At the end of
2009, JJ Hardy was an offensive mess.
His overall
numbers were bad but his power production had almost evaporated. He had gone
from a hitter who had hit 50 home runs from 2007-2008 to one who hit 11. Unable
to figure neither his problem out nor willing to pay his escalating salary, the
Brewers shipped in to Minnesota for an equally perplexing talent in Carlos
Gomez.
Not long
after the trade, Alex Eisenberg at Baseball-Intellect.com compiled a marvelous progression
of Hardy’s
mechanical changes through his Brewers years. In determining his sudden drop-off
in ’09, Eisenberg identified that Hardy had a significant arm bar in his swing
causing him to have a longer swing in general. Knowing this, it is no surprise
that Hardy struggled that year against left-handed
pitchers who frequently targeted the outer-half of the plate. Likewise, another
facet of his game that gradually worsened was his ability to turn on a baseball
– this skill
slowly e...
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