The last time Jimmy Rollins led off a game against Chad Billingsley, he knocked the ball into the LA bleachers, leading the Phillies to a 5-1 victory and a 4-1 NLCS series win over the Dodgers. Is it any wonder Charlie Manuel didn't hesitate to put Jimmy back in the leadoff spot today after two effective games batting fifth? JRoll wasn't too happy with being moved out of the leadoff position, as anyone who's followed him might expect.
And perhaps that was exactly Charlie's plan. The manager hasn't been shy with disciplining JRoll (nor has he been harsh), and despite knowing it'd piss him off, he moved the Jimmy to the fifth spot to try to get him back on track during his awful slump to start the season. Rollins' numbers in those two games aren't going to earn him Player of the Week honors, but they are an improvement, and his manager was happy with what the box score can't show. Even on his "unsuccessful" at bats, JRoll was driving the ball, getting behind it rather than under it like he has been for much of the season. He also homered and drove in another run. Is he back on track? Too early to tell (again with the "too early"), but it's a great day to move him back up and see if Billingsley was able to forget the homer over the off-season.
Billingsley faced Cole Hamels in game 5 of the NLCS, and what a coincidence, he gets him again today. Billz is on fire to start the season (2.45 ERA, 1.13 WHIP), winning five of his first six starts before losing a tough-luck game in his last turn, during which he surrended only three earned runs. He's allowed three in one other start, but he's otherwise kept it to two or less. Billingsley has been aided by striking batters out at a rate of one per inning and keeping the ball in the park, yeilding just one homer so far in 2009. Any bets on whether that HR number stands after today's game?
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The Phillies have hit the righthanded Billingsley well, including chasing him from two NLCS starts before he reached the third inning, and you can bet they're pissed off they got shut down by Randy Wolf last night. Walks have been Billingsley's Achilles' so far, so while they may want to tee off on a familiar foe, the Phils would be best served to take some pitches today. He's a staff ace, but he can still melt down under pressure as I'm sure you recall.