NewsShowdown: Billingsley vs. Rollins
Dodgers righty faces team that tormented him in '08 NLCS
By Doug Miller / MLB.com
05/14/09 4:51 AM ET
Chad Billingsley strode into the 2008 National League Championship Series after a sensational season for the surprising Dodgers, but Jimmy Rollins and the Phillies took the wind out of him early and often.After getting beaten up in Game 2, Billingsley was pounded in Game 5, thanks in large part to a Rollins leadoff homer that set the tone for a Phillies explosion. The Dodgers went the way of their prized young right-hander, bowing out in five and watching from home as Philadelphia steamrolled Tampa Bay for a long-awaited World Series crown.
The two stars of the NL will meet again Wednesday when Billingsley toes the slab at Citizens Bank Park. This time, the tables have been turned a bit, with Billingsley and his Dodgers coming in hot from the West Coast and Rollins and the Phillies still trying to thaw out a bit from an April cold spell.
Who will get the best of whom in this made-for-TV October rematch?
The Showdown takes a detailed look:
The Basics
Matchup: Chad Billingsley, RHP, Dodgers vs. Jimmy Rollins, SS, Phillies
Where: Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park
When: 1:05 p.m. ET, live on MLB.TV
Billingsley's 2009 stats: 5-1, 2.45 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 47/20 K/BB ratio in 47 2/3 IP (7 GS)
Rollins' 2009 stats: .200 AVG (26-for-130), 6 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBIs, 16 R, 2 SB in 30 G
The Background
Early days: Billingsley was born in Ohio and was the No. 1 selection by the Dodgers (24th overall) in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft. He rose quickly through the ranks and ended up starting 16 games for Los Angeles in 2006 at the age of 21. Rollins, all 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds of him, is a native of Oakland, Calif., and was 21 when he made his big league debut in September 2000. He was a second-round pick in the 1996 Draft.
Last year: Billingsley solidified his reputation as one of the National League's up-and-coming starting pitching stars, going 16-10 with a 3.14 ERA and 201 strikeouts. However, after a smashing win over the Cubs in the NL Division Series, Billingsley was torched by the Phillies in the NL Championship Series. Meanwhile, "J-Roll" didn't quite live up to the sensational statistics of his 2007 NL Most Valuable Player campaign, but he wasn't bad, either. He batted .277 with 11 homers and 59 RBIs, stole 47 bases, scored 76 runs in 137 games, won his second straight Gold Glove and helped lead his team to its first World Series title in 28 years.
The Evidence
Billingsley's road dominance: 2-0, 2.74 ERA, 17/9 K/BB ratio in 20 2/3 IP this season
Rollins' gradual turnaround: Hit safely in 8 of last 10 G and 12 of last 15; HR last night vs. LAD
Head-to-head: Rollins and Billingsley have tangled nine times in the regular season, with Rollins doing just fine against the young right-hander, batting .333 (3-for-9) with a double, triple, two RBIs, one strikeout and one hit-by-pitch. Rollins did even better in the 2008 postseason against Billingsley, going 1-for-2 with a single and a strikeout in Game 2 of the NLCS and then leading off Game 5 with a homer off Billingsley and adding a walk in his only other plate appearance.
The Arguments
The case for Billingsley: It's tough to argue that any National League hitter has an advantage against Billingsley right now because he's been that good so far in 2009. All seven of Billingsley's outings this year have been categorized as quality starts (six innings or more, three earned runs or less). He's also 3-0 on the road for the first-place Dodgers and has only given up 34 hits in 47 2/3 innings.
The case for Rollins: Normally you wouldn't go ga-ga over a guy who just got his batting average to the Mendoza Line, but Rollins has had slow starts before, and after homering Wednesday to notch hits in 10 of his last 12 games, he might be getting hot at the right time. Factor in his favorite ballpark and a pitcher he's been comfortable against in the past and you might have the makings of another big game for J-Roll.
The Verdict
Nothing against Rollins, the pro's pro who isn't far removed from a simply epic 2007 season in which he hit 30 homers, 20 triples, 38 doubles, stole 41 bases and scored 139 runs, but he might be running into a bit of a buzzsaw here.
After breaking his fibula while slipping on ice outside his Reading, Pa., home last November, Billingsley has gotten healthier and stronger than ever before. At the age of 24, the big right-hander is starting to put it all together, and he's a leading contender for the NL Cy Young Award at this early stage of the season.
Seven starts and seven quality starts. Enough said right there to put this advantage squarely in Billingsley's corner, especially when Rollins hasn't been anywhere near the player we've been accustomed to this early in the year.
The odds say go with Billingsley here, but Philly fans do have a few things to hold out hope for: Rollins is still a great player and certainly capable of getting back to top form quickly, and there's no place quite like Citizens Bank Park in which that can happen.
The best way to see who wins this Showdown is to watch for yourself.
Check it out live today on MLB.TV at 1:05 p.m. ET and then revisit The Showdown with an at-bat-by-at-bat review of the matchup after the game.
Doug Miller is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
