Monthly Archives: March 2014

March 23, 2014

Team Offense, Miami Marlins

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The series on team offense concludes with the Miami Marlins. The Marlins finished last in the majors in 2013 with 3.17 runs scored per game. That’s over half a run less per game than the 29th place team.

The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Mike Redmond may use is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. For Casey McGehee and Rafael Furcal, I used the average of the three projections on theirFanGraphs pages. For the pitchers, I used the Marlins actual 2013 numbers. That information produces the following results:

  • Best lineup: 4.31
  • Probable lineup: 4.07
  • Worst lineup: 3.67
  • Regressed lineup: 3.89

I was a little surprised the probable lineup was so far off from the optimum lineup. The LAT likes a high OBP and slugging percentage in the number four hitter, and Garrett Jones only offers power. Otherwise, the lineup the LAT produces looks similar, with every one moved up a spot and Furcal batting ninth instead of leadoff.

The Marlins did not stand pat, although they did not make many bold moves. Furcal and McGehee did not play in the majors in 2013, so we’ll see how they do after missing a season. Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Garrett Jones add power to the lineup, but at the cost of outs. Still, if they stay healthy, this should be a much better squad than in 2013. Much better, however, may not be that good.

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March 23, 2014

Team Offense, Chicago White Sox

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The series on team offense continues with the Chicago White Sox. The pale hose finished twenty ninth in the majors and last in the American League in 2013 with 3.69 runs scored per game.

The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Robin Ventura may use is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. For Jose Abreu, I used the average of the four projections on his FanGraphs page. That information produces the following results:

  • Best lineup: 4.51
  • Probable lineup: 4.43
  • Worst lineup: 4.28
  • Regressed lineup: 4.16

The LAT presents a very different different lineup than Ventura uses, but the results are pretty close. The one batting slot in agreement between the two is the seventh slot with Connor Gillaspie. There are similarities, however. Adam Eaton ninth and Alejandro de Aza first is close to batting the pair in that order 1-2. Ventura puts Jose Abreu third and Adam Dunn fourth, while the LAT has them fourth and fifth.

Apart from the iffy projection of Abreu, there isn’t a lot of hitting talent in the lineup. Adam Eaton showing the kind of skills he owned in the minors would certainly make this a better offensive squad.

I would not expect much from this batting order in 2014.

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March 23, 2014

Team Offense, Chicago Cubs

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The series on team offense continues with the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs finished twenty eighth in the majors and fourteenth in the National League in 2013 with 3.72 runs scored per game.

The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Rick Renteria may use is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. For the pitchers, the actual Cubs numbers from 2013 were used. That information produces the following results:

  • Best lineup: 4.16
  • Probable lineup: 3.96
  • Worst lineup: 3.69
  • Regressed lineup: 3.80

The Cubs are the first team analyzed in this survey with the probable lineup below 4.00 runs per game. There is upside in the lineup, as Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo, and Junior Lake have not reached their primes yet. Castro presents the biggest problem. He will play 2014 as a 24 year old, but already spent significant time in the majors. With over 2600 plate appearances in the majors, his projection doesn’t get regressed much toward the league mean. His .323 OBP and .411 slugging percentage do not present star material. Combined with his mental lapses on the field, I wonder how long the Cubs will continue to play him every day and at the top of the order.

Rizzo’s overall batting line from 2013 doesn’t look that great, but he does draw walks and hit for power. I don’t think Cubs fans expected Rob Deer, however. Lake’s minor league numbers don’t present much hope for a great major league career.

Many of the other “young” players in the lineup are quickly approaching the end of their prime years. The chance for this particular group to play like champions is fading. Northside fans have to hope these poor finishes by the team are stocking the farm system with players who will complement Castro and Rizzo when they reach their primes, it they manage to hit like stars.

It looks like the championship drought will continue for another season at Wrigley.

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March 23, 2014

Team Offense, Philadelphia Phillies

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The series on team offense continues with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies finished tied for twenty sixth in the majors and thirteenth in the National League in 2013 with 3.77 runs scored per game.

The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Ryne Sandberg may use is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. For the pitchers, the actual Phillies numbers from 2013 were used. That information produces the following results:

  • Best lineup: 4.35
  • Probable lineup: 4.14
  • Worst lineup: 3.87
  • Regressed lineup: 3.94

Sandberg does the best he can with the lineup, since at this point it lacks talent. He won’t lead-off with Carlos Ruiz, but he shouldn’t bat him that far down in the order, either. It seems the veteran Phillies players are set in their lineup slots, and their diminished talent is being ignored.

What I do find interesting is that the Phillies and Astros ended the 2013 season with the same number of runs scored in the same number of games. The Phillies, however, averaged about five years older than the Astros. While Houston is a young offense entering prime years, the Phillies are an old offense in their decline phase. Houston has a good chance to perform better this season, while the Philles will likely decline. One thing that might help is the development of Cody Asche. He hit decently well in the minors. While he doesn’t look like a star, he might be okay. None of the FanGraphs projections have him doing that well, however.

Don’t expect a lot of runs from the Phillies this year.

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March 23, 2014

Team Offense, Houston Astros

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The series on team offense continues with the Houston Astros. The Astros finished tied for twenty sixth in the majors and fourteenth in the American League in 2013 with 3.77 runs scored per game.

The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Bo Porter may use is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. That information produces the following results:

  • Best lineup: 4.78
  • Probable lineup: 4.71
  • Worst lineup: 4.52
  • Regressed lineup: 4.37

The lineup Porter uses agrees with the LAT at a number of key points. The leadoff, cleanup, and ninth slots are in sync with the LAT, helping Porter come close to the optimum. Even Jose Altuve appears as the second hitter in a few of the top twenty lineups.

The Astros did not stand pat as they added Dexter Fowler. Fowler projects to be much better than anyone on the Astros last season, but those numbers should be taken with a big grain of salt. Fowler got a huge boost from Coors Field during his career with the Rockies. The Marcels don’t take into account stadiums, and his numbers likely will get knocked down.

On the other hand, the Astros hitters were extremely young in 2013, less than 26 years old as a group. They are maturing together into their primes, and so we should see some improvement as they become more mature major league players.

I like the people running the Houston front office, so expect to see a nice improvement from the team this year.

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March 23, 2014

Team Offense, Minnesota Twins

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The series on team offense continues with the Minnesota Twins. The Twins finished twenty fifth in the majors and thirteenth in the American League in 2013 with 3.79 runs scored per game.

The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Ron Gardenhire may use is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. That information produces the following results:

  • Best lineup: 4.55
  • Probable lineup: 4.47
  • Worst lineup: 4.28
  • Regressed lineup: 4.18

The Twins look like they will be a horrible offensive team. They are so bad that the LAT agrees with Ron Gardenhire that the two worst hitters on the team should bat eighth and ninth, Kurt Suzuki and Pedro Florimon. Usually, there is a second lead-off type that can fit into the ninth hole, but outside of Joe Mauer and Josh Willingham, the Twins do a poor job of getting on base.

I assume that starting Kurt Suzuki over rookie Josmil Pinto has to do with defense. I’ll buy that, but why isn’t Pinto given a chance to DH? Here’s the explanation:

“I’m not looking for a DH candidate in a catcher,” says Gardenhire. “I need two catchers. If I have that then I’m going to need three catchers and I don’t want to do that.”

Gardenhire is scared of losing the DH in the event that Suzuki would get hurt and Pinto would need to go in for him. I guess that could happen, and it could be problematic…

At this point, there’s not much of a difference between having Suzuki batting or the pitcher. Ron will need to pinch hit anyway. I’d love to see Pinto get more at bats. Musings Marcels project Pinto to a .289/.353/.463 slash line. Substituting Pinto for Jason Kubel straight up gets the projected lineup to 4.56 runs per game. Putting him in for Suzuki gets it up to 4.62 runs per game. It’s one or two wins over a season at the projection. If Pinto turns out to be a .400 OBP hitter, that could go higher.

Don’t expect much from this offense.

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March 23, 2014

Team Offense, San Diego Padres

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The series on team offense continues with the San Diego Padres. The Padres finished twenty fourth in the majors and twelfth in the National League in 2013 with 3.81 runs scored per game.

The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Bud Black may use is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. For the pitchers, the actual stats for the Padres in 2013 were used. That information produces the following results:

  • Best lineup: 4.46
  • Probable lineup: 4.28
  • Worst lineup: 3.92
  • Regressed lineup: 4.05

The one thing that strikes me as out of character for the Padres line-up is Will Venable batting second. In his career, Venable never displayed an ability to get on base, and as he crosses the barrier into his 30’s, that’s not likely to get better. He did show a surge in power in 2013, which would be more useful lower in the lineup. I did notice Chase Headley batting second a few games ago, so maybe that is where the Padres are headed. In fact, removing Venable and moving the players up a slot would give San Diego a sequence of Everth Cabrera, Chase Headley, Carlos Quentin, Yonder Alonso, Jedd Gyorko, and Seth Smith, which the LAT likes a lot. The Padres have a decent chance of performing better offensively in 2014.

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March 23, 2014 March 22, 2014

Team Offense, New York Mets

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The series on team offense continues with the New York Mets. The Mets finished twenty third in the majors and eleventh in the National League in 2013 with 3.82 runs scored per game.

The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Terry Collins may use is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. For the pitchers, the actual stats for the Mets in 2013 were used. That information produces the following results:

  • Best lineup: 4.25
  • Probable lineup: 4.03
  • Worst lineup: 3.65
  • Regressed lineup: 3.86

Despite the addition of Curtis Granderson, the Mets appear to be headed to another poor offensive season. There’s nothing wrong with Collins’s lineup, as he agrees with the LAT on Granderson batting cleanup, Chris Young batting sixth, and Travis d’Arnaud batting seventh. Collins gets the top five bottom four split right. There just isn’t that much talent on the team right now.

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March 22, 2014

Dodgers Take the Opener

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The Dodgers defeated the Diamondbacks 3-1 behind the fine pitching of Clayton Kershaw and the power of Scott Van Slyke. Kershaw walked one and struck out seven in 6 2/3 innings of work, allowing an earned run. Van Slyke doubled to set up the first run on a hit that the wind prevented from leaving the park, then hit a two-run homer to ice the game. He also drew a walk to start the season with a .667/.750/2.000 slash line.

Wade Miley pitched out of character, walking two and striking out eight in his five innings of work. He’s usually more of a control pitcher than a K-King. He takes the loss as he allowed all three runs. The teams will go to bed, then play game two in the Australian afternoon, 10 PM EDT today.

March 22, 2014

Letting Kershaw Pitch

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I was somewhat surprised that Clayton Kershaw batted in the seventh inning with a 3-1 lead and about 90 pitches thrown. It sort of worked, as he singled. He was too aggressive running the bases, however, and he failed to stretch the hit into a double. It looks like he’ll throw a little over 100 pitches in his first start of the season, despite a short spring training.

As I’m watching the game “plausibly live”, the Dodgers lead the Diamondbacks 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh.

Update: With two out and a runner on in the bottom of the seventh, Kershaw reaches 101 pitches and comes out of the game. He allowed one run so far and five hits.

Update: Chris Perez comes in and gets the last out of the inning. Kershaw starts the season with a very nice outing.

March 22, 2014

Trumbo Fools Everyone

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Scott Van Slyke hit a fly ball to deep left-center in the top of the second inning. The ball looked gone, as Mark Trumbo climbed the fence to try to catch it. The announcers thought it was gone, I thought it was gone, but the ball hit the bottom of the fence for a double. I wonder if the weather conditions knocked the ball down at the last minute, or if Trumbo’s poor defense just fooled everyone.

Update: The wind is really blowing in, they just showed the flags blowing in. The Australian sideline commentator compared this park to Wrigley Field, where the wind blowing in or out can change the characteristics of the park.

The Dodgers score the first run of the season after the double put runners on second and third with none out, and Adrian Gonzalez scores on a one-out ground out.

Update: Scott Van Slyke and Adrian Gonzalez combine for two more runs in the fourth. Gonzalez reaches on a strikeout plus wild pitch, then Van Slyke takes the ball the other way, just clearing the fence down the right-field line for a home run. The Dodgers lead 3-0, and Van Slyke owns half a cycle.

March 22, 2014 March 21, 2014

Team Offense, Seattle Mariners

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The series on team offense continues with the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners finished twenty second in the majors and twelfth in the American League in 2013 with 3.85 runs scored per game.

The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Lloyd McClendon may use is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. That information produces the following results:

  • Best lineup: 4.72
  • Probable lineup: 4.65
  • Worst lineup: 4.51
  • Regressed lineup: 4.32

This is another team with consistent talent throughout the lineup, so there is little difference between the best and worst batting orders. McClendon puts Dustin Ackley, Kyle Seager, and Robinson Cano in the right order, just 1-2-3 instead of 9-2-1.

One feature of the LAT involves the third hitter in the lineup. Normally, this is one of the best hitters on the team. The LAT likes Logan Morrison there, someone with decent power who doesn’t get on base much. With good OBPs at 9-2-1, Morrison’s power would be useful driving in those players. Since Morrison is unlikely to lead-off an inning until the third or the fourth, his low OBP won’t hurt table setting that much. It would be tough to implement, since the third slot is rather coveted by the better hitters.

The addition of Cano, plus the maturation of some of the younger players should make the Mariners a much more formidable offense.

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March 21, 2014

Game of the Day

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It’s March 22 in Sydney, Australia as the Dodgers play the visitors the the Diamondback home team as the NL West rivals open the major league baseball season. They play a night game Sydney time, then a Sunday afternoon game, although both start on March 22 in the US.

Clayton Kershaw takes on Wade Miley in the season opener. Kershaw easily owns the best ERA in the majors over the last three seasons (300 IP minimum). His three true outcomes are all outstanding, his extremely low home run rate and K rate leading to allowing 189 fewer hits than innings pitched over that time, with the third highest innings total.

Miley’s strength lies in his control walking just 2.49 batters per nine innings in his three-year career. Miley is selective with his walks, however, using them to try to avoid tough situations. With runners in scoring position, his batting average allowed stands at .243, compared to .262 overall, but his OBP allowed with RISP goes up to .319 from a .313 average. He doesn’t issue many intentional walks, but he will pitch around batters to try to avoid a big hit.

Enjoy!

March 21, 2014

Team Offense, San Francisco Giants

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The series on team offense continues with the San Francisco Giants. The Giants finished twenty first in the majors and tenth in the National League in 2013 with 3.88 runs scored per game.

The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Bruce Bochy may use is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. For the pitchers, the actual numbers from 2013 were used. That information produces the following results:

  • Best lineup: 4.56
  • Probable lineup: 4.32
  • Worst lineup: 3.94
  • Regressed lineup: 3.96

Bochy’s line-up looks good, although the LAT doesn’t agree with it much. He groups his high OBP hitters together well, although I would probably bat Angel Pagan seventh and move everyone else up one slot. That would put Buster Posey third in the lineup and guarantee he would bat in the first innings.

Mike Morse sits right where he should be behind the better OBP hitters. With most of his value coming from his power, Morse is better at the end of an offensive series than trying to start one. He could end up with quite a few RBI this year if he stays healthy, as he should come up with a ton of men on base.

The Giants might end up less dependent on their pitching this season, a more balanced team. That would make their third world title in five years a bit more likely.

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March 21, 2014

I Can Dream, Can’t I?

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I’m looking forward to a Harvard-Stanford game in the final four. If nothing else, it would be an awesome battle of the bands. The Harvard Band invented the half-time show, and the Stanford Band lost a football game!

March 21, 2014 March 21, 2014

The Price of Advertising

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Advertisers appear to be getting upset about sky-rocketing prices for sports commercials.

As one of the last bastions of DVR-proof TV, the price of sports — from the prices paid by marketers for sponsorships and 30-second ads to TV rights paid by media companies — continues to climb. But it’s rare for marketers to publicly declare they’re reaching the end of their rope. And to threaten to move their ad dollars away from sports media and into cheaper social and digital marketing.

We’ll see. I suspect it will be tough for someone to take that first step.

March 21, 2014 March 21, 2014

Never Count a Team Out at the Start of the Season

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I like this idea by Tom Tango:

BPro ran simulations where they had the Astros winning the World Series 0.4% of the time. What I’d like to see is someone run the Diamond Mind simulations, and stop at the first one where the Astros win the World Series. And then show us what the player stats were for the regular season. That is, show us what it takes for good breaks to beat out bad breaks sufficiently so the Astros win the World Series.

It might be useful to look at all such simulations in which the Astros win the division. It could be that the Astros good breaks were not that big, but the other teams in the AL West caught lots of bad ones. Do good breaks with the pitching staff help more or less than good breaks for the hitters? It’s a great area of study for someone with the time.

March 20, 2014

Timing Steals

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Via BBTF, Ben Lindbergh rounds up his thoughts from the 2014 SABR Analytics conference. Baseball Info Solutions has been timing the elements of the stolen base:

The average right-handed pitcher’s delivery time on a stolen base attempt since 2012 is 1.43 seconds. The average run time to second on a steal with a righty on the mound is 3.52 seconds. (Billy Hamilton had the fastest average time last season, at 3.31.) The average catcher’s pop time since 2011 is 1.95 seconds, and 27 percent of stolen base attempts don’t lead to catchable throws (either the catcher doesn’t attempt to catch the runner, or he throws the ball into center). To produce a 50 percent caught stealing rate, the ball has to get to the glove of the player covering second 0.20-0.25 seconds before the runner arrives—if it gets there at the same time, the runner is safe 88 percent of the time. The most important takeaway: The pitcher has a greater impact on stolen base success rates than the catcher.

Which we suspected. Obviously, the catcher’s arm does matter, especially the accuracy, so if a catcher can shave 0.01 seconds off a throw to second, he’ll catch more runners. I do wonder if BIS is measuring pitcher deception. Delivery time is important, but if the pitcher can delay the start of the runner by a 0.1 second, that would be significant.

There is plenty of interesting ideas peppered throughout the article. I’ll also mention this:

How granular is baseball data going to get?

During his BIOf/x unveiling, Goldbeck said that we’re “just going to keep drilling down further until there’s nothing left.” The question, then, is how much further we have to go until we get to that point. As Christina Kahrl asked a number of attendees, is sabermetrics still revolutionary, or have we reached a more evolutionary stage in which incremental progress is all we can expect?

My guess? We have a long way to go before we run out of discoveries to make and drilling down to do.

At one time the atom was believed to be the smallest unit of matter. The atom was made up of smaller units, and those in turn were made of smaller units, and the more we keep smashing those units into each other, the more they break apart. We haven’t reached supercollider levels with the data yet.

March 20, 2014

Chapman Struck

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Via Getting Blanked, Aroldis Chapman took a line drive off his head Wednesday night:

The moment occurred in the sixth inning of an otherwise typical Cactus League game that was called immediately after. Chapman was taken to a local hospital. Cincinnati manager Bryan Price told reporters he suffered a laceration and a contusion above his left eye. He never lost consciousness and was able to communicate, but the incident still haunted both clubs.

Later reports indicated Chapman suffered a fracture above his left eye and would be kept at Phoenix’s Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center overnight for observation.

Upon impact, the baseball cracked Chapman’s skull and rebounded back toward third-base line. Perez placed his hands on his helmet before he reached first. He hunched at the waist, and walked toward the growing crowd surrounding Chapman. Blood pooled on the mound.

We can pretty much assume Chapman won’t be playing for a while. Often time is needed for swelling to ease so doctors can accurately gauge the injury. Here’s my wishes for a quick recovery.

As for the Reds, it really doesn’t change the team that much. Since Chapman was never converted to a starter, the Cincinnati just needs to figure out who can take the 60 innings in save situations. The bullpen is full of power arms, so they should be okay.

There is video at the link.

March 19, 2014

Team Offense, Pittsburgh Pirates

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The series on team offense continues with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates finished twentieth in the majors and ninth in the National League in 2013 with 3.91 runs scored per game.

The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Clint Hurdle may use is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. For the pitchers, the actual numbers from 2013 were used. That information produces the following results:

  • Best lineup: 4.43
  • Probable lineup: 4.17
  • Worst lineup: 3.81
  • Regressed lineup: 3.96

Since no team would lead-off with Andrew McCutchen, I can’t fault Hurdle for this lineup. There’s not that much to work with. The Pirates basically decided to stand pat with their batters, when in fact there is plenty of room for improvement. There’s not much power, but only Pedro Alvarez is a real out machine. He does supply some needed power, however. The seem to have the Rays philosophy of inching along the bases with one big hitter. The Rays, however, are bringing along Wil Myers, while the Pirates don’t have the second big bat to go with McCutchen.

The regressed runs per game looks very much like the Pirates 2013 over all number. Once again, this team will be dependent on their pitching.

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March 19, 2014

Team Offense, Milwaukee Brewers

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The series on team offense continues with the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers finished nineteenth in the majors and eighth in the National League in 2013 with 3.95 runs scored per game.

The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Ron Roenicke may use is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. That information produces the following results:

  • Best lineup: 4.98
  • Probable lineup: 4.77
  • Worst lineup: 4.46
  • Regressed lineup: 4.41

Roenicke gets the order of Jean Segura, Scooter Gennett, and Ryan Braun right, although the LAT likes them 9-1-2 instead of 1-2-3. Overall, I’m impressed with this lineup, as almost all the hitters project to post good OBPs. There is a bit of uncertainty, however, as Segura, Gennett, and Khris Davis don’t have that many MLB plate appearances under their belts. Given what they’ve done so far, and their young ages, the Marcels may prove to be a floor for that group.

I like this team to score a lot of runs in 2014, especially if they can keep Braun in the lineup for 160 games.

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March 19, 2014

Transformation

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Nice video here of the Sydney Cricket Ground transformation into a baseball field. The field is so large, the playing surface for baseball does not use the entire grass area. Even with boundaries, this should play a bit like the Oakland Coliseum.

Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt pointed to the abundant space around the infield and behind home plate, which he said is just something players will have to adjust to, in the same way they re-set their perceptions for all ballparks.

Look for a few foul pop outs in the games later this week.

March 18, 2014

Team Offense, Kansas City Royals

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The series on team offense continues with the Kansas City Royals. The Royals finished eighteenth in the majors and eleventh in the American League in 2013 with 4.00 runs scored per game.

The CBSSports.com projected lineup that Ned Yost may use is plugged into the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) using Musings Marcels as the batter projections. That information produces the following results:

  • Best lineup: 4.80
  • Probable lineup: 4.73
  • Worst lineup: 4.52
  • Regressed lineup: 4.38

The projections show the Royals with five hitters projecting to very good OBPs and/or slugging percentages. For some reason, however, Yost appears to be sticking Omar Infante in the number two slot. That’s pretty much the only mistake in the lineup, however, so Ned does get about 75% of the way to the optimum lineup. I like Norichika Aoki, and the heart of Eric Hosmer, Billy Butler, and Alex Gordon, although I might bat Gordon second.

This should be a big year for the Royals offense. Six of the players are between the ages of 24 and 28, prime years for athletes. Gordon plays as a 30-year-old, so he his just leaving his prime years. Fans who were waiting for the team to mature should get a big pay off this season. That same group will all still be in their primes in 2015, so if things go right, Kansas City should get a couple of great years of run scoring out of this squad.

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March 18, 2014

Concern or Controversy?

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The benching of Jimmy Rollins seems to have two explanations. Ryne Sandberg says he wants to keep Rollins healthy.

“[He’s] an important part of the team,” Sandberg told MLB.com. “He’s got his role on the team as a veteran player, and he comes into spring training in very good shape every year, and he has again this year. He’s got his playing time and at-bats coming up. It’s also a long season playing up the middle, so with him and Chase [Utley], I’m careful with their days. I know the grind of a season, and Jimmy plays over 150 games a year. It’s the time of the spring right now where he’ll have some time [off] down the stretch.”

Buster Olney reports that some in the Phillies organization want more leadership from Rollins:

However, sources indicate that some in influential positions in the organization want Rollins to lead, by investing himself more thoroughly in daily work and setting a strong example for others. If Rollins isn’t going to do that, the sentiment of some is that the team would be better off moving him as soon as possible.

Leadership is a strange thing to demand from a player. Rollins is old and declining, so there are good reasons to want to replace him. His leadership skills (or lack thereof) doesn’t change that. It seems like more on an excuse, that the fans would accept his departure if it was about personality rather than ability.

Some people have leadership skills. Maybe Rollins isn’t one of those. I do remember him getting his team fired up by trash talking the Mets a few years ago.

But that might not be what the Phillies are looking for right now. I just don’t think a better player-leader will turn the club into a winner. There are too many over-the-hill hitters in the lineup.

March 18, 2014 March 18, 2014