With their fast start, the Milwaukee Brewers look like the team to beat in the National League Central. A key reason for the Brewers' early success is shortstop J.J. Hardy, who kicked off the season with 13 extra-base hits, 13 runs scored and 17 RBIs in his first 23 games. The Brewers shortstop was a steady contributor throughout April, after coming back from an ankle injury that ended his 2006 season in mid-May and required surgery in July.

Remarkably, Hardy has been even better so far this May, starting 24-for-61 (.393) with four doubles, seven homers and 22 RBIs in 15 contests. His current red-hot surge actually began on April 19, when he kicked off a 19-game hitting streak by going 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs in a 7-5 win over Pittsburgh. He homered in three straight games to open the streak, which featured a pair of four-hit performances and a .418 average.

The streak ended on May 9, but Hardy homered in four of his next six games and has hit safely in 24 of his last 26. On Saturday, he belted a grand slam off Mets rookie Joe Smith in a 12-3 victory. He ended the no-hit bid of Philadelphia left-hander Cole Hamels on Wednesday, delivering a two-run shot in the seventh inning to give him a National League-leading 13 homers on the season -- one more than teammate Prince Fielder. Hardy’s previous single-season high was nine as a rookie in 2005, and it took him 124 games to hit that many.

For the season, Hardy is batting .323 with 11 doubles, 13 dingers, a league-high 39 RBIs and a .628 slugging percentage in 39 games. He may be on his way to a stunning breakout in 2007 after coming into the season as a .246 hitter in exactly 500 major league at-bats over parts of two seasons. Although this is his third year with the Brewers, Hardy doesn’t turn 25 until August. There have been questions whether Hardy would develop into a productive big league hitter, but the Brewers are now reaping the rewards of believing in him.

What kind of numbers we can expect from Hardy at the end of the season is the great unknown, though a markedly better performance at age 24 after missing nearly an entire year to injury is a promising indicator that Hardy is ready to be a productive player.