After two down seasons, J.J. Hardy was left for dead after many drafts last year. I’m sure he took offense to that and that is why he had one of his best seasons of his career. His 30 home runs weren’t only a career high, but they were also tied for the lead among shortstops (Troy Tulowitzki) in 2011. Power is the name of Hardy’s game and it seems like he likes hitting in Baltimore (.232 ISO at home) so the power trend should continue. Unfortunately, to add this power it seems that Hardy has sacrificed a bit of plate discipline, and in turn batting average, as his O-Swing% (31.5) and Swing% (42.5) were both career highs. A lesser batting average means Hardy is on base less and limits the amount of runs he can score. Still, the power is enough on its own to make Hardy a potential top six shortstop.
Best case scenario: Another 2011 season
Similar players: Jhonny Peralta (DET), Josh Willingham (MIN), Adam Jones (BAL)
Worst case scenario: Alex Gonzalez (MIL)
Strengths...
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