Rollins and Howard need to step up their games

Well these Philadelphia Phillies sure are full of surprises.

The bullpen has been among the best in majors, ranking third in ERA, and their starters have come around nicely since Brett Myers returned to the rotation (2-0, 2.10 ERA since July 23) and Joe Blanton was brought aboard (3.27 ERA as a Phillie).

If I said that the Phillies would have the third best overall ERA in the National League and eighth best ERA in the majors, wouldn’t you expect them to have the best record in baseball with their hitting prowess? I sure would have!

But they don’t.

And the problem lies squarely on the shoulders of the reigning National League MVP, Jimmy Rollins. That’s right, I’m calling out J-Roll.

The Phillies offense, which shouldn’t go scoreless for three innings, was shut out for 23 straight innings last week, and Jimmy Rollins couldn’t bother running hard on a groundball in the ninth inning of Thursday’s shutout loss to the Marlins. During that same game, Florida’s outfielder Josh Willingham almost (and probably did) beat out an infield grounder.

So if the Marlins’ 215-pound catcher/left fielder can run hard on every play, why can’t our speedy little MVP, who actually has a realistic chance of legging out a few infield hits?

Now I’m not saying that if Jimmy Rollins starts running out a few groundballs then suddenly Carlos Ruiz is going to stop hitting lifeless grounders each time he comes to the plate, or that Eric Bruntlett will suddenly turn into Mike Schmidt, but it certainly could help the big bats behind him in the order.

You are probably reading this and wondering what’s the big deal? So what if Rollins is on base one or two extra times each week?

Sometimes it could be completely worthless, but maybe it could start a rally that wins a game or force the opposing manager to make an earlier call to the bullpen. More importantly, what if it helps Chase Utley or Ryan Howard break out of a slump? I’m not a hitting instructor or anything, but couldn’t Utley, who has suffered through hitless streaks of 12, 17 and 24 at bats this year, benefit from having Rollins dancing around at first base and distracting the pitcher? It’s pretty common knowledge that having a speedy guy on first base causes the pitcher to throw more fastballs and miss his spots more often, all to the benefit of the batter.

I like a lot of the things that J-Roll does, but I want to see him run as fast for grounders as he did last year when he legged out his 20th triple of the season in the last game of the year.

Sadly though, it’s not just the 2007 National League MVP that is dragging the team down. The 2006 National League MVP, Ryan Howard, is doing his part to keep the Mets and Marlins on the Fightins’ heels.

I’m not even talking about his .240 batting average, because he is really crushing the ball with runners in scoring position, hitting .321 and driving in 67 runs. I’m talking about his 14 errors at first base.

First base is the easiest position on the diamond, and Howard can’t even be called average at the position. His problem is that he can’t make the throw across his body to the shortstop covering second base. And it’s not just the 14 errors, because many times his throw to Rollins after a successful pick-off move by the pitcher is off target or late, and a baserunner who should have been picked off is now in scoring position.

I’m not saying that I expect these guys to be perfect, but at least give us consistent play. I know that Rollins is going to strikeout a few times by chasing a high fastball, and that Howard is going to strikeout on pretty much any pitch in or out of the zone, but that doesn’t mean they can’t do the little things right. Rollins should want to be legging out infield grounders so that he can raise his average and make more money in his next contract, which is up after the 2010 season by the way, and Howard could show up 10 minutes early for some extra infield practice, and no longer be a liability in the field.

Just remember, if the Phillies fall short by a game or two, I’m not going to sit around blaming guys like Ruiz and Geoff Jenkins for not exceeding expectations, I’m going to place the blame squarely on the MVPs who couldn’t give the extra effort and put the team over the top.