San Francisco Giants: What Can We Expect from Jimmy Rollins?
What kind of production might Jimmy Rollins provide the San Francisco Giants at the plate?
Now, we finally come to the offensive statistics. The aforementioned declining contact rates and worsening plate discipline does not bode well for a comeback next year. Interestingly enough, his percentage of hard-hit balls dropped last season, and his exit velocity was subpar. Unfortunately, the exit velocity data for prior seasons is not available.
Some more optimistic fans may point to Rollins’ low batting average on balls in play as a source for further improvement. This, however, is unlikely since he pulls nearly half of his batted balls and quite a few of those are hit on the ground. Expect Rollins to post another BABIP in the .250 to .270 range.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
A more likely argument that Rollins could improve next year is that he had a relatively small sample size of 41 games last season. This means that the 166 plate appearances he received are not a large enough amount to draw accurate conclusions from his traditional batting statistics. One could make the case that he will improve a bit and that the dip in exit velocity and contact rates are due to randomness in the sample.
As lovely as it would be for the shortstop to improve next season, an extra year of aging will do him no favors. If his contact rates improve a bit, which is uncertain given that they have been on the decline for five years, then perhaps his batting average has room to grow. Still, optimism has led to many lapses in judgement when it comes to evaluating baseball players. A batting average in the range of .220 to .230 and an on-base percentage between .290 and .300 would be a decent bet.
Unfortunately, neither of those ranges are that great. Any hopes of regaining some value with added power are probably unjustified given that the San Francisco Giants play in a park that favors pitchers. Still, he will probably retain some pop and post an isolated power around .120. That would give a range of slugging percentages between .340 and .350. This would leave his offense at markedly below average.
Next: Giants Sign Jimmy Rollins
Even if Jimmy Rollins provides relatively no value to the San Francisco Giants with his bat, having average base running, slightly below average defense, and exceptional leadership could justify his status as a backup infielder. Ehire Adrianza would probably provide the Giants with better defense and offense, but whether this outweighs any potential chemistry or leadership boost that Rollins would bring is up to the San Francisco Giants to decide.