Defense trickle down

[logan82]

Last year when discussing Braun and his defense it was brought up that Hardy might be playing a little more towards 3B to cover for Braun. Bill Hall had a quote in the Wisconsin State Journal that somewhat confirms this. Kind of makes you wonder how much one poor defender can affect the rest of the infield. How much do you think having a better defensive 1B would help?

 

"We can already see it in spring training," he said. "J.J. told me he's able to play way more up the middle because he knows a former shortstop playing third base has some range. So he's more up the middle. I'm getting balls in the six hole and he's getting balls up the middle. That's got to be 15 to 20 more outs a year."

 

Of course Braun was also a former SS.

 

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/brewers/275735

[TooLiveBrew]

How much do you think having a better defensive 1B would help?

 

Well given that Prince's biggest problem defensively thus far has been bending for low balls, and that the primary area (imo) where a 1B can separate himself from others is scooping low throws... I'd say a heckuva lot.

[Ennder]

Part of the defensive struggles last year was Hardy during June/July as well. He played through some hip and back injuries that limited his range and really hurt his offensive numbers. I think we'll see a very big upgrade overall defensively this season.

[bork]

So far in spring training, the defense seems pretty good, outside of Weeks and the bench players.

 

And with a quicker outfield being able to play in more, how many hits will that take away?

[GAME05]

great point, bork. it goes so much further than fewer errors. in the games i saw, i was always surprised at how far back our outfield was playing. Hart because he was somewhat inexperienced, Hall because he wouldn't have fully learned to read a ball off a bat yet, and Mench because he ran slower than a gimpy turtle.

 

so it's not just the fewer errors that are going to be made this year, it's such an improvement in overall range of both the infield and the outfield. yeah, i don't expect Fielder to improve a ton on D, but at the same time, i think he's going to have to bend down for balls in the dirt a lot fewer times with Hall throwing to him than Braun.

 

i'm thinking any comments players make about Braun's defense at 3rd will almost be laughed off by him. i can imagine a comment of "well, whatever. i hated playing 3b, anyway." and does Braun's history of playing SS really play into anything? wasn't that only in HS he played SS? at that level he's probably getting by on simply being a phenomenal athlete and not playing the position with any of the technical skill needed at the ML level.

[RyGuy671]

Well, our OF will certainly be better than the ol' Lee/Clark/Jenkins days (although Jenks was great). They should be able to cover a ton of ground, Braun's faster than he seems.

 

I hope Weeks' defensive hiccups are just that, hiccups. I thought he improved enormously last year, just hope the high expectations heaped on him this year don't affect his D.

[logan82]

GAME05 wrote:

... does Braun's history of playing SS really play into anything? wasn't that only in HS he played SS? at that level he's probably getting by on simply being a phenomenal athlete and not playing the position with any of the technical skill needed at the ML level.

I think he played SS in college for at least a couple years. No, his playing at SS doesn't really play into anything other than Hardy commenting on how it is nice to have a SS playing at 3B. I was just pointing out that Braun also played SS.

[AdvantageSchneider]

Part of the defensive struggles last year was Hardy during June/July as well. He played through some hip and back injuries that limited his range and really hurt his offensive numbers. I think we'll see a very big upgrade overall defensively this season.

 

Why do you think Hardy will be any healthier this year than any previous year in his career? I hope you are right, but I'm not taking that as a given.

 

If the brewers are going to win, it's going to be an improvement in the defense. The offense and pitching are just fine, it's all about the defense, so I hope there are multiple trickle downs defensively.

[dlk9s]

Why do you think Hardy will be any healthier this year than any previous year in his career? I hope you are right, but I'm not taking that as a given.

Maybe because he has had the off-season to rest and heal.

 

[AdvantageSchneider]

How is that different than any of his other off seasons?

[sheetswannabe]

Advantage...He has played in Winter Leagues before.

[Blancofan1]

Why do you think Hardy will be any healthier this year than any previous year in his career? I hope you are right, but I'm not taking that as a given.

I read somewhere that JJ not only had a winter off for the first time in awhile, but also bought a Tempurpedic (Swedish foam is what the article said) mattress and it has really made a difference in how his back and whole body feels. I have a Tempurpedic pillow that I love, I can only imagine how having the full mattress would make you feel. Mostly I can't afford a $2000 bed set, thank goodness for arbitration!!

 

 

(cleaned up code --1992)

[Ennder]

Why do you think Hardy will be any healthier this year than any previous year in his career? I hope you are right, but I'm not taking that as a given.

Well his previous injury history has been mostly traumatic injuries, running into a guy at home plate etc. There is no reason to think he has a history of minor nagging injuries like he had last year, at least no more than any other SS.

 

 

(pared back nested quote --1992)

[AdvantageSchneider]

Well his previous injury history has been mostly traumatic injuries, running into a guy at home plate etc. There is no reason to think he has a history of minor nagging injuries like he had last year, at least no more than any other SS.

 

His first year up I thought he also had a nagging injury that reduced his playing time early in the season.

[endaround]

Nope, contra the myth of Yost patiently waiting for Hardy's offense to come around, Yost quasi- benched him after 6 weeks due to non performance.

[JJHardy7]

His first year up I thought he also had a nagging injury that reduced his playing time early in the season.

 

He had major shoulder surgery the year before he got called up. He barely played at all in AAA and then was still recovering in the bigs his rookie year.

[craigharmann]

Why do you think Hardy will be any healthier this year than any previous year in his career? I hope you are right, but I'm not taking that as a given.

I read somewhere that JJ not only had a winter off for the first time in awhile, but also bought a Tempurpedic (Swedish foam is what the article said) mattress and it has really made a difference in how his back and whole body feels

Quick, get Sheets a tempurpedic bed! Heck, wrap the guy in the foam! That way, he'll pitch out of his mind!

 

Actually, I could see this totally playing out after the season. "Hi, my name is J.J. Hardy, and I used to have nagging back injuries that kept me from realizing my potential as a baseball player. I got the tempurpedic bed and now, I can field balls from anywhere in the stadium. Thanks tempurpedic!"

[Tbadder]

I'm glad to hear all of this because the Crew really has no choice but to improve defensively. The Cubs are definitely better and we've really got no choice.

 

Why do I have a feeling that the organization is not really happy with JJ overall and are preparing to jettison him as soon as help arrives? I can't even pinpoint why I think it, but Melvin doesn't seem enamoured of him. Am I wrong? Does anyone else get that feeling?

[Fatter than Joey]

Am I wrong? Does anyone else get that feeling?

 

I don't think Hardy and Yost exchange Xmas cards.

[docduany]

To hit upon Bork's point again. I checked out Thursday's box score to discover that Rickie already had THREE errors this spring, that concerns me. I haven't checked out the stats, but it sure seemed like that as Rickie's bat was heating up in August & September, his glove was starting to make that awful clanking sound again. And now he has three errors this early in the spring? Now if a hitter has a slow start in spring training-- big deal. That's a lot of guys, it's only spring training. If a pitcher is getting lit up-- big deal. But shouldn't fielding the ball should be a constant? I mean I'm not ready to sit Rickie or anything foolish as that. But with all the jaw flapping about improved D this spring, Rickie heading backward would be a big step backwards.

[drezdn]

Now Hardy can play more towards second to help cover Weeks, so it all works out.

[RoseBowlMtg]

I missed the anti-Hardy sentiment. Where do you get that feeling?

[DrWood]

But shouldn't fielding the ball should be a constant?

when I played ball as a kid, getting back into the routine of fielding came later than swinging the bat.

[TooLiveBrew]

If Rickie hadn't yet made an E in ST, I wouldn't feel any better about his D, so I definitely don't feel worse that he's made some E's.

[Tbadder]

I missed the anti-Hardy sentiment. Where do you get that feeling?

I'm hard-pressed to find concrete examples. Melvin talking about Escobar. Yost's fight with JJ. His benching for non-performance. I really don't know--just a feeling. I was wondering if other had the same feeling?