A Slugger or A WIndmill: the #5 slot in the lineup
the #5 slot in the lineup will probably be the most important one, it will be the biggest question mark going into the season because of Rolen's health. we dont know if he is fully healed or if he will ever get back to 2004 form.
2005 stats (average/home runs/runs batted in/stolen bases)
.235/5/28/1
predicted 2006 stats
fully healed Rolen: .295/35/105/13
still aching Rolen: .280/28/90/7
like i said yesterday, Rolen is the big X-factor on this 06 ball club. if he has fully healed from shoulder surgery, gets his bat speed and batting eye back, then we don't have anything to worry about. BUT, if he is not fully healed, doesn't have the bat speed, and looks like he is in pain every time he swings and misses, then STL we have a PROBLEM! id bet on the first choice though. i think he will be almost fully healed if not fully healed by opening day. if he can put up anything close to what he did in 04, the cards should be fine. without him, we are just going to go the playoffs again and lose. with rolen in the lineup, its another year of contending for the 10th championship in franchise history. one can argue that if we had Rolen healthy during last year's playoffs, we would have beat houston an gone to the W.S. again. oh yeah, back to the stats. Rolen's career stats show that wherever he bats (4th or 5th spot in the lineup), he does pretty well, and the production from both spots of the lineup is pretty similar to one another also. he should be fine with Jimmy batting in front of him and Juan Enc.
2005 stats (average/home runs/runs batted in/stolen bases)
.235/5/28/1
predicted 2006 stats
fully healed Rolen: .295/35/105/13
still aching Rolen: .280/28/90/7
like i said yesterday, Rolen is the big X-factor on this 06 ball club. if he has fully healed from shoulder surgery, gets his bat speed and batting eye back, then we don't have anything to worry about. BUT, if he is not fully healed, doesn't have the bat speed, and looks like he is in pain every time he swings and misses, then STL we have a PROBLEM! id bet on the first choice though. i think he will be almost fully healed if not fully healed by opening day. if he can put up anything close to what he did in 04, the cards should be fine. without him, we are just going to go the playoffs again and lose. with rolen in the lineup, its another year of contending for the 10th championship in franchise history. one can argue that if we had Rolen healthy during last year's playoffs, we would have beat houston an gone to the W.S. again. oh yeah, back to the stats. Rolen's career stats show that wherever he bats (4th or 5th spot in the lineup), he does pretty well, and the production from both spots of the lineup is pretty similar to one another also. he should be fine with Jimmy batting in front of him and Juan Enc.
