Baltimore Orioles Need a Bounceback Season from J.J. Hardy

Jul 28, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy (2) fields a ground ball in the third inning against the Atlanta Braves at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports /

With all of the additions and re-signings of the Baltimore Orioles in this offseason, one equally necessary ingredient for success will be a bounceback season from shortstop J.J. Hardy.

The first two names mentioned of O’s players who underperformed in 2015 are Chris Tillman and Miguel Gonzalez. And it is probably more obvious when starting pitchers struggle versus position players. And they do simply have to return to prior form.

But the two starters were far from the only Birds who disappointed last year. There was Bud Norris, Steve Pearce, Ryan Flaherty, and a whole collection of corner outfielders. And there was J.J. Hardy.

It was clear to anyone with eyes that Hardy was never really healthy in 2015. The injury from spring training limited him to 114 games. But he never looked comfortable. Hardy is a player who is always stretching this way and that way, swinging his arms … looking like he is taking inventory of all the body parts that ache. But it was more than just stretching to stay loose.

Understand that the criticisms here are not as harsh as they probably look and sound in the space of a baseball blog. Hardy brings defense at a level that is practically surpassed by no other shortstop in the game. Beyond that, he is one of the finest people one could ever know — the kind of guy you’d be proud of as a son or like to see your daughter bring home.

But the Orioles simply have to have better production offensively from the position than .219 / .253 / .311 / .564 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs.

Hardy had a WAR number of 0.0, and the Orioles were overall in the bottom handful of teams in all of baseball at the shortstop position. Paul Janish managed a 0.1 WAR in 14 games, while Everth Cabrera really pulled the combined number down with a -0.5 WAR.

At this rate, we’re back to Mark Belanger offensively. The O’s defensive legend actually did have a .228 lifetime average with a .300 OBP.