The Return Of Rollins

“We’ll win 100 games.” Bold words from a guy who statistically over the past 2 seasons has not had the game to back his words. Phillies short stop Jimmy Rollins has a history of making bold predictions like his "Team to beat" comment directed solely at the New York Mets back in 2008. As Rollins enters into the final year of his contract, he knows that this is a critical year and that all eyes are going to be on him. Maybe this most recent comment is a self motivator for Rollins who knows that he needs to have a big year if he wants to remain a Phillie. In 88 games last year, Rollins hit just .243 with 8 HR and 41 RBI. In addition to being injured last year, I think one of the reasons Rollins struggled so greatly was because he didn’t really know his role in the line up. In years past Rollins was always the lead off guy no matter what. But last year he jumped around a lot and he was taken out of his comfort zone and his production dropped dramatically. In order for Rollins to have a bounce back year and produce offensively, Charlie has to bat Rollins lead off. As much as I like Shane Victorino, he is not a natural lead off hitter. Rollins can get on base a lot more and when he is hot and clicking, this team is almost impossible to beat. He doesn’t need to have an MVP season like 2007, but he definitely has to get on base more and at least hit .280 or better. Defensively, Rollins is still one of the best shortstops in the league. But this year is all about offense for Jimmy, and he needs to prove to this organization that he still has what it takes to get it done at the plate.