Other than Hamels, the big story of the game involved last year's MVP, Jimmy Rollins. Rollins, who had been struggling at the plate recently, appeared to have popped out in the 3rd inning, but instead the ball was dropped by Reds' SS Paul Janish. While the ball was in the air, Rollins did not appear to be running the play out as is the custom. Therefore, when the ball was dropped, instead of being on second base as he probably should have been, he was on first. Essentially, Rollins violated one of baseball's longest held maxims to always run out a play, even when it appears you are going to be out.
As a result of the play, Manager Charlie Manual, showing quite a bit of chutzpah, pulled the MVP of the NL from the game and replaced him with Eric Bruntlett (who turned in a great defensive play in the 8th inning). For his part, Rollins did not pout (at least not publicly) and showed real good character in accepting the consequences for his actions:
"He has two rules -- be on time and hustle; and I broke one of them today. I know better. Sometimes the manager gets you. I just have to go out there and make sure I don't do it again. It's something you learn from." - from Ken Mandel's MLB.com story
As a fan, I am already over this incident. Rollins did it, Manual punished him for it, and Rollins recognized that it was wrong. As far as I'm concerned, as a fan, this incident is over. It's not too difficult to see that Rollins is currently frustrated at the plate. His BA has dipped below .300, into the .280s, and it just looks a little bit like he's fighting things at the plate. As the weather heats up, and the stakes become bigger, I have no doubt that Rollins will pick it up.
From here, the Phils go on a road trip that starts in Atlanta and takes them to Miami to face the Marlins and then to St. Louis. Jamie Moyer is scheduled to go against the Braves tonite against Atlanta's Tim Hudson. The game starts at 7:30pm and will be on CSN-TV.
Phils Draft HS Infielder
The MLB amateur player draft was conducted yesterday and the Phils, picking at 24, selected Connecticut high schooler Anthony Hewitt. According to the article on Phillies.com, he is supposed to be a 5-tool player targeted for an infield position, but the way things go with prospects drafted out of high school, who knows when we'll actually see this kid at CBP. He has a commitment to go to Vanderbilt, but sounds open to starting his pro career sooner rather than later:
"I don't want to drag out the process too long," Hewitt said. "I'm pretty sure [the talks] will go pretty well. I really want to go ahead and pursue my professional career as soon as possible. I'm eager to start."
The Phils also drafted a high school outfielder (Zack Collier) with a compensatory first round pick and a slew of pitchers in the rounds following round 1.
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