Don't Give Up On J-Roll

A couple of days ago, one of my buddies sent me a text message. As a Phillies fan, I tried to disregard his snotty little remark. “Jeter: 3 for 3!” the message said. He is a Yankees fan, so I have absolutely zero respect for him in that aspect. Of course Jeter had a great game, but my bud knows that I am all about Philly so the text was just unnecessary. The next time I saw him, we got into a heated debate about Derek Jeter and Jimmy Rollins. I am the type of fan who will back up my team and players until the day I die, so I defended Rollins.

I will admit that it definitely would have been difficult to find reasons to defend J-Roll if it were still the first half of the season. Anyone who followed baseball during the first half should obviously know that Jimmy was in as bad as a slump as any major leaguer can get in. Rollins, who can be known as a streaky hitter, arguably had the worst three months of his career. Many fans were concerned that Rollins simply forgot how to hit. Booing was a regular for Rollins in Citizens Bank Park and Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel would get questions about Rollins’ status during each post-game interview. It was bad, and it wasn’t going to go away until Rollins turned around. During the All-Star break, a tiny adjustment in his swing was all it took for Rollins to return back to his 2007 NL MVP season form. Rollins was hitting .297, with a .348 on-base percentage and a .540 slugging %. Up to August 31st. Not bad numbers for someone who couldn’t hit the side of a barn in the first half!

Rollins will make one cheer or even boo, but in the end, he can be as good as any other major league shortstop. His confidence and leadership on and off the field can match anyone, even future hall of famer Derek Jeter. And when J-Roll is on, he is on FIRE. Hopefully Rollins will be able to keep it up and carry the Phillies through the post-season and lead them to another championship. Until then, please just promise me one thing; don’t ever give up on J-Roll.