J.J. "Hacker" Hardy?

When JJ Hardy was optioned down to AAA Nashville on August 12, he had offered at the first pitch in only 34 of 417 plate appearances, or 8.15% of the time. That number, while still low, was evidence he was being much more aggressive than he had been early in the season. However, his competition for the coveted Taking the First Pitch award went through a similar change over the course of the season, and Hardy's 8.15% would place him near the top of the relevant NL leaderboard*. NL hitters overall swing at the first pitch about 27% of the time.

However, since Hardy returned to the majors on September 1, he's been much more aggressive. His start on Friday brought his September total to 8 first pitch swings in 34 plate appearances. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it comes out to 23.53% of the time, almost three times more often than the pre-September Hardy.

It's tempting to chalk up his different approach to the team telling him to be more aggressive at the plate before sending him down or once he returned, but I believe his "aggressive" streak actually dates further back. On June 23, the Brewers returned from Detroit ready to face the Twins. In 257 plate appearances prior to that date, Hardy had swung at the first pitch 11 times, or 4.28%. Between June 23 and June 28, he swung at the first pitch in 7 of 25 plate appearances. While he obviously didn't maintain that pace, he has swung at the first pitch in 30 of 194 plate appearances (15.46%) since June 23.

It is also possible to look at if pitchers pound the zone with Hardy at bat. Overall in the NL, pitchers start a plate appearance with a strike or ball in play 58% of the time. About 11% of the time, that first pitch ends the at bat, so approximately 47% of plate appearances leaguewide start with a strike. Looking at Hardy's numbers, 54% of his plate appearances start with a strike or ball in play. About 5% of the time he puts the first pitch in play, so nearly 50% of his plate appearances start with a strike. That difference of 2-3% works out to him starting with a strike in ten to fifteen more plate appearances than an average NL hitter. I expected more, especially since it has always been pretty obvious he is willing to look at the first pitch. Here is the breakdown of the first pitches in each of his 451 plate appearances:

205 called strikes
204 balls
22 balls put into play (6 hits)
11 fouls
9 swinging strikes

Only time will tell if this aggressive JJ Hardy is here to stay. He still isn't swinging at as many first pitches as an average hitter but 6 hits in 19 at bats means hitting the first pitch has actually helped his overall numbers. At the very least, it's a discernible shift in the approach to hitting from someone who has struggled over the course of the season. The results of Hardy's 42 first pitch swings are after the jump.

* - you may note the plate appearance totals are a little off from otherwise listed totals. STATS says this is due to plays on the basepaths ending innings. I think there's a little more to it than that, but either way, it doesn't change the numbers too much.