The Brewers announced Thursday that they’ve signed lefty Blaine Hardy to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training. He’s represented by Only Baseball Players.
Hardy, 33, was with the Tigers from 2014-19 before inking a minor league deal with the Twins last winter. However, he sustained a torn ulnar collateral ligament early in camp with Minnesota and underwent Tommy John surgery in March. As such, he’s unlikely to be ready to pitch in camp with the Brewers, though he’ll report to their spring facility and continue his rehab there.
In 289 2/3 innings at the MLB level — most of it spent as a reliever — Hardy carries a solid 3.73 ERA with a less-optimistic 4.31 SIERA. The Tigers gave him the opportunity to stretch out as a starter in 2018, and while he had some success in that role in both the big leagues and Triple-A, he was eventually moved back to a bullpen setting after 13 starts.
Hardy has punched out 18.6 percent of the hitters he’s faced in the big leagues against an 8.3 percent walk rate. Lefties have hit him at a .232/.298/.412 clip, while righties carry a .271/.328/.407 clip against him. Hardy could give the Brewers some experienced depth in either the rotation or bullpen — possibly as a multi-inning option if the club is encouraged by his limited work in lengthier stints. If he makes it back to the big league roster, Hardy can be controlled through the 2022 season via arbitration.
a nice depth option
Quantity over quality is never good..
Having depth in the ‘pen is always good. Look at the 2018 Brewers’s ‘pen.
As far as starters, how many times does a team finish a season using the same 5 starters through the course of a season? Rarely if ever.
I wonder what type of athlete Only Baseball Players represents.
It’s Only Fans for athletes.
now hold up there
“Watch this pitcher take on the entire lineup”
I always liked him as a Tiger. I never really understood why DET non-tendered him and McCann… I still believe he’s a ML competent pitcher with spot start abilities.
Nice sign, and good luck from DET Blaine
Same here, he was a solid reliever amid sub-par Tigers’ bullpens and even stepped up when called upon as starter/swingman. His wife wrote some very insightful articles for a Tigers blog. The Brewers may need some additional pitching, may Hardy be their helpful hand!
Gruß,
BSHH
Na, Blane was always a fringe major leaguer who actually performed worse as time went on, though did rebound a bit in 2018. Problem with Blaine, as it was with McCann was they reached arbitration and the Tigers were looking at marginal production for increased cost. McCann took that, reinvented himself after his release and has now cashed in on a nice payday. Hardy went off and had TJ surgery.
I, like you, wish him well. He is a nice guy, I got to meet him in West Michigan when he came to their winter banquet a few years back. But he is going to have to find something more than he had if he is going to stick in the majors.
ERA since 2010, minimum 200 innings Hardy is number 9. Not a fringe guy.
I agree. The non tenders of Avila are baffling. I remember when Hardy went to the starting rotation to fill in for an injured starter. He pitched really well in his first part of his stats. Almost flirted with no hitters in a couple of those starts.
His contract isn’t actually for baseball, the Brewers signed him and will be bringing back J.J. Hardy and the two of them will become ballpark detectives solving mysteries in and around the stadium.
Nice
Will they wear trench coats? I always liked that look.
I would have guessed they’d be Counsell’s security team, and take down umpires who threaten to eject him with Swan-ton bombs and twists of fate..
If only we could find him a catcher named Laurel, they could do movies together.
That’d be one of the best batteries since Black and Decker.
Loved going to Appleton to watch minor league games in 2019 and watching the battery of Bender to Fry to close out games.
It’s a shame Pete LaCock and Rusty Kuntz were never on the same team. They could have been roommates.
The Brewers now have a pair of lefty pitchers named Lauer and Hardy.
The boy wonder signs another mid thirties journeyman — how’d that work out last year?
Watch for the Brewers to be sold in 2-3 years.
He’s not mid 30’s
He is about to be 34 in one month, is ‘mid 30’s’ Einstein.
And coming off TJ surgery?? I grade this move a solid C-.
Hardy has not had Tommy John Surgery!
The primary repair with internal bracing procedure involves using biotape — a relatively thick-stranded surgical “thread” dipped in collagen (the substance that comprises all connective tissue) — to increase the strength of the repaired UCL. In essence, the torn portion of the UCL is reattached to the bone and the biotape is woven within the UCL, which, in turn, increases its strength. (Quick surgical terminology aside: “Repair” means that the existing structure has been reattached during surgery; “reconstruction” means that the existing structure has been removed and a “new” structure has been put in its place.)