Hardy on 2014 back issues, O's young talent and more

When you look at the Orioles and their attempt to replace the 40 homers Nelson Cruz hit last year, one source of added pop for 2015 could be at shortstop.

At FanFest, J.J. Hardy revealed that he played part of last year with a back injury that may have hampered him in 2014 more than he let on at the time.

It could have been a factor that saw Hardy's homer total drop to nine last year after he averaged 25.6 per season for the club from 2011-13.

Hardy missed five games early last year and got a cortisone injection. In September, he left the team during a road trip to return to Baltimore for a precautionary MRI. He also dealt briefly with thumb and hamstring injuries that limited him to 141 games after he had played 158 in 2012 and 159 in 2013.

"It happened so early last year that it was a constant battle to get my core strong enough to where I didn't feel it," Hardy said. "Maybe two months of the year I actually felt normal. The rest of the time was a grind. But I've been able to strengthen my core pretty good this offseason with my workouts."

Hardy went a career-long 339 at-bats without a homer at one point, snapping the drought June 21 at Yankee Stadium.

Even with his homer dropoff last year, Hardy's 86 homers since 2011 lead all major league shortstops. He hit 30 in 2011 and then 22 and 25 the last two years. But his OPS went from .801 in 2011 to .682 last season.

The Orioles are counting on Hardy's back to hold up and for him to provide the consistently strong defense at short that has led him to win three straight Gold Gloves.

In October, the day before the Orioles opened play in the American League Championship Series, the club announced that Hardy had signed a new three-year contract. The deal, which includes club and vesting options for 2018, will pay Hardy $40 million. The Orioles signed Hardy before a team like the Yankees could make a run at him.

Hardy said he was not out to extract every last dollar and that is one reason he signed a contract just days before he could have been a free agent. Looking back, he wished the contract talks leading to his deal had come about earlier, but at least it did finally get done.

"It kind of went a lot longer than I wanted it to," Hardy said. "I didn't think it needed to go that long, but it did. But I told my agent, 'Listen, this is what I want and I like it in Baltimore. Let's get to what is fair and make this happen.' Now that it is done, I'm glad everything worked out as it did."

The Orioles have to love having a player like Hardy playing right next to two of their best young talents in second baseman Jonathan Schoop and third baseman Manny Machado. He is a mentor for both.

Hardy believes both players still can elevate their play beyond what we've seen so far.

"Definitely. Definitely," Hardy said. "Manny, he's showed us what he is capable of. The year before he got hurt, he showed us what he can do and that is pretty impressive. If he gets better than that, we are looking at a future All-Star every single year.

"I think the difference could be the power. He's going to get bigger, stronger and start filling out. A lot of the doubles that he is hitting are going to carry out of the ballpark.

"Schoopy is already big and strong, and it is just a matter of him slowing the game down. I think the more experience he gets, the more that will happen. He's going to be a lot of fun to watch."

As for the Orioles' quiet offseason, Hardy is not one to spend too much time checking on moves the club did or didn't make. But when he looks at the roster heading into spring training, he still sees a formidable team.

"I like it. I don't know what everyone is saying on the radio stations out there, but if you look at what we did last year without (Matt) Wieters and Machado and CD (Chris Davis) being hurt and then missing the last few weeks, it is like we are getting All-Stars back, which is true," Hardy said. "I feel like we have a really good team. Everyone has to go out and do what they are capable of and stay healthy. But having said that, if there is a move that the front office can make that is going to make us a better team, then I think everyone of us is all for it."

Matos the manager: The Single-A Great Lake Loons of the Midwest League will have a decidedly former Orioles flavor on their coaching staff this year. Yesterday, Luis Matos was named manager while Jay Gibbons is a coach for the Low-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

A native of Puerto Rico, the 36-year-old Matos was the Orioles' 10th-round pick in the 1996 draft and played for the Orioles from 2000-06. Click here to read more about how Matos got the manager's job with Great Lakes.