Jimmy Rollins goes deep in Dodgers' blowout
by Eric Westlund | Tue, Jun 2nd 1:03am EDT
Jimmy Rollins hit his sixth homer of the season as the Dodgers beat the Rockies 11-4 on Monday at Coors Field. Rollins finished the game a very productive 2-for-4 with a walk, RBI, and two runs scored. Rollins is still batting just .209 / .277 / .358 on the year, albeit with a respectable 6 homers and 5 stolen bases.
Fantasy Impact:
Sell high. I've had mixed success predicting doom and gloom for Rollins fantasy owners in this space, correctly predicting his imminent lineup demotion but underestimating his pop, as he is on a pace to challenge 20 homers for the first time since 2012. He won't get there, though, as there is almost no way Rollins remains an everyday player all year long. The 36-year-old has had perfect health and an extraordinarily long leash, missing just one game despite grading out as below replacement-level per FanGraphs WAR, a fact the new analytically-minded Dodgers front office is surely aware of -- and they have other options. If the soon-to-arrive Cuban signee Hector Olivera adjusts well to third base, the team would surely be better off with Justin Turner at shortstop than Rollins. Impressive youngster Kike Hernandez is also out-performing the former MVP on both offense and defense, and top shortstop prospect Corey Seager is batting .300 / .342 / .455 at Triple-A. The Dodgers would prefer Turner and Hernandez in utility roles and Seager getting more seasoning, but there is no excuse for a team this deep to play with a hole this big in its lineup late into the summer. Even if the aging Rollins surprisingly remains healthy all year, his demotion in the batting order is likely a precursor to an increasingly marginalized role, a la the recently-departed Juan Uribe.
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