J.J. Hardy: “Offensively, I thought it was a terrible year for me”

The Sweet Smell of Failure: This is the story of J.J.‘s year - But not the way he wants it told!

Hardy called into yesterday’s Hot Stove Baseball show on WBAL-Radio, and I asked about his offensive struggles. I phrased the question delicately, saying something like, “Looking back at your season personally offensively, what are your thoughts and where do you think you need to get better and what disappointed you about it?”

Hardy, to his credit, cut to the chase.

“Offensively, I thought it was a terrible year for me,” he said. “I felt like the whole year I was just kind of grinding through every at-bat. I didn’t feel like I ever got hot. I always say if I can just stay healthy and be on the field and play, that everything else will come, but last year was an unbelievable grind for me offensively.

“For me, I always just tried to help the team. If it means moving runners over, a sacrifice bunt, driving somebody in, it’s all part of the game. My average was pretty low. I wasn’t getting on base a whole lot, but it seemed like every time I did, (Adam Jones) would drive me in. I was scoring runs. I just wasn’t getting on base as much as I’d like.

“It started to become just trying to do something to help the team. It was a matter of, if we had someone on second base with nobody out, I had to get him over just so the next guy could get him in. I felt like i was going out there with a different approach than I might have if i was swinging the bat a lot better.”