If the state of the Dodgers was based entirely on what was posted on social media, shortstop Jimmy Rollins would have been run out of town on a rail months ago. After all, the 36-year-old / 16-year MLB veteran was hovering right around the Mendoza Line for nearly all of the first half of the season – this in spite of his near flawless defense.

But prior to Monday night’s game against his former team, Rollins said something that raised a few eyebrows among the gathered media when asked if he can get his average up to .250 or .260 by the end of the season.

“Get on the grind, that’ll do it,” Rollins said confidently. “The second half is my half anyway.

Armed with this previously unknown revelation, the covey of beat writers and bloggers began frantically checking Baseball_Reference.com and sure enough, Rollins has a career first-half slash line of .259 / .317 / .400 with 110 home runs and a second-half slash line of .273 / .335 / .447 with 113 home runs. Granted, this isn’t a huge difference, but it certainly supports Rollins’s claim that the second half is his half.

As if on cue, Rollins is off to a good start in the second half, which officially began on Saturday. He is 2 for 7 (.286) with two runs scored, three RBIs and a walk in eight total plate appearances. Both hits (singles) came in Monday night’s 4-hour, 13 minute long marathon, which fell a mere 5 minutes shy of the all-time record for the longest nine-inning game played at Dodger Stadium.

To accentuate his point, Rollins’s second base hit – a sharp single the opposite way in the seventh inning – drove in what would prove to be the game-winning runs in the Dodgers eventual 10-7 win over The Phillies.

Rollins took right-hander Jeanmar Gomez’s sinker the other way to drive in the winning runs on Monday night. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But why the difference? Why is Rollins better in the second half as his numbers bear out?

“I don’t know, the numbers are set, you’re playing ball, you’re winning,” said Rollins. “It’s not about your average and things of that nature at that point. In the beginning you want to get off to a good start and lead the team. But when it’s time to get on the grind and win… I was fortunate enough to have a good enough team when I was over there, we found ways, and I was a part of that.

“That’s just being who I am,” Rollins added. “Put me in situations where it counts, I’ve just had a knack for getting it done lots of times.”

Although it is impossible to say that Rollins will have a better second half based on only two games (he did not play on Sunday), he acknowledges that he has changed his approach at the plate, which he feels will help him do exactly that.

“Staying through the middle, maybe [going] the other way, but basically not being as much of a pull hitter,” said Rollins of his new approach. “I pull the ball naturally when it’s in the right position – the bat catches the ball at a certain point in the zone – but letting it happen instead of trying to make it happen, especially on a pitch that shouldn’t be pulled, I’ve done a lot of that, so working on staying up the middle and tonight I was able to do that. Got a sinker away that was up and I was able to drive it right in that short Tony Gwynn hole, the five hole.”