Is J.J. Hardy just tired out?

[pitchleague]

After thinking about the numerous weak ground balls to the left side that he's hit recently (ala his rookie season), is it way out there to think that Hardy is starting to hit the wall this season? He's now well over his career-high in at-bats and has yet to play a full season with the Crew (was it '03 or '04 that he missed most of the AAA season with injury?)

 

To me, it seems like he needs a good break of a couple games (maybe 3-4 games) on the upcoming road trip. Let Counsell play once he's feeling better from his "ailment" and give Hardy a break.

 

Anybody else agree or disagree?

 

 

Added tags - b19

[princeginterhallhelms04]

Yeah i think that he could be in line for a break. Don't know how much i really like the ideal of Council and graffy both playing but if that spell gives hardy a faster bat and better hitting down the stretch i could live with it.

[moofnelson]

JJ had Wednesday and Thursday off at the All-Star break. He also had back-to-back games off last week in Cincy. I think he's just messed up in the head when he stands in the batters box. He's kind of fallen into the same thing that plagued Weeks: watch the fastball down the middle of the plate and then swing at the junk outside the strikezone. When he does make contact, he's just not hitting the ball hard. Early in the season, even JJ's outs were hit hard, it seemed.

[brewcrewkid14]

I think he needs to unleash on one of those first pitch strikes he always gets now that pitchers know he is taking all the way. I mean seriously I bet if he got hot and was confident enough to do that it could do some damage. I think its all mental for that reason. At the game tonight I thought that one was gone, but oh well.

Oh, and by the way, in the four games I've gone to this year Turnbow and Cordero have been lights out, and the Brewers are 4-0. Get me some tickets http://static.yuku.com/v2//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/wink.gif.

[imaji]

Hardy was batting .308 (8/26) with 5 runs scored and 3 driven in in the last week heading into tonight (Fri)...I'll take .300 and a run per game and over .5 per game batted in from my shortstop and #2 hitter every week. If you expected the early season power burst to last, you were living in fantasy world anyway...

 

Last 10 Games (Season Game Log)																Season to Date
Date	Opponent	Score	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS			AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Aug 2	NYM	L 4-12	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0			.271	.328	.456	.784
Aug 1	NYM	L 5-8	4	1	1	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0			.272	.329	.459	.788
Jul 31	NYM	W 4-2	4	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0			.272	.329	.459	.787
Jul 29	@ STL	L 5-9	5	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0			.272	.328	.461	.788
Jul 28	@ STL	L 2-5	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			.268	.324	.459	.783
Jul 27	@ STL	W 12-2	4	1	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0			.271	.328	.464	.791
Jul 26	@ CIN	L 5-6	5	1	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			.268	.326	.463	.789

 

that doesn't exactly suck.

 

(edit: stats added from yahoo fantasy league)

[pitchleague]

I never said that he sucks. I just pointed out that many of his outs have been weak ground ball outs to third or shortstop which is what he did alot during his rookie season. Maybe it's a sign of him getting tired out at the plate. Maybe I'm hallucinating things. But I never said that he sucks. Nor did I ever say his power streak was going to last.

[brettac1]

I think this would hold more water if it was a shorter slump he's been on, but he's been pretty bad from early May to now.

[LouisEly]

.685 OPS in June, .559 OPS in July, .633 OPS in August so far... I'll take the larger sample then the last 10 games.

Let's face it, Weeks, Hardy, and Jenkins have been stinking up the joint the last couple of months. Counsell has out OPS'd and OBP's Hardy the last two months, so I could definitely buy giving Hardy a few more days off (but I am NOT calling for Counsell to be the starter).

[pitchleague]

yep, that's my feeling exactly. Just give him a couple days off and let Counsell start a few on the road. The minute we get back home (or maybe just before) plug Hardy back into the starter's role. He just needs a few days to clear his plate.

 

Of course, it doesn't help that advance scouts know what they're doing and the opposition is listening.

[imaji]

I never said that he sucks. I just pointed out that many of his outs have been weak ground ball outs to third or shortstop which is what he did alot during his rookie season. Maybe it's a sign of him getting tired out at the plate. Maybe I'm hallucinating things. But I never said that he sucks. Nor did I ever say his power streak was going to last.

 

I never said you said he sucks, or that his power would last. My point is that if he was TIRED, I'd expect more k's than 2 in the last 8 games, as a slow bat should (it seems) lead to more swings and misses. If he was TIRED, I wouldn't expect him to be able to hit safely in 6 of his last 7 games. Is he "slumping"? It's a matter of perspective, depending on what you expected in the first place. I said all April and May that he wasn't *that* good.

 

As far as those who think he takes too many pitches (heard often on the 1250 postgame last night (Fri)...ummm, duh, he's a #2 batter, part of that job description is to take pitches and give 3 and 4 more looks at the pitcher before they come up. The Yankees are oft lauded for "working" pitchers and going deep into counts. IMO, to take so many strikes that he's almost always IN a 2 strike count, and NOT strike out very much, is a sign that he's NOT tired, that he can make contact whenever he needs to, and while much of that contact may be leading to the weak grounders you're observing, it's (a) better than striking out, and (b) bound to see a regression to the mean as some of those grounders find a hole in the infield.

[RightFieldCoder]

Hardy is a dead pull hitter. He can hit to RF, but he has a better swing when he's trying to pull the ball. Early in the season, the book on Hardy was to pitch him fastballs on the inside half. That was based on how he swung when he was injured for the last two years. But he killed that pitch for the first two months of the year. Now pitchers know that they should never throw him that pitch. An offspeed pitch on the outside corner turns that same swing into a weak ground ball. I think JJ just needs to go out there and start looking to drive it to right center. As the #2 hitter that is his second job description, hit the ball the other way.

[sweepscc]

I'm not seeing any drastic difference in the way Hardy is being pitched. The only difference I see is instead of hitting the fastball middle-in 500 ft he's topping it to third base. Is it because he is tired and his body is not primed for a 162 game season? I don't know, I'm leaning that way. But I've never played 162 games of baseball in a 6 month span so I don't know the wear on the body. I do remember hearing a quote from him a couple weeks back where he said something to the effect he just doesn't feel strong up at the plate.

[Thurston Fluff]

Maybe he just needs to get his head out of his butt and realize he isn't playing with the urgency and concentration he should be playing with. Somewhere along the line he has to figure out this is no longer the middle of the season with a lot of time left. Now is the time to step up. Everybody is tired, it's August, fatigue is no excuse. Honestly JJ's defense is not what I thought it would be. He needs to pick it up a little bit.

[endaround]

Or maybe he just isn't that good. Counsell had a 900+ OPS last spring too.

[Thurston Fluff]

I don't thnk nayone thought he was as good as his first month or so. He's really not an all star caliber player yet. Maybe never will be. But he was supposed to be a better defensive shortstop than he looks right now. I can live with midocre offense if he's a gold glove tyoe defender but he isn't. After Weeks he's the most disappointing of the young players so far. Not that I dislike him or think he's due for replacement but he isn't as good as I'd have hoped either.

[JJ Hardy Har Har]

I thought he made a few good-contact-outs last night. With a little luck, this discussion could have turned considerably. He has actually hit safely in 5 straight, a minor slump-buster if you want to look at it that way. He has an odd approach and swing, but it's not a timing-critical approach (like say Jenkins' is), so I would have to imagine these prolonged droughts are going to be few and far in between when he learns to keep a level head.