Why is J.J. getting a free pass?

[BadgerFan]

With all the ragging on Hall and Hart (and for good reason), why is J.J. getting a free pass? You could make a case that he is the worst hitter on the team right now. I'm not saying we have a ton of guys to plug into his place but man has he been bad recently.

 

The offensively woeful "triple-H combo" of Hardy, Hart and Hall are killing us right now. Until at least one of the three get things turned around there is NO reason to have all three in the lineup on the same day.

 

 

(edit: more explicative thread title --1992)

[pretendastronaut]

Hardy hasn't been as bad as certain people seem to think. He had a bad April, a very good May and a rough June so far. But the whole team has had a rough June and JJ has had bad luck. He's hitting the ball with good pop, just not finding the holes. They pointed out on the broadcast last night I believe, that while in Atlanta, every night when they showed the Braves defensive highlight of the game, JJ was at bat.

 

JJ put up a .313 avg / .888 OPS in May. His .156 avg / .500 OPS in April makes his current numbers look bad overall. I'm not worried about Hardy and he's not even close to the discussion of Hart and Hall right now.

[GB12]

Because he is so damn good looking.

[YoGasKpose]

I think Hardy's status as a hot/cold kind of guy plays into the whole thing as well. I know Hardy's been bad the past few weeks, but, in the back of my mind, I'm still thinking that he could light the fuse in any one at-bat and turn the whole thing around.

 

 

Also, just two short weeks ago, there was a Wednesday afternoon game against St. Louis that the Crew ended up losing 3-2. If I remember the IGT right, several people were hoping the Brewers could just get J.J. to the plate in the ninth. He'd been great all day. He grounded out to end it, but the incident points to his streakiness and the amount of confidence he instills when he's going right.

 

 

The offense has been awful lately, and it's natural to look for someone to blame. Perhaps Hardy should be taking more fire, but, as others have pointed out, the whole lineup (with notable exceptions Misters Braun and Fielder) has stunk it up recently. Blame placed on Hardy would be, in my view, more like finding a short-term target for short-term frustration. The blame on Hart and Hall cuts a little deeper.

[DHonks]

pretendastronaut, you defend Hardy by saying he's had one good month. Hall had a good April and Hart was arguably out best player in April.

 

The reality is that all 3 have underachieved, especially Hardy and Hart

[pretendastronaut]

The difference is I don't watch JJ and think he looks lost at the plate like Hart, and especially Hall, do. Heck, Cameron looks the most lost at the plate right now. Also, Hall and Hart's problems have extended well beyond the first 2+ months of this season.

 

JJ may be playing below expectations, especially with the spring he had, but I'm not even close to concerned about him right now. I think his overall numbers skew a lot of people's perception of how he's doing since April.

[Ennder]

Hardy is making solid contact right at people and has a good approach at the plate. His slump is almost completely based on BABIP, his K% is steady from last year, his BB% is actually higher. His ISO is lower but not extremely so, the big difference is a .245 BABIP and since with my own eyes I have seen at least 6 balls he hit hard that players made great plays on I give him a break for it.

 

Hart and Hall are just up there hacking at everything and swinging through most of it.

 

Hardy was really good last year and didn't have the big fade at the end of the year. Hall has been terrible for over 2 full seasons now and Hart's struggles started last season as well so there is more of a sample.

[Invader3K]

Almost the entire offense is looking completely anemic right now. When Craig Counsell is your third best offensive player, you know you're going to have problems.

[jjfanec]

Hardy has a BAbip in play of .243. Bill Hall is at .302. Corey hart is at .286. That to me means that Bill Hall's terrible start really is where he should be. He is not getting unlucky. Hart is maybe a little unlucky since his career line is .304 but he really is not that unlucky. Hardy on the other hand is getting unlucky. Those numbers and the eye test tell me Hardy is hitting the ball right at people right now. Once he starts finding holes at a normal pace his average will start to jump.

[JET15]

JJ isn't a topic because he's reliable at SS and he is hitting the ball hard. But I wonder if it can last when there's a guy in the minors who can quickly come up and take his place. What came of the trade rumors to Boston? Maybe they cooled off with his bat.

[JohnBriggs12]

You can sugarcoat it all you want, but when a middle of the order hitter is batting .219/.298/.344 in the middle of June, that is bad. I've seen many a Hardy at bat this year where he's taken pitches down the heart of the plate and then swung at breaking stuff in the dirt.

 

Why is he scuffling? Is he feeling the heat of Escobar's lingering presence in the organization? Who knows? But it bothered me last year when he didn't feel "comfortable" hitting 8th in the order. I can't remember any really good hitter being bothered by where he was hitting in the order (other than the flaky Soriano).

 

Regardless, this is a production business. You don't produce and your job is in jeopardy. I would imagine Macha will give him another breather with a couple days off to see if that works again. But sooner or later that gets old too (see Hall). Hardy should be right in the prime of his career right now. He's by far the biggest disappointment to me on a team with a number of them.

 

I would hope we see Counsell at SS and McGehee at 2B for a few days.

[Ennder]

I can't remember any really good hitter being bothered by where he was hitting in the order

 

Fielder and Braun last year when they were swapped comes to mind.

 

If you are going to judge a player on a 2 month sample of play you have to luck neutralize it to be realistic in any way and Hardy is pretty much being unlucky this year and that is it. There is absolutely no reason to sit him right now, he is hitting a lot of balls right on the button that are going for outs. Sure he strikes out too but he always has, his K rate isn't abnormal at all compared to his norm.

[brewmann04]

I agree it Hall,Hardy,Hart have not been anywhere close to Par,and it still amazing that the Crew still in First. Doug Melvin first Priority needs to find another Hitter to Protect Prince in the Batting Order.

[joepepsi]

Picking numbers on a month by month basis is a readily available, handy way to look at a player's streakiness. But it's also arbitrary. JJ's hot streak in May was really a 13 game stretch from May 3-21, where he hit 340/400/560 over 55 plate appearances. Since then he's hit .130/.196/.127 over 51 plate appearances.

[JohnBriggs12]

I can't remember any really good hitter being bothered by where he was hitting in the order

Fielder and Braun last year when they were swapped comes to mind.

I don't recall either Braun or Fielder saying they were bothered when they were swapped. A lot of guys perform better in one place or another, but most guys don't use where they are hitting as an excuse. It's a small thing and may not be significant at all, but it just bothered me because I would think an All Star caliber player would have enough confidence to be able to hit anywhere.

[Invader3K]

I can't remember any really good hitter being bothered by where he was hitting in the order

Fielder and Braun last year when they were swapped comes to mind. .

 

Reports were the two met with Yost, and that's why he switched them back to having Braun bat third and Fielder bat cleanup. So clearly they were bothered or at least thought it would help them do better.

[Ennder]

http://blogs.jsonline.com...s-fielder-and-braun.aspx

 

Braun said he and Fielder discussed making the switch after the game Saturday and asked hitting coach Jim Skaalen to broach the subject with Yost. It was only after that manuever that Yost went to talk to the players.

 

"We're excited about it," said Braun. "It's just a matter of being more comfortable. We just feel more comfortable this way."

 

Batting 8th is hard on a lot of players because they get pitched differently with the pitcher behind them.

 

They did a study on when certain stats become meaningful and AVG did not meet the criteria until you had 1000 PA worth of data. HR/FB took 300 PA and things like GB%, contact rate etc took 150.

 

All of his small sample size friendly stats are where you would expect them or better than last year except for HR which are 3 shy of expected rate but Hardy has always hit his HR in bunches so that doesn't worry me too much. His poor start is almost completely BABIP driven.

[1992casey]

If I remember correctly, when J.J. commented on hitting in front of the pitcher, he was actually hitting seventh with the pitcher hitting eighth. The point would remain the same, though.

[RU Rah Rah]

I don't think it's accurate to say that Hardy has been getting a "free pass" here. His slump frequently has come up during discussions of Hart, Hall, and Kendall.

[brewcrew7]

It is because he is JJ and people like him. When Hall, Hart, or Weeks struggle people wanted him gone and it was a topic in the blogs and all over this board. I dont want to hear JJ has been hitting that ball hard. I watch every game and I am surprised when he gets a hit. But now that there have been a couple guys made sliding catches on him, things are good. So his average would be ten points higher with a few more hits. Yipee. Get over the JJ love. Many of his at bats are simply horrible and he needs to pick it up. I know many of the brewers are not hitting but you never really hear much about JJ. Or at least to the level of many of the others.

[joepepsi]

It's possible the question of which core players to keep and which to discard is solving itself this year. Some talented players are able to maintain a high level of play for the balance of their careers. Many more are not. So while it's disappointing to see Hart, Hall and Hardy struggling, it's possible they have peaked as players. I'm not ready to say this is true of Hardy, but it may well be of Hart and Hall. After all, Hardy was arguably the best position player on the team last year. It's doubtful he suddenly just lost it.

 

But it's possible Braun, Fielder, and Weeks are the only hitters worth paying for.

[theavrock]

Sometimes I wonder why people refuse to look beyond the surface stats. Its like someone saying a pitcher isn't effective because his W-L total isn't good. There is more to baseball than just the surface stats that pop up on the TV screen when a player steps into the batter's box. It is not simply about production and it is not simply about people liking him. JJ has been extremely unlucky this season as evidenced by his BABIP. If you don't want to factor that into your analysis of whether or not to give him a "free pass" or not then that is your decision but I think it should be considered. If you couple that with the horrid start he had to the season that combines to produce his stats thus far. Could his BABIP stay where it is the entire year? Yes. Is that likely? No. Sooner or later the balls are going to start falling and his average will creep up. There is nothing that I have seen in person or in his stats to convince me that his season lines will be anywhere other than in line with or mildly south of his career averages. And that includes last night his 3 K night last night which i witnessed in person.

[theavrock]

It's possible the question of which core players to keep and which to discard is solving itself this year.

 

But it's possible Braun, Fielder, and Weeks are the only hitters worth paying for.

 

Ok I know i just commented but I needed to ask about this. How is Weeks on that list? I love the guy and think he has the tools, but he has been hurt quite a bit and really hasn't put anything together consistently except for the first two months of this season.

[pretendastronaut]

Hardy's numbers on their own are certainly below expectation, but I don't find him in the same conversation of Hall and Hart. You can look at Hall and Hart and see where and how they need to make adjustments. I don't see that with Hardy right now. His approach is good, he's making solid contact and ripping balls.

 

I'm in favor of finding solutions, but benching Hardy isn't in IMO. Everyone who thinks JJ is getting a free pass, what do you think he's doing wrong, other than his numbers are ugly? He strikes out sometimes? So does everyone.

 

Hall tries to pull everything over the left field wall, has a goofy batting stance, and is completely without confidence at the plate making for embarrassing at bats, he's completely overmatched right now.

 

Hart can't lay off junk pitches to save his life, and seems to maybe be having bat speed problems since he swings through so many pitches.

 

Hardy isn't having any of those problems that I see. His numbers simply are low, but his approach is good.

[brewcrew7]

Just reading some of the recent replies sums up how JJ is looked at. Saying he has hit the ball hard and blah blah and its more than just stats. I said earlier that you could give him 5 more hits or whatever from all these times he is hitting the ball hard. Fine but other than those few he has been pretty bad. Not sure what at bats you are watching but he has not looked good. And saying look beyond the stats? What else does he do? Plays good defense which is expected from a shortstop. Steals bases? Moves runners over? He is really a non factor. Weeks at least got on base, could steal and score some runs when he was hitting 230 last year. JJ is basically doing nothing at all and all we get is these excuses that Hall and Hart are much worse. How is that? I dont see it. All of them can look pretty bad at the plate and I dont know how you would make anyone of them look good. Hart can at least run a little bit so I guess he would get an edge over the three.