Switching up the batting order

It’s hard to criticize the offense, which led the NL in runs in 2006. But, if a weakness does exists it lies at the feet of the Phillies lead off hitter Jimmy Rollins. Fans opinions of Rollins vacillate up and down with his performance. When Rollins is chasing DiMaggio he’s a great player and when he starts flying out like there’s a bonus for not putting the ball on the ground angry Philadelphians pick him apart. As usual the truth is somewhere in the middle. Rollins is a great player but not a great lead off hitter.

There are only two things a team needs from there first hitter. They need him to get on base at a proficient rate and enough speed to steal a base. The swift Rollins stole 36 bases but had a lack luster .334 on base percentage. Supporters of Rollins often bring up that the most important statistic for a lead off hitter is runs. I couldn’t disagree more. The Phillies could have a very mediocre lead off hitter score 100 runs because he’s batting in front of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Pat Burrell.

Bill Conlin had a creative idea writing recently that Rollins should bat in the fifth spot protecting Ryan Howard. He argues that Rollins has enough power to serve as a power bat in the middle of the order. Rollins did hit an impressive 79 extra base hits, which was tied for ninth best in the Major Leagues last season. Despite the power, I think Rollins could best help the Phillies hitting out of the two spot. Rollins 2006 power numbers would decline if he moved to the number five spot. The leadoff hitter accumulates about 150 more at bats than the hitter in the fifth spot over the course of a season. If Rollins hit later in the line up he would have less opportunities to get hits. In the two spot his power and speed would serve the Phillies offense very well.

If Rollins moved to another spot in the order, Shane “The Flyin’ Hawaiian” Victorino is the obvious choice for the job. Victorino has spent most of his professional baseball career as a leadoff hitter and knows what it takes. Last season the Flyin’ Hawaiian’s speed, which he showed throughout his minor league career disappeared. However, Victorino has commented that working with former speedster and now Phillies coach Davey Lopes will help break him out of his slump.

Every once in a while to prevent an offense from going stale it’s often a good idea to shuffle the lineup. Flipping Rollins and Victorino could help the Phillies keep the spice in their offense.

Sources:
Calling the Phils line up to order
By Bill Conlin / Philadelphia Daily News

First picture of Jimmy Rollins from ESPN.com, and second picture of Shane Victorino from TSN.ca