Rollins and Victorino Need to be Better

It’s no secret that to score runs, you need to get on base.  It’s even more important for the top of your order to get on base so that the run producers in your lineup can drive them in.  Simply put, the top of the Phillies lineup — Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino — have not been getting the job done.  At least, they haven’t been getting the job done on a consistent basis.  Neither of them is playing the game the way it should be played.

I have really started to grow tired of their approaches at the plate.  All too often, their at-bats result in pop-ups and lazy fly balls.  Rather than working the count, they seem increasingly content to swing at questionable pitches early in their trips to the plate.  When they do get on base, they don’t seem to run the bases with the same intensity that they did last season.  On Sunday, for example, Jimmy Rollins should have scored easily on Victorino’s bloop hit down the left field line.  Instead, because he didn’t run hard the whole way, Steve Smith had to hold him at third base, where he was stranded.

Their attitudes — especially Rollins’ — have really started to disgust me.  Take, for example, this Rollins quote following Charlie Manuel’s post-game rant following Sunday’s loss to the Marlins:

He’s pretty much right, but we’ll get out of it.  We don’t get concerned until late.  Coaches do that now.  We go play.

Rollins is supposed to be this team’s leader.  He is supposed to light a fire, and get on players who aren’t doing their jobs.  He is the reigning NL MVP, and all he has to say about his team’s lackluster play of the past month or so is that he’s not concerned because it’s only July?

I’m sorry, but for the Phillies to win the NL East, they need both Rollins and Victorino to lose their attitudes, and start doing their jobs.  Take pitches.  Get on base.  Hit in situations (i.e. sacrifice yourself to move a runner into scoring position).  Simply play the game the right way.  If they can’t do that, it’s going to be almost impossible for the Phillies to win the East.