Hot Bat Propels Hardy Towards 2nd All-Star Appearance

On Opening Day J.J. Hardy received his 2012 Gold Glove Award, the first of his Major League career. For the remainder of the month there wasn’t much to be said about the shortstop’s performances on the field, except for his defensive play.

Hardy struggled out of the gate with the bat, producing a .202/.243/.327 line in 104 April at-bats (27 games). He recorded only two multi-hit games and had just seven extra base hits.

In May Hardy’s bat began to come alive and over his last 30 games he’s been on fire, hitting at a .313/.363/.539 clip. Over that span he has 36 hits, eight doubles, and six home runs. Also during that time J.J. has had 10 multi-hit games, including three three-hit outings and one game with four.

Here’s a look at Hardy’s hot zones for batting average and slugging from May 19 through June 18 courtesy of ESPN.

Good luck getting him out on anything above the belt right now.

Among American League shortstops J.J. Hardy currently ranks first in home runs (14) and RBI (42). He’s second in slugging (.473) and OPS (.785). His 75 hits are good for third and 14 doubles puts him in fourth.

With voting for this year’s All-Star Game beginning in late April and set to end July 4, Hardy’s hot streak has put him good position to be the AL’s starting shortstop in the Midsummer Classic.

At the first update Elvis Andrus of the Texas Rangers had 727,555 votes with Hardy approximately 10,000 behind. After the most recent one, J.J. was up to 1,871,010 votes, leaving him more than 500,000 ahead of Andrus.

If Hardy is voted in as the starter there will surely be more than a few people with a “J.J. Hardy?!” type response. Some will be quick to point out that Derek Jeter (who still has over 660,000 votes) has been out injured all season.

It’s coming.

Wait for it.

But those who are casting votes, and they aren’t entirely O’s fans, for the Orioles’ #2 have a legitimate reason in choosing J.J. Hardy on their ballots. For the better part of the season’s first half he’s been among the better shortstops in the American League.

So, continue to #VoteOrange.