Jimmy Rollins’ All-Time Phillies Hit Record Leaves Lasting Legacy, HOF Debate

Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins is now the all-time hit king in franchise history, surpassing Mike Schmidt with career hit No. 2,235 on Saturday afternoon against Cubs starter Edwin Jackson. After 15 years of borderline Hall of Fame-caliber play, the best shortstop in the history of Philadelphia now has the number to cement his legacy.

Since arriving to Veterans Stadium as a dynamic, athletic and switch-hitting force in 2000, Rollins has been a model of consistency and durability as the Phillies franchise transformed from laughing stock to National League powerhouse. Along the way, Rollins racked up gaudy numbers, but was overshadowed at times by teammates like Ryan Howard and Chase Utley.

Now, as the Phillies’ run of excellence has ended, Rollins is back to where he was when his sterling career began: a standout in a sea of poor baseball.

While stars like Utley and Cole Hamels still remind Philadelphia baseball fans of winning days, the roster isn’t good enough to compete. By next month, a roster purge could commence around the July 31 trade deadline.

Yet, in this moment, Rollins deserves the attention that has somehow eluded a player that will one day be enshrined in the Phillies Wall of Fame at Citizens Bank Park. Perhaps, a trip to another hall of fame will also one day commence.  

As Jayson Stark of ESPN dutifully described, Rollins’ Hall of Fame case isn’t buoyed by becoming the all-time hit leader in Phillies history, but another credential certainly doesn’t hurt. With unique statistics—such as the 400 SB/200 HR club—each marquee moment left in Rollins’ career doubles as another reason for Hall of Fame consideration.

Upon breaking the record held by the legendary Schmidt, Rollins vaulted atop the all-important hits category in franchise history. As you can see from the following chart, it’s not the only area in which he’s excelled and rewritten the record books over the past 15 seasons.

Schmidt, the gold standard for Philadelphia baseball players and possibly the best third baseman in the history of the sport, recently talked about Rollins’ career statistics and the idea of misinterpretation around a player with a batting average of just .268, per Bob Brookover of The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

“We were kidding in the clubhouse that we have the same career batting average,” Schmidt said. “I think a lot of teams would like to have Jimmy Rollins as their shortstop.” 

Schmidt may have been talking about the present, but his assertion could work across the annals of baseball history. Time will tell if Rollins’ career deserves legitimate Cooperstown conversation, but there’s little denying that a special shortstop has been in Philadelphia for a long, long time.

The following chart shows where Rollins ranks among the most prolific shortstops ever, but it’s almost more remarkable to think about some of the names he’s ahead of on those respective lists, per Baseball-Reference (subscription required). 

With more home runs than Barry Larkin or Alan Trammell, Rollins brought power to Philadelphia’s lineup. By scoring more runs than Ozzie Smith or Joe Cronin, Rollins consistently did his duty as a leadoff hitter. In the midst of swiping more bases than Derek Jeter or Omar Vizquel, Rollins added a different dynamic to the offense. 

Of course, unlike many of the great shortstops in history, Rollins played at a time where Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra, Troy Tulowitzki and Hanley Ramirez excelled. Upon breaking into the league, Cal Ripken Jr.—then a third baseman—still loomed over the position.

Perhaps in a different era, Rollins would have been a big fish in a small pond. In recent memory, however, his offensive exploits became mundane to contemporary baseball fans accustomed to productive shortstops.

Rollins’ legacy—both in Philadelphia and around the sport—has been subdued. This franchise hit chase, however, has rightly cast a spotlight on a player that teammates admire for work ethic and consistency.  

After a recent start against the San Diego Padres, A.J. Burnett spoke about Rollins’ path to the record and why his teammate deserves credit.

“You have to feel good for Jimmy during this chase,” Burnett said. “He’s been an incredible player for years and deserves credit for taking care of his body, staying consistent with his approach and aging well. It’s not easy to keep hitting or pitching at a high level as the years creep up. I’ll tell you what, I love playing with him.”

Closer Jonathan Papelbon, upon racking up his 300th career save, talked about how easy it is for individual numbers to get lost in the shuffle when a team is struggling to win games.

“Sometimes stats, like my saves or his hits, can get overlooked when the team isn’t performing as well as everyone hoped, but he deserves his moment,” Papelbon said. “To pass Mike Schmidt is amazing. I love watching him play and playing alongside him. Jimmy is special.”

As the years go on, Papelbon’s quote could become a prescient view on Rollins. Since 2000, words like “talented” and “brash” have been used frequently to describe the three-time NL All-Star and 2007 NL MVP, but rarely are fans or columnists willing to use the word “special” to describe this rare talent.

Now, after years of piling up games, plate appearances and hits, Rollins sits alone atop the Phillies franchise hit list. In time, future generations will look at Rollins and Schmidt alongside each other as the most prolific hit men in franchise history.

Beyond that? Memories of a special player will commence and the Cooperstown debate will rage on.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com, FanGraphs and ESPN, unless otherwise noted. All contract figures courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Roster projections via MLB Depth Charts. Burnett and Papelbon quotes obtained firsthand.

Comment, follow me on Twitter or “like” my Facebook page to talk about all things baseball.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Biggest Strengths and Weaknesses of Philadelphia Phillies’ Top 10 Prospects

Although the Philadelphia Phillies are in the midst of their longest winning streak in over a year, they are still one of the worst teams in baseball at 28-36. They sit dead last in the NL East, and despite being just a half-game behind the fourth-place New York Mets, they have shown no promise of contending this year.

As pessimistic as that sounds, it’s the unfortunate truth. With that said, perhaps the most exciting part of the Phillies is not who’s playing for them now but who’s inclined to don a Phillies uniform in the future.

Now that the 2014 MLB draft is in the rear-view mirror, the focus can return to whom the Phillies have in their system at this present time. While the Phillies have not yet signed all of their draft picks—they have until July 15 to do so—all but two of their first 10 draft picks, including first-rounder Aaron Nola, have signed as of the publishing of this article.

Even though the best part about discussing prospects is their upside, all prospects have their downside as well, which isn’t always considered. In order to accurately gauge a prospect, one must take both sides of the spectrum into account.

Here are the biggest strengths and weaknesses of the Phillies’ top-10 prospects.

 

All prospects on this list have yet to make their MLB debuts. All prospect commentary courtesy of the 2014 Baseball America Prospect Handbook and/or MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo.

Begin Slideshow

Phillies’ Jonathan Papelbon Records 300th Career Save

With a scoreless ninth inning in Tuesday’s game against the San Diego Padres, Jonathan Papelbon of the Philadelphia Phillies recorded his 14th save of the 2014 season and No. 300 for his career. He joined Joe Nathan (354) and Francisco Rodriguez (323) on the list of active players who have reached the 300-save mark, per ESPN Stats & Info. 

At 300 career saves, Papelbon is tied with Jason Isringhausen and Bruce Sutter in 24th place on the all-time list. To break into the top 20 this season, Papelbon will need to log at least 12 more saves, which would move him past Tom Henke, who tallied 311 over his career. 

The 33-year-old Papelbon needed 585.1 innings—spread across 10 MLB seasons—to become the 26th member of the 300-save club. He closed the majority of his games as a member of the Boston Red Sox, earning 219 saves during a seven-season stretch that included four straight All-Star Game selections from 2006 to 2009. The right-hander put together an impressive streak of seven consecutive 30-save seasons from 2006 to 2012 before falling one short at 29 in 2013, his second year with the Phillies.

Now in his third year with Philadelphia, he hasn’t blown a save since his first attempt of the season back on April 2, converting 14 consecutive opportunities since that date. Following another appearance Wednesday, he has gone eight consecutive outings without allowing a run and owns a 1.42 ERA and 1.02 WHIP for the year. 

 

All stats courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise specified.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Jonathan Papelbon’s 300th Save Mirrors His Philadelphia Phillies Career

Jonathan Papelbon earned his 300th career save in a manner befitting his entire tenure as the Phillies‘ closer.

For starters, much like Papelbon’s Phillies career, it probably should have never happened (subscription required), as ESPN’s Keith Law wrote at length when the Phillies signed Papelbon to a four-year, $44 million contract.

“The history of signing relievers to deals of that length is simply too awful to ignore,” Law wrote then. This season, the myth of the proven closer is taking a new and severe beating from the failures of relievers like Jim Johnson and Grant Balfour.

Papelbon’s 300th career save should arguably never have happened because, up 5-2 in the eighth inning, the Phillies loaded the bases only to see Ryan Howard, Marlon Byrd and Domonic Brown all strike out.

Had any of those three “sluggers” driven a run in, the save situation would have been off the board and Papelbon would likely not have begun the ninth inning.

Then, much like Papelbon’s tenure in Philadelphia, his ninth inning got messy.

It took him 28 pitches to retire a wholly non-threatening San Diego Padres lineup that is presently dead last in the National League in batting. Papelbon had the Padres down to their last strike before hitting Padres catcher Rene Rivera (hitting .227 this season) with a pitch to load the bases.

And finally, like his whole Philadelphia story, everything somehow ended pretty well for Papelbon. He induced a fielder’s choice groundout, the Phillies won and Papelbon had his milestone save.

This too is consistent with both the perception and the reality of Papelbon’s two-and-a-half seasons in Philadelphia.

Papelbon blew a high-profile save in Texas in the first series of this season, and quickly the emphasis on his diminished velocity was all anyone wanted to talk about.

Two months on, Papelbon’s earned run average is a paltry 1.48, he is striking out more than seven batters per nine innings and his WHIP is an above-average 1.07. Papelbon only has 14 saves, but then it is hard to save a game your team is losing in the ninth inning.

And it is not like Papelbon’s prior two seasons were subpar, either. He made the 2012 All-Star team, saving 38 of the Phillies’ 81 wins that season while posting a 2.44 earned run average and a 1.06 WHIP.

2013 saw some regression (29 saves, 2.92 earned run average, seven blown saves), but Papelbon was hardly the reason the Phillies only won 73 games last season.

Papelbon’s main crime right now is being overpaid to perform a role that a team that is 10 games under .500 simply cannot afford to splurge on.

But Papelbon did not force the Phillies to offer him all that money, and neither Papelbon nor the Phillies could have known how fast the Phillies would plummet into mediocrity.

At a time when every move Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has ever made is under white-hot scrutiny, the Papelbon signing can only fairly be called a net positive—even if Papelbon is often hard to watch, or like.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Stock Up, Stock Down for the Phillies’ Top 10 Prospects for Week 10

It was an interesting week down on the farm for the Philadelphia Phillies. Many of the guys who had been underperforming so far had comebacks, but some of the frequently strong performers slipped off this week.

However, three of the players on this list are now in the majors, and that does speak a good deal to the team’s development system. It is always nice to see guys make it to The Show.

Also, it is interesting that almost everyone on this list has returned from injury, even though most of them have dealt with injuries at some point this season. With one more recovery, the Phillies prospects will be ready to develop into higher-level performers.

Anyway, you always hope for a week where everyone overperforms, but this week was not too bad for the Phillies’ top 10 prospects.

Begin Slideshow

Matt Imhof: Prospect Profile for Philadelphia Phillies 2nd-Round Pick

Player: Matt Imhof

Drafted by: Philadelphia Phillies

Position: LHP

DOB: 10/26/1993 (Age: 20)

Height/Weight: 6’5″, 220 pounds 

Bats/Throws: L/L

School: Cal Poly

Previously Drafted: Never drafted

 

Background

If you want to know what the college experience can do for a player, Matt Imhof is the perfect example. The tall left-hander has grown into his frame the last three years after going undrafted in 2011, looking every bit the part of a workhorse starting pitcher. 

Even more encouraging is that he actually has room to fill out his body and add another mile or two to an above-average fastball. He’s taken to the role of Cal Poly’s Friday night starter—in college circles, the equivalent of a Game 1 starter—including a 3-1 ratio of strikeouts to walks this season. 

There’s always the concern that a pop-up prospect, which Imhof certainly is, without a long track record of success at the college level will fall on his face against professional hitters. But left-handers with his size and stuff don’t come along very often. 

 

Full Scouting Report

Note: Numerical scores are on the conventional 80-point scouting scale, with the current score first and projected score second.

Body/Mechanics

Imhof’s mechanics are unorthodox, which causes him problems with command and consistency with the secondary stuff; his right (lead) leg comes up, goes down and then moves forward as he comes to the plate, making it difficult to find the same release point from pitch to pitch; arm action is also a little long in the back, further hindering command. 

The good news is Imhof’s size allows him to pitch on a steep downhill plane with the fastball, making it difficult for hitters to get good elevation even when they make solid contact; has a great pitcher’s body and can at least log innings in a starting rotation. 

 

Fastball: 55/60

There are advantages to being left-handed, which Imhof capitalizes; fastball sits in the low 90s, touches 95 mph and moves in on left-handed hitters, giving it the illusion of being a cutter; gets excellent plane on the pitch and throws it for strikes with regularity; more velocity in the body coming, which leads to a plus projection for the heater. 

 

Slider: 45/55

Imhof’s breaking ball flashes above average at times, showing hard tilt down in the zone; can be the swing-and-miss pitch he needs to be a mid-rotation starter, though there are times when he will short arm the pitch, causing it to break with less tilt and staying in the zone long enough to find a barrel; good velocity, often in the high 70s, and the shape often suggests an MLB-quality pitch. 

 

Changeup: 45/50

A pitcher with Imhof’s size, natural fastball movement and quality slider doesn’t leave a lot of room for a third pitch; has some feel for the changeup, but throwing it for strikes is still a problem; needs to keep it around the zone for hitters to respect it; arm speed is solid with good velocity separation from the fastball. 

 

Control: 45/55

Imhof has no problems throwing the fastball for strikes; knows how to sequence well, working primarily off the heater while continuing to develop the secondary stuff; feel for the slider and changeup are still coming along; long arm action can lead to erratic moments, but he usually finds himself quickly. 

 

Command: 40/50

Best thing that can be said about Imhof is that he knows how to use the fastball; young pitchers can get lost while trying to pile up their stats that throwing off-speed stuff in fastball counts, which leads to speeding up the bats of a player who wouldn’t be able to catch the heater; needs better placement of all his pitches in the zone, especially the off-speed stuff; as long as fastball is around the zone, he will be solid.

 

MLB Player Comparison: Mike Minor

Atlanta drafted Mike Minor out of Vanderbilt in 2009 when he had average pitches and a good command profile. The tall left-hander added some extra giddyup on the fastball and refined his off-speed stuff, notably the slider and changeup, to become a very good starter in a deep rotation. 

Imhof has that kind of ceiling, though he will need more development time in the minors than Minor did. 

 

Projection: No. 3 starter on a first-division team

 

MLB ETA: 2017

 

Chances of Signing: 85 percent

Imhof is going to get a lot of money from this draft, if for no other reason than he’s a 6’5″ left-handed starter who can touch 95 mph with flashes of two average-or-better off-speed pitches. Every system in baseball wants one of those arms, but so few of them are able to get it. There’s always the chance he could take the Mark Appel route and bet on himself to jump into the top 10 next year, especially since he’s a young college junior, though it would be a huge gamble that could just as easily result in disaster. 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Aaron Nola: Prospect Profile for Philadelphia Phillies’ 1st-Round Pick

Player: Aaron Nola

Drafted by: Philadelphia Phillies

Position: RHP

DOB: 06/04/1993 (Age: 20)

Height/Weight: 6’2”, 196 lbs.

Bats/Throws: R/R

School: Louisiana State

Previously Drafted: 22nd round, 2011 (Toronto)

 

Background

Aaron Nola was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 22^nd round of the 2011 draft out of high school, but he instead decided to honor his commitment to Louisiana State. Now, three years later, the right-hander is expected to be one of the first pitchers to come off the board on June 5.

Nola made an immediate impact for the Tigers as a freshman, as he posted a 3.61 ERA and stellar 89/7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 89.2 innings while making 17 starts. The right-hander quietly emerged as one of the top pitchers in the nation the following year—and after Kevin Gausman’s fourth overall selection in the 2012 draft—as went 12-1 with five complete games, lowered his ERA to 1.57, held opposing hitters to a .188 batting average and posted a ridiculous 122/18 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 126 innings. Furthermore, right-hander averaged at least seven innings over his 17 starts. 

This season it’s been more of the same for Nola, who will celebrate his 21^st birthday the day before the draft, as he’ll enter the NCAA tournament boasting a 10-1 record, 1.49 ERA, .173 opponents batting average and 127/26 strikeout-to-walk. Nola was also named in early May to the 30-man watch list for the 2014 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award.

While there certainly are other pitchers in this year’s class with better stuff and a higher ceiling, none come close to matching Nola’s track record of success against top-flight SEC hitters over the past three seasons.

 

Full Scouting Report

Note: Numerical scores are on the conventional 80-point scouting scale, with the current score first and projected score second.

Body/Mechanics

Nola has good strength and athleticism to his 6’2”, 196-pound frame; some room for physical projection; delivery is clean and efficient; works from incredibly deceptive three-quarters arm slot; ability to repeat release point is both advanced and impressive; very durable despite wiry frame and arm angle.

 

Fastball: 55/65

Fastball velocity has steadily improved during career at LSU; works consistently in 90-93 mph range and has scraped 94-95 this season more regularly; velocity plays up thanks to deceptive slot and jumps on opposing hitters; generates impressive arm-side run; 65-grade projection is fueled by his plus-plus command of pitch rather than velocity.

 

Curveball: 50/60

Breaking ball is average with the potential to gain a full grade; shows good feel for the pitch, throwing it in the 78-82 mph range with depth and tight rotation; could be a bat-misser and out pitch with refinement in the minor leagues; throws pitch in a variety of counts and locates it to both sides of the plate.

 

Changeup: 45/55

Better feel for changeup than most pitchers in the class; arm angle and release point aids his effectiveness of the offering, as does his ability to set it up with well-located fastballs; registers in 82-84 mph range with good arm-side fade; already demonstrates advanced command of pitch.

 

Control: 60/70

Consistently around the plate with entire arsenal; leaves the zone by design; present feel for locating pitches to all four quadrants will only improve; feel for pitching is unparalleled among peers.

 

Command: 55/65

Command is and will always be Nola’s bread and butter; dude is polished; consistently throws three big league quality pitches for strikes and masks everything with big-time deception; outstanding feel for his craft; has shown capacity to make swift adjustments.

 

MLB Player Comparison: Jake Peavy

Nola has long received comparisons to Jake Peavy for his low three-quarters angle and plus-plus command of three potentially above-average-or-better pitches.

 

Projection: No. 3 starter

 

Major Leagues ETA: Mid-2015

 

Chances of Signing: 99 percent

Nola doesn’t have a ceiling like some of the other promising arms in this year’s class, but his outstanding command of three legitimate offerings and overall feel for pitching could make him the first in the group to reach the major leagues. It’s nearly impossible to envision a scenario in which the 21-year-old doesn’t sign after coming off the board early in the first round.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies 2014 Draft Picks: Scouting Profiles and Analysis

There has been very little for Philadelphia Phillies fans to look forward to so far in 2014. Currently entrenched in a five-game losing streak and sitting dead last in the NL East at 24-33, the Phillies have hit rock bottom if there ever was a time for them to do so.

However, there is a bright spot in this time of darkness.

The MLB draft begins June 5 at 7 p.m. ET. The Phillies hold the seventh overall selection in this year’s draft, their highest since 2001, when they selected Gavin Floyd with the fourth overall pick.

The only upside to losing is the higher draft pick that comes with it the following season, and the Phillies have needed this pick in the worst way. Their farm system is barren of any blue-chip prospect talent. Not only does that inhibit them from making trade acquisitions in the offseason, but it also means that little to no impact help is available in the minors for this sluggish team.

In years past, the Phillies have taken risks, generally selecting high school talent in the early rounds with high upside.

However, after the failure of recent top picks Joe Savery, Zach Collier, Anthony Hewitt and Larry Greene, the Phillies may be taking a different approach this year, per CSN Philly’s Jim Salisbury. Due to the plethora of top college arms who would take less time to develop into big league pitchers, the Phillies may opt to choose a top-flight college starter at No. 7.

From the time the clock strikes 7 p.m. on Thursday through the evening of Saturday, June 7, check back here for live updates on the Phillies’ draft picks as they come in. Until the first pick is announced, though, proceed to the next slide to see who the experts believe is most likely to go to the Phillies in the 2014 MLB draft. 

Begin Slideshow

Stock Up, Stock Down for the Phillies’ Top 10 Prospects for Week 9

It has been a tough week down on the farm for the Philadelphia Phillies. The previous week was great, but almost every top player took a step back this week. Obviously it is a long season, and there are peaks and valleys all along the way. However, it is kind of interesting that these seem to happen in waves.

Regardless, here is how Week 9 went down for the top 10 prospects in the Philadelphia Phillies’ farm system.

Begin Slideshow

Latest Expert Predictions on Who Philadelphia Phillies Will Draft

With the 2014 MLB draft just under a week away, teams around baseball are gearing up to determine whom they will choose should the players they want fall into their laps. For the Philadelphia Phillies, this draft holds even more importance, as it will be the most crucial means to add to a thin farm system.

Although the Phillies drafted well in 2013, one year is not enough time to turn around a farm system. However, it would not be surprising to see the Phillies select a college player with a higher pick in this draft in an effort to bolster the major league roster sooner rather than later. Regardless of whom they choose, the Phillies must make it count, as they have their highest draft pick since 2000 at No. 7.

Experts throughout the baseball world have published many mock drafts indicating what they believe the Phillies—and the rest of the MLB—will do on Thursday, June 5. Here’s a look at how the draft gurus see the Phillies’ No. 7 pick shaking out.

Begin Slideshow

« Previous Page — Next Page »