ATD: Rollins Benched, Road Trip, .400, Bowden
Phillies (36-26, First):
Todd Zolecki of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports SS Jimmy Rollins broke one of Manager Charlie Manuel‘s two team rules by not hustling out a routine fly ball that was eventually dropped. Rollins was benched by Manuel the following inning.
Over at Beeleaguer, Jason Weitzel provides his opinion on the Rollins’ benching.
…terrific job by manuel for benching rollins for not running hard…its sets a good tone for his team that even the reigning MVP can be punished for his actions…also a good job by rollins for taking full responsibility of his lack of hustle …
…on a side note, the Phillies are scaring me…winning the nl east last year has given them confidence, as such, they have finally learned the ability to win and be a front runner…and their ability to comeback from any deficit is quite impressive…
Marlins (32-27, 1 LB):
Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald recaps the Marlins loss to the Braves last night, as well as, their 3-7 road trip, which knocked the Marlins out of first place.
On the same note, at Fish Stripes Craig is thankful the Marlins road trip is over and blames the team’s defense for the Marlins woeful road trip.
Braves (32-29, 3 LB):
According to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Chipper Jones, who hit the 400th homerun of his career last night, plans on playing into his 40′s.
Jones, who is 36-years old, is a free-agent at the end of next season.
…i’ve said it before, but i think chipper has a good shot at being the first player in 67 years to hit .400 in a season…he misses enough games due to nagging injuries that he may hit .400 and still qualify with enough at-bats…
Martin Gandy of Talking Chop says the Braves returned to their ‘tried and true draft strategy’ by drafting high school pitchers from the south.
Nationals (25-36, 10 LB):
Over at Oleanders and Morning Glories, which does an excellent job keeping tabs on the Nationals, Harper Gordek recaps a few quotes from Nats GM Jim Bowden, which have a similar tone.
