(Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Charlie Manuel likes to talk hitting. He likes his players to talk hitting. He likes it when people talk hitting. It is no surprise that Manuel pulled Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins aside to talk hitting. Rollins has a tendency to try and hit for power as a leadoff hitter instead of looking for singles and doubles. It would be a surprise if the conversation did not include a mention of that. Philadelphia Daily News Phillies beat writer David Murphy talked to Manuel about his talk with Rollins,
“’He's got more in him,’ the manager said. ‘You hear talk about his hitting and stuff like that, the only thing he has to do is, I was telling you yesterday about being selective. If you notice, Jimmy can get in the count 2-1, 3-1 quite a bit. Then he'll chase a ball up out of the strike zone and hit a fly ball to center field, something like that. I talked him about that. Being a little bit more selective, getting a better ball to hit -- what he wants to hit. If he looks for a fastball and it's not a strike, then try to lay off it. Learn and practice that way, and also in the game.
‘I want to talk to all of our guys. I want our guys to talk about hitting. I want guys like Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins and Howard and Victorino, I want to have more talk about hitting, talking about getting good balls to hit, not giving away at-bats, things like that. With our pitching and everything like that, we need to score the runs that we're supposed to score. If we have a guy on third base with less than two outs early in the game, we need to score one run. If we have two guys on, we need to make sure we score one run, instead of a guy standing there may be trying to bust the game open.’”
Phillies fans everywhere are hoping that Rollins can be that sparkplug table setter for the Phillies this season. With Ryan Howard out for at least the first month of the season, the Phillies are going to have to generate more runs. Rollins will be the key to generate runs.
-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
Follow Whiz Wit on Twitter @WhizWitSports
“’He's got more in him,’ the manager said. ‘You hear talk about his hitting and stuff like that, the only thing he has to do is, I was telling you yesterday about being selective. If you notice, Jimmy can get in the count 2-1, 3-1 quite a bit. Then he'll chase a ball up out of the strike zone and hit a fly ball to center field, something like that. I talked him about that. Being a little bit more selective, getting a better ball to hit -- what he wants to hit. If he looks for a fastball and it's not a strike, then try to lay off it. Learn and practice that way, and also in the game.
‘I want to talk to all of our guys. I want our guys to talk about hitting. I want guys like Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins and Howard and Victorino, I want to have more talk about hitting, talking about getting good balls to hit, not giving away at-bats, things like that. With our pitching and everything like that, we need to score the runs that we're supposed to score. If we have a guy on third base with less than two outs early in the game, we need to score one run. If we have two guys on, we need to make sure we score one run, instead of a guy standing there may be trying to bust the game open.’”
Phillies fans everywhere are hoping that Rollins can be that sparkplug table setter for the Phillies this season. With Ryan Howard out for at least the first month of the season, the Phillies are going to have to generate more runs. Rollins will be the key to generate runs.
-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
Follow Whiz Wit on Twitter @WhizWitSports
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