Hardy replaced on Javelinas roster
Hobbled with foot and hip issues and exhausted after his first season in the Major Leagues, Hardy was granted a reprieve from the Arizona Fall League, where he was to play for the Peoria Javelinas.
Instead, according to assistant general manager Gord Ash, the team will send Alcides Escobar, who batted .271 with 30 stolen bases this season for the Single-A West Virginia Power.
"It's a relief," said Hardy, who batted .308 in the second half of the regular season to finish with a respectable .247 average. "[Ash] called a little while ago and said that I don't have to worry about it anymore."
When the decision was made in August to send Hardy to the AFL, he was batting .206 and had lost playing time to Bill Hall. Hardy attributes his slow start (he was hitting below .200 as late as July 17) to a left shoulder injury that limited him to 100 at-bats the previous season at Triple-A.
The injury kept Hardy from participating in his usual offseason weight work, and even as he gained trust in his shoulder in August and September, other parts of his body broke down. He battled plantar fascitis and hip flexor pain down the stretch that left him hobbled.
"I broke down a lot sooner than I normally would," Hardy said. "I missed out on a whole winter of lifting last year, so this time I'm going to focus on building up some weight and some muscle strength. That should help me next year."
First, he will take a three-week break and said he plans to remodel his Tempe, Ariz., home. Then it's back to work at the Brewers' Spring Training complex on the west side of Phoenix.
Escobar will join Prince Fielder, Corey Hart, Dana Eveland, Mitch Stetter and Brian Wolfe on the Javelinas' roster. Hart played the outfield all season but will work at third base, and pitcher Chris Saenz is also expected to participate as a member of the "taxi squad."
"He'll get his at-bats and be exposed to some good pitching there," Ash said of Escobar. "It can only be good for him."
Hart will report a few days late. His grandmother passed away this week in Boling Green, Ky.
Surgery set: Ash said that another rookie, Rickie Weeks, will undergo surgery next Tuesday to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb.
Weeks has suffered for some time with "gamekeepers thumb," but played through it and finished the year with a .239 batting average and 13 home runs in 360 at-bats.
Dr. Donald Sheridan will perform the surgery in Phoenix. Ash said Weeks would be in a cast for six weeks before undergoing a four-week rehabilitation.
Adam McCalvy is a reporter for MLB.com.