Jimmy Rollins could be one big-time postseason performance away from cementing a Hall of Fame résumé.
Strongly worded? Perhaps. But Rollins is already a borderline Cooperstown candidate at the moment, and if he can be instrumental in bringing a championship back to the Dodgers, that could be the final check he needs.
The recent enshrinement of Barry Larkin, who appears on Rollins' Baseball-Reference page as the player most similar to him, has helped Rollins' Hall of Fame chances.
And while Larkin has Rollins in batting average, OBP and slugging percentage, Rollins already owns the advantages over Larkin in doubles, triples, homers and steals.
Who better to ask about Rollins' Hall of Fame chances than Larkin himself?
"Hall of Fame shortstop? Absolutely, look at his numbers. His numbers are better than mine," Larkin told John Gonzalez on this week's episode of CSNPhilly.com's The700Level Show.
"Jimmy Rollins is a beast and people appreciate him. I'm sure people in Philadelphia appreciate him even more now that he's not there, his ability. Jimmy Rollins will be appreciated at some point. Jimmy Rollins is a great guy, great player, tremendous competitor, great numbers. He was the first to do a lot of stuff in the game."
MLB
Like Larkin, Rollins won an MVP award. Rollins has four Gold Gloves to Larkin's three. Both players won one World Series, with Rollins appearing in six more playoff series than Larkin.
Any way you slice it, the two are comparable players, even though Rollins' gradual decline makes it feel like he should fall just short of the Hall.
But Larkin disagrees.
"The guys that dominated at their position for an extended period time is a Hall of Famer in my book," he said.
The full interview debuts Wednesday night on CSNPhilly.com and at 5:30 p.m. Thursday on The Comcast Network.