Over the next 28 days Philly Pressbox (https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com) (@phillypressbox) will be doing a review and analysis of each Phillies player, Manager Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff leading up to Opening Day 2012.  On Day 11 we preview Jimmy Rollins.

Jimmy Rollins – 2012 will mark the 12^th season for JRoll as the starting Phillies shortstop. The 33 year old Rollins is a former 2^nd round draft pick from 1996. He made his big league debut all the way back on September 17, 2000. Since that time, Rollins has done just about everything you can do as a Phillie. Although his style has never been that of your prototypical leadoff man he’s had great success. He has led the league in At Bats 4 times, runs scored once, triples 4 times and stolen bases once. He won the NL MVP in 2007, won a Silver Slugger Award for shortstops, he’s won 3 Gold Glove Awards, been named to 3 All Star teams and won a World Series and been to another. He has had over 200 hits one time, 212 in 2007. He has had over 190 hits in three other seasons.  The knock on JRoll as a leadoff hitter is that he doesn’t get on base enough and still strikes out too much even though his yearly strike out totals have decreased throughout his career. Last season he struck out 59 times. His On Base Percentage (OBP) is .329 for his career. As a comparison, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter’s career OBP is .383 while former Phils great Larry Bowa had a career .301 OBP. Jimmy currently holds nearly all of the career hitting records by a Phillies shortstops. He trails Bowa by 103 games played in his career. Barring injury he will pass that mark this season.

Personal Analysis:

JRoll is still “The Straw that Stirs the Drink” for the Phillies lineup. When Jimmy puts the ball in play by hitting ground balls or line drives on a consistent basis he sets the table for the middle of the lineup. At age 33, the Phils don’t need a power hitting shortstop, they need a guy who hits for contact, drives the ball in the gaps and is a pest on the bases while stealing 25-30 bases. Jimmy also needs to be patient at the plate, work the pitchers, and get on base by walking. In 2011 he matched his career high with 58 walks. Exceeding that number this year should be a goal for Rollins and for the Phillies. I’d like to see that number be at least 75 but that hasn’t been Jimmy’s style. Rollins will be solid on defense, as always, teaming with Chase Utley or whoever ends up playing 2^nd base. The Phils decision to sign Jimmy for the next 3 years means he will likely end his career in Philadelphia. He’s been a solid player throughout his career, the hope here is that it continues. We’ll predict a .270 season with 90 runs scored, 10 home runs, 55 RBI’s and 25 stolen bases.  

Tomorrow we will preview Placido Polanco.

The series: Day 1, Charlie Manuel. Day 2, The Coaching Staff. Day 3, Roy Halladay. Day 4, Cliff Lee. Day 5, Cole Hamels. Day 6, Vance Worley. Day 7, Joe Blanton. Day 8, Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz. Day 9, Ryan Howard. Day 10, Chase Utley.

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