While Francisco Cordero and the Milwauke bullpen have been lights out this year, J.J Hardy has provided much of the pop on the other side of the ball for the young Brewers.

Hardy is, unbelievably, an early MVP candidate.

Hardy was hitting .333 with 11 homers entering Monday’s game. He promptly hit his 12th home run, despite the Brewers loss.

I actually drafted Hardy two years ago as my minor league choice in a fantasy league. I kept him on my team in 2006 because his second half splits showed promise. But he was injured and disappointed last year, so I let him go.

Oops.

There was talk in the offseason that the job wouldn’t go back to Hardy because of how bad he looked to start 2006. But Bill Hall was made a permanent outfielder and the confidence manager Ned Yost showed in his starting shortstop may have been what triggered this offensive eruption.

Odds are he’s probably been snagged in your fantasy leagues (he’s owned in 97% of CBS leagues), but if not, act quickly, because he won’t remain an unknown much longer.

Whether Hardy can keep this up all year, I really don’t know. But I can’t think of any good reason why not.

Just, out.