Mariners' Rollins takes positives out of rough outing
Lefty David Rollins made his Major League debut last Saturday in Oakland, pitching a sterling inning of relief against the A's. His follow-up outing, against the Detroit Tigers at Safeco Field on Monday night, wasn't nearly as great for the Seattle Mariners' Rule 5 acquisition.
Despite his tough Monday, in which Rollins allowed seven hits and four earned runs in just an inning of work, he told MLB.com's Greg Johns that he learned from the experience. In fact, he said, he enjoyed the experience of pitching in front of 22,000 fans: "I still tried to keep my composure after giving up a few hits and runs. I still tried to attack guys. I just made mistakes. But it was a great atmosphere. This is the first time I've been in something like this. I felt like, as long as I kept my composure, I'll move on from it."
Rollins' confidence doesn't appear to have wavered at all, as he echoed a sentiment given to him by Mariners slugger Nelson Cruz: "I feel like this is a good lesson learned. I'm just going to take it with me and keep going. Like Nelson [Cruz] just told me, tomorrow is a new day."
That's a pretty solid viewpoint for a pitcher to have, especially one as inexperienced as Rollins...so it will be interesting to see if it helps him the next time he takes the mound for Seattle.