Obviously, the lack of hustle is disappointing but Rollins continues to be a pretty good player. He ranks fourth amongst MLB SS in WAR. He's been a pretty good bargain for the Phillies over the years.

Good for Charlie.

Obviously, the lack of hustle is disappointing but Rollins continues to be a pretty good player. He ranks fourth amongst MLB SS in WAR. He's been a pretty good bargain for the Phillies over the years.

He's one of those guys that simultaneously gets too much and too little praise. No way he deserved the 2007 MVP, but his demise has been greatly exaggerated.

I'm sure he's just getting frustrated at this point but still. you have to set an example.

Would never happen to Jeter! Jeter ALWAYS hustles....MVP or no MVP.

It was a popup to the pitcher? Was Rollins supposed to hustle his way to second base in the unlikely event that the ball was dropped? I guess I don't get it.

My point is that the fastest runner in the majors does not reach second base (without a play) on a medium popup to the pitcher.

My point is that the fastest runner in the majors does not reach second base (without a play) on a medium popup to the pitcher.

Just wait 'til Billy Hamilton gets called up!

My point is that the fastest runner in the majors does not reach second base (without a play) on a medium popup to the pitcher.

Piffle, Jeter would've been heading into 3rd and drawn an errant throw, thus eventually scoring.

Mike Trout would have run all the way around the bases and then caught the ball himself.

"Hustle-related failures" must come from an HR handbook

He's one of those guys that simultaneously gets too much and too little praise. No way he deserved the 2007 MVP, but his demise has been greatly exaggerated.

Agreed. J-Roll has a terrible OBP for a leadoff guy but with 50 XBH and typically great stolen-base percentages, you can live with it.

Agreed. J-Roll has a terrible OBP for a leadoff guy but with 50 XBH and typically great stolen-base percentages, you can live with it.


I don't agree. He doesn't really have any business leading off. His WAR is good because other shortstops are terrible offensively, as a group. That doesn't mean that he needs to lead off - he's a below average hitter.

It was a popup to the pitcher? Was Rollins supposed to hustle his way to second base in the unlikely event that the ball was dropped? I guess I don't get it.

This is one of my pet peeves, you often see guys on high pop-ups run down to first and then make the turn and head for second as the ball descends. Except, even if the guys drops the ball, there's an excellent chance the runner will be thrown out. Were I managing--in addition to something having gone terribly wrong in the hiring process--I would tell everyone to head to first and stay there on infield pop-ups.

RB - the unusual thing was that nobody was covering second. Tejada (who was covering third) sprinted over when he saw that Murphy (2B) was still standing by the pitcher's mound along with Niese, Davis, and Wright. Kendrick was on third by that point, and once Tejada abandoned ship, Kendrick should have been halfway up the line by the time the ball went down to second, allowing him to score easily. Instead, he was anchored to the base, so Rollins would have probably just given himself up for nothing there.

Even though Manuel was visibly frustrated after the popup, he might not have made a federal case out of it since Rollins fixed his mistake by stealing second. Unfortunately, the next play happened:

Frandsen rips a one-hopper right at the second baseman, who's playing Frandsen up the middle. My bet is that Rollins didn't realize where Murphy was playing Frandsen, because instead of freezing, Rollins takes two steps toward third - forgetting that Kendrick, a pitcher, isn't going anywhere - and gets caught in a rundown. At that point, Rollins is looking at Kendrick, perhaps expecting Samuel (who is standing practically shoulder-to-shoulder with Kendrick at this point) to send him home so that Rollins can take third and Frandsen second. Instead, Kendrick stays anchored to the bag and Rollins, who has nowhere to go, gets tagged out quickly. Manuel probably didn't think Rollins hustled on that play either, but I thought Rollins did everything he could once he'd made the initial blunder.

Meanwhile Frandsen, who had busted it out of the box, managed to get to second anyway, so again they ended up with what you'd have had if J-Roll had made the right play - second-and-third, two out.

The Philadelphia Inquirer story got quotes from Manuel, Rollins, and Ryan Howard on the benching:

"I asked him if he thought he ran to first base," Manuel said. "He gave me an answer like, 'No, not at the end' or something like that. That's all that was said."

Manuel's action spoke much louder.

Rollins, on the other hand, barely spoke at all.

Manuel "already told you what happened – there you go," the shortstop said as he exited the clubhouse.

Ryan Howard had his own take on Rollins' actions. "You want guys to be able to go out and hustle," Howard said. "He knows better. He knows better. It's simple, be on time, hustle. That's it. That's two things that you can control. Go out there and do it. Charlie took care of it."