Tuesday, May 20, 2008

JJ = Punch And Judy


After Hardricourt's journalistic gaff yesterday, he comes back and saves par by calling JJ a "Punch and Judy" hitter. Outstanding! I haven't heard that term in decades. Well JJ, vulcanize the tires on that horseless carriage, fill up the tank with petrol, and enjoy the barnstorming trip!

Oh, and it's not just because he's batting in front of the pitcher: In 32 at-bats in the No. 2 spot, he is batting .219.
"It's almost like I've become a little slap hitter, getting singles here and there. When I get comfortable, I think I'll be able to drive the ball."

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll say it again, JJ Hardy has essentially morphed into Wes Helms (what an arm!), but somehow with even less power.

Word on the street is he can't even pull tail anymore...what a shame.

Anonymous said...

He's exactly like Helms - they are both Brewer killers that cause us to lose games.

Anonymous said...

Helms has 1 more HR and 1 more RBI in half the ABs than JJ. I WISH JJ was Wes Helms right now.

Anonymous said...

"What's wrong with JJ Hardy" -- 2 words: he sucks. Just throw pitches above his head or make sure there are runners in scoring position and you're sure to get him out.

Anonymous said...

J.J. is a great fastball hitter.

Anonymous said...

After Hardricourt's journalistic gaff yesterday

You mean "gaffe," which is a embarrassing misstatement or mistake. A gaff is a spear used in fishing.

As bad as Hardy's BA is, he's doing even worse with runners in scoring position (0.135). That's after 164 plate appearances, which isn't a "small sample." Something needs to change there, and it doesn't seem likely to come from within the player at this point.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/stats/players/index.php?playerId=3797

Anonymous said...

blueguitarbob - My bad. That's the sort of writing qualities we like proved here at Chuck.

Anonymous said...

"...we like to provide..."

I'm retarded...

Anonymous said...

Bob, the RISP numbers aren't after 164 plate appearances. JJ only has 37 AB's with RISP. It's still horrible, but it is a small sample size. 1 single for JJ with runners in scoring position would raise that situational average 22 points. (6 for 38 is .158)

I checked today, JJ Hardy has the 2nd lowest ba w/ RISP of any shortstop in baseball with at least 25 PA's. Jeter is #1 batting something like .463 in that situation. League average in that situation by Shortstops so far this year is .266.

Anonymous said...

You are right, my bad. I was trying to counter the claim that it is too early in the season to spot trends. Only 37 ABs with RISP is a small sample, but we are getting to the point where numbers are starting to tell a story.

JJ Hardy has not only the 2nd lowest BA w/ RISP of any shortstop in baseball, he is 7th from the bottom in that stat for all everyday position players this season.

Hardy's BA of .240 is right at his BA in 2005 and 2006, and not too far down from his .277 last year. However, his line drive percentage (12.0%) and HR/fly (4.3%) stats are down from their career averages (18.5%, 10.7%). The stats confirm what my eyes see: he looks like a young man with zero confidence in the batter's box. He's hitting the ball. He's just not hitting the ball well, or when it counts.

As a manager, that has to drive you crazy.

Anonymous said...

Totally agree with that assessment Bob. Someone on the radio this morning said Hardy just looks "lost" at the plate. I think that just about sums it up. Almost a third of the way through the season, it's hard to keep rolling out the "it's still early" mantra.

Anonymous said...

Good analysis blugguitarbob and ap. No matter what the sample size, the numbers show that Hardy has truly sucked balls this year and anyone who has wathched the games this year don't need the numbers to tell them that.