carry a team farther than it has the talent to go.
It's hard to imagine Rollins batting anywhere but leadoff for the rest of the season -- and playoffs, if the Phils make it -- especially since Victorino can hardly swing because of his left wrist injury.
That said, I can definitely see Charlie fiddling with the lineup in spring training, trying to find a way to utilize Rollins lower in the order. Here's the thing: Rollins has always seen himself as a leadoff hitter, and as much as he doesn't fit the prototype mold for that role, he is among the NL leaders in runs. In the truest sense, isn't that what you really want out of your leadoff guy -- to score runs?
Addressing Bob's point: The Phils are back in this race (leading it today, in fact) because of their pitching. And the rotation -- with Hamels, Myers, Lieber, Moyer and Wolf -- is stronger than it's been at any point in the season. It's certainly conceivable to think they could get no more than one non-quality start in the last 10 games. But the bigger concern has to be the bullpen. With Gordon just coming back from a shoulder strain and Rhodes probably done for the season, how confident are you in Geoff Geary, Ryan Madson and Rick White pitching the seventh and eighth innings.
Of course, more complete games like Myers gave them last night, the bullpen won't be a worry at all.
I think that White and Geary have done pretty good for the Phils. Madson, while I like him as a young pitcher, has been struggling lately. He either pitches great or he gets beat up. The scariest member of the bullpen to me has been Rhodes. How many games has he given up big hits late- too many.
Burrell is another story- you look at his production- 90 RBI's can't be discounted. 23 HR's, not as good as you'd like. The main problem with Burrell is lack of production in big spots. Yes he gets a key hit once in a while, but many times he's at the plate in a position to put games away and fails, leaving 2-3 guys on and keeping games close. A single could score enough runs to not have to worry about what pitcher is coming in for the 7th or 8th inning.
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