The Fall of Scott Rolen in 2002

When I traded for Scott Rolen in the 2001 season he was everything I was hoping for in a third baseman. Here are his stats for the Rippers and Stonecutters in 2001.

Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	SB	CS	GDP	BA	OBP	SLG
New York Rippers	72	272	37	69	16	1	7	30	31	69	2	0	1	21	4	1	0.254	0.333	0.397
Atlanta Stonecutters	87	327	64	101	25	2	16	58	47	85	4	0	2	15	5	3	0.309	0.4	0.544
Totals	159	599	101	170	41	3	23	88	78	154	6	0	3	36	9	4	0.284	0.37	0.477

Rolen was rolling for me in 01 and played above his card for me. While he was very subpar for Billy and probably one of the reasons why he traded him. In the end of the '01 season he was pretty much what his card said he was, but boy did I love the ride he gave me and my team.

Lets move to the current '02 season.

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	SB	CS	GDP	BA	OBP	SLG
Totals	114	424	64	98	18	7	15	67	44	82	16	0	1	1	4	20	0.231	0.326	0.413

While the season is still going on you can see that Rolen is TOTALLY under performing from what his card has on it. Batting average WAY down, On Base Percentage WAY down, and Slugging WAY down. Now I understand that Rolen didn't hit righties as well as he did in '01, however he did hit more home runs giving him A power in '02.  He should should have about 22 home runs based on his current stats, but he is only at 15. It will take a huge power surge the rest of the year to get him close to his real number of 31.  He did bring down his strikeouts from '01-'02. My biggest problem with Rolen this year is how many double plays he has hit into. When not hitting hard grounders to short, he would strikeout. a real rally killer. I probably expect more out of someone like Rolen just by having the "Clutch" rating on his card. It seem that Rolen doesn't hit very well in the Clutch this year.

While Rolen has been frustrating at the plate he's been great with the glove and has stopped a ton of ball from going down the line. There have been a ton of "Rolen really ranged far to get that one" and "An Amazing play by Rolen, You don't see that everyday" results during a game. I wish there was a way to calculate how many runs and hits Rolen have saved my pitchers ERA. 

I just thought I would put this out there for everyone. I know we all have under preforming cards on our teams. Just know you are not alone in your frustration.

Oh by the way...just because I wrote this article bashing my star third basemen does not mean I would trade him.