5/3/08 Brewers (Parra) at Astros (Backe): 6:05 PM CDT

[Ennder]

Yuck Hardy.

 

So what are people's thoughts on him. Is he just really this bad? He's pretty much hit like this for all but two months of his MLB career.

 

That really isn't true. In the second half of his rookie year he was great(.865 OPS). For the first month of his second season he was decent(.772 OPS), he trailed off right before getting hurt. For the first 2 months of last year he was insanely good(.869, .961 OPS). For the last 2 months of last year he was pretty good(.821, .744 OPS). He has been cold for the first half of 2005, a week of the year he got injured, 2 months in the middle of last year and then starting this year.

 

I don't know what to think overall because it is hard to find what the middle ground in all of this is.

[sheetswannabe]

Gamel? How about Escobar?

[adambr2]

If you have cable, particularly Charter, try pulling the main cable out of your cable box and plugging it directly into the TV.

 

A friend called me and told me to do that, and I don't know why, but it worked.

 

I will add though that Charter sucks. I just don't know how many more headaches from them I can handle.

[Brewer Killa]

I think you could make a decent case that Kendall is the worse hitter but they both have some major issues on the offensive side of things.

I think you could but at least he has had a decent track record during his career. Hardy has had two good months and has been pretty bad for the rest.

 

[Ennder]

I think you could make a decent case that Kendall is the worse hitter but they both have some major issues on the offensive side of things.

I think you could but at least he has had a decent track record during his career. Hardy has had two good months and has been pretty bad for the rest.

 

 

Again this simply is not true at all.

[sheethead]

I know its early, but Hardy is not the only one sucking this year. Prince, Rickie, and Bill have all pretty much sucked as well. How this team is over .500 is a giant mystery to me. I hope the luck continues this year, but hoping on luck usually doesn't pan out for me.

[Brewer Killa]

Gabe Gross has left the building in Boston. Way to go Gabe!

[sheetswannabe]

Decent? Kendall was an amazing hitting catcher in his prime!

[trwi7]

Wow, he trapped that.

[owbc]

Parra looks mediocre again today. Not what we need.

 

43 pitches

22 balls

21 strikes

[trwi7]

Pathetic at bats by Braun and Fielder.

[rluzinski]

I think you could but at least he has had a decent track record during his career. Hardy has had two good months and has been pretty bad for the rest.

 

The fact that Kendall was good 8 years ago really doesn't mean much these days. The age differences between the two play a big role as well. ZiPS projections project Hardy for a .739 OPS and Kendall at .645. Their production so far this year would bridge the gap somewhat but I'd still expect more from Hardy going forward (which isn't saying much).

[sheetswannabe]

I dont really get the "ZiPS" projections and stuff like that... You cant predict someones stats, they do it themselves, sometimes they suck sometimes they do amazing... Projections means NOTHING.

[razzzorsharp]

If you have cable, particularly Charter, try pulling the main cable out of your cable box and plugging it directly into the TV.

 

A friend called me and told me to do that, and I don't know why, but it worked.

 

I will add though that Charter sucks. I just don't know how many more headaches from them I can handle.

No dice here.

[uwmbrewers]

nice double play

[Ennder]

Hardy's OPS by month

 

2005 - .462, .592, .616, .801, .680, .949. So in 2005 he was miserable in the first half, good in july and great in September

2006 - .772, .515. In 2006 he was good in April and miserable in May (43 PA)

2007 - .869, .961, .685, .558, .821, .744. Great in April/May, miserable in June/July, good in August, ok in September.

 

That is hardy good for only 2 months in his career. Personally I give him the benefit of the doubt for that first half of 2005 since he was coming off a major injury and didn't spend enough time in AAA. In June/July of 2007 he was struggling with injuries so there is at least an explanation for the slump.

 

There is no reason to not expect Hardy to pick things up pretty soon. He has shown he can hit major league pitching already, he just needs to get more consistent.

[sheetswannabe]

I see 7 good months... 05, July, September.....06 April...07 April May August September

[mls4]

Yeah with Hardy not hitting and Kendall back to normal, the bottom third of the order seems to be a black hole. The middle of the order is getting on base and the bottom of the order is leaving them stranded.

[owbc]

I agree, I'm concerned with the bottom of the order and the concern revolves around JJ Hardy's run-producing.

 

Speaking of run scoring chances in the bottom of the order, here's a chance for Kendall

[trwi7]

Just awful Kendall, just awful.

[Ennder]

So weeks has 3 hard hit balls and only 1 hit for it and I'm sure people will complain about his AVG going down if he gets out 2 more times this game.

[owbc]

Rickie's luck is going to turn around sooner or later.

[uwmbrewers]

I thought for sure we were going to get 1 run... nope.

[trwi7]

LOL at Bill blaming Kendall's at bat on getting hit by the pitch yesterday.

[owbc]

How many times are we going to get punched in the stomach this week?