Power outage -- Hardy, Weeks, Hall

[adambr2]

We're a team built on power. This has been shown in the past few months signficantly by Prince, Braun, and Hart. Nonetheless, there are still a few important players on our team expected to show some power that have, for whatever reason, struggled to do so.

Hardy:
Expectations: The only good thing about Hardy's HR drought, is that we never really expected 30-40 HR's out of him. He should still get 20, which is fine. However, the way he came out of the gates early on, leading the league in HR's throughout most of the first 2 months, it seemed a given that he was on pace to put up significant power numbers this season. In addition, we could have lived with the power drought, as long as his average continued to ride high in the .280 range.

What happened: Hardy cooled off, and hasn't homered in nearly 2 months. Unfortunately, his average took a nosedive with the power drought, and hasn't been much to speak of since he was hitting HR's.

Why: Hardy is primarily a fastball hitter. Don't give him heat on the inner half of the plate, or he'll make you pay. Very rarely will he take one the other way. The word has gotten out, and Hardy rarely sees something good to hit on the inner half of the plate.


Weeks:
Expectations: After putting up good power in college and the minors, Weeks broke into the big leagues in June '05 with possible projections as a 40/40 guy. He started off looking like that guy, and as some may remember, hit a 500 foot moonshot at the old Busch Stadium, one of the longest HR's they had seen since the McGwire era, which brought even the Cardinal fans to their feet. Whether he has the ability to hit HR's has never been in question.

What happened: Showed off that power early in April, and hasn't shown it since. No HR's since April, which has also plagued his average.

Why: Weeks' wrist injury has definitely forced him to play in pain and made it difficult in taking anything the other way. He should be pain-free from the wrist injury by the 2008 season. In addition to Hardy, Weeks tees off on fastballs, but is baffled by breaking balls. He, as well, will need to learn how to hit the curve before he'll start seeing more fastballs.


Hall:
Expectations: The 2006 Brewer MVP led the team in HR's in '06, even surpassing Prince, with his 35 HR's. Still a young player, it was seen by many that 35 HR's may be his ceiling, but he was still expected to demonstrate a good amount of power in 2007, starting off the season primarily batting cleanup.

What happened: In mid-August, still yet to hit double-digits in his HR total. His average is still around his career numbers, about as expected, but he's no longer driving the ball. Seems to have belted plenty of "warning track" hits in 2007 but lacking the extra power that enabled him to hit 35.

Why: This one is a bit more of a mystery to me. Hall hasn't had a significant dropoff in average, but he was signed for his power and extra base hitting ability. It's not clear where his power has gone. The best guess I could make is that 35 HR's was a bit over his head, will wind up being a career high, and despite his struggles this year, he'll typically be a 20-25 HR guy every season.

[adambr2]

And just like that, Hardy's HR drought is over on the same day. Hopefully this will end up being the thread that ends the power droughts for all 3 guys. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

Hardy got the fastball middle-in from Jennings. Guess he didn't get the memo.

[Brian the Automator]

Start threads about the bullpen, please.