Welcome Back, Young James

Jimmy Rollins is back and boy did we miss him. In case you didn't catch it, the reigning NL MVP returned to the starting line up last night in San Francisco and went 3-5 with a HR, a double, and 3 RBIs.

The Phillies won 7-4.

Seeing Jimmy back and fairly healthy surely brings a smile to Phillies fans everywhere. But that's not where Jimmy's influence ends. The Daily News' David Murphy, who spends more time with the team than just about anyone not named Todd Zolecki, thinks Rollins return will have huge implications on the club.

Murphy writes:

But I'm convinced that Jimmy Rollins is one of those rare athletes whose presence really can invigorate a team. It's why I disagree with those who say he shouldn't have been MVP last year. By now, I'm sure you all know he singled, doubled and homered in his first start in over a month. But beyond that, I'm convinced his presence made his teammates better. Not in a concious way. Jayson Werth and Greg Dobbs didn't walk up to the plate thinking, "I'm going to single now because Jimmy Rollins is here." But baseball is a team sport, and sometimes we forget about it, and a good baseball team is a beautiful thing to watch. The past month, the Phillies really haven't been a complete team. They've ridden some spectacular individual efforts by guys like Pat Burrell and Chase Utley. Werth got hot at the right time. Eric Bruntlett gave them everything they could have asked for.

But there's just something about this offense, this team, when Rollins is in the line-up. Everything clicks. Shane Victorino gets to hit second instead of first. That's where he belongs. Werth gets to hit sixth and bring some speed to the middle of the order. Pedro Feliz gets to hit seventh. Carlos Ruiz gets to hit eighth.

Why not get one more experts opinion. How bout Cole Hamels? 

I asked Hamels if we make too much of the impact Rollins brings to the entire team.

"Absolutely not," he said.

Murphy also thinks Jimmy's attitude can help get The Big Guy out of his wretched slump. Howard did get some good wood on a few pitches last night.

We tend to agree with everything Murphy is saying here. Jimmy is simply one of those guys you'd want on your bowling team even if he's never bowled a game in his life.

Good to see him back on the field.

>>How much does Rollins mean to this team? [Daily News]

 

Comments

[Bryce]

anyone know why the phillies game isn't on tv today?, its only on mlb tv

[themajor]

Over at the beerleaguer they mentioned something about the MLB contract with fox
http://beerleaguer.typepad.com/beerleaguer/2008/05/broadcast-note.html

[Benjamin]

That was an incredible showing by Rollins.

The game not being on TV today ruins my day though.

[Tartan69]

Has anyone seen the new Philly.com redesign today? Atrocious.

/threadjack

[Mike L.]

my eyeeees

[Steve]

It was awesome to see Jimmy back in the lineup and not waste any time getting back to work. I believe Howard will break out of his horrible slump very, very soon. 1/5 last night with only 1 SO. Progress, people, progress.

/thread revived

[TK]

goddamn fox, why do they hafta do so gay? im getting sick and tired of seeing the yankees and the red sox on everyday. thanks to fox's insistence on showing one out of the two every weekend, the phils are blacked out today

[Mike L.]

Yea i hope the red sox plane crashes into the yankees plane.

[Mike L.]

Did i just see our first three hitters get called out on strikes all in like 4 pitches. Damn. Im predicting howard
0-5 with 12k's today from what i just say from lincecum.

[gootman]

If the Phils lose and it wasn't on TV, did it really happen?

[Mike L.]

Nope it sure didnt.