There has been news in the media recently revolving around disputes between Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies and the team’s new manager, Ryne Sandberg. Rollins has been benched by Sandberg for most of the games during spring training and there has even been talk of trading Rollins, an older and seemingly unreliable player, to another team. Jayson Stark, a credible author since he’s writing for ESPN, the company essentially linked to all things sports, however, accomplishes his purpose of proving to his audience of sports fans that although Rollins might be a problem, he’s not the biggest one of the Phillies right now. Sandberg accomplishes his purpose by using statistics and comments from credible sources.
Besides Rollins, Stark lists 5 other players who are of greater concern to Sandberg and the future of the Phillies. They are Ryan Howard, Jonathan Papelbon, Domonic Brown, Chase Utley, and Cole Hamels. Stark backs up his claims of how much of a threat these players pose to the success of the team by using facts. For example, Stark wrote about Howard, “The first baseman went into Thursday with 15 strikeouts and three walks in 40 at-bats.” Those stats are horrible. Howard is supposed to be a player who can hit a homerun when the Phillies need it, but he’s clearly falling short.
Stark also uses quotations from baseball scouts in order to prove his point that Rollins is not the main concern of the Phillies this year. Regarding Papelbon’s lackluster performance in the bullpen and on the mound, a scout said, “His fastball is 89-90 [mph]. His split does nothing. He’s got no out-pitch. I know it’s spring training, and maybe he’s just trying to get ready. But his body language is awful. He’s got no energy at all out there.” As can be seen, the Phillies have a pitcher who is not doing what he’s being paid to do; win the games. Rollins on the other hand has proven through quotes from other sources that he wants to play. Anyway, Stark successfully proves that Sandberg needs to focus on more than Rollins.
Phillies' Shortstop Jimmy Rollins
http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/4258/jimmy-rollins
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