MILWAUKEE — Corey Hart sat in a chair in front of his locker Friday and marveled at his good fortune. He admitted he wasn't supposed to be on the Opening Day roster given the knee injury that caused him to miss virtually all of spring training.
Yet here he was, exactly a month removed from undergoing surgery to repair two cartilage tears in his right knee, penciled in as the Milwaukee Brewers' right fielder just in time for the season opener at Miller Park. The timing, frankly, could not have been more magnificent.
How did he explain what made him such a fast healer?
"I think I watched a lot of X-Men," Hart joked. "I tried to get some tips from those. Any tips you can get, right?"
Perhaps he was on to something. Some may have thought the ferocious swings he put on the ball Saturday afternoon were at least borderline superhuman.
Hart blasted two home runs to propel Milwaukee to a 6-0 victory over St. Louis on Saturday at Miller Park. Not bad for a guy who wasn't sure he'd be healthy enough to make the roster a week ago.
"The trainers gave me a lot to do," Hart said. "I didn't back down from anything. I told them I'd do as much as I could because I wanted to be here. There were no setbacks, so the baseball stuff came pretty quick."
Hart underwent his surgery March 6, and he didn't return to game action until Tuesday. By that time, all that remained of spring training were two games.
In those two contests, Hart went 3 for 6 with a double, a home run and two RBI — enough to convince Brewers manager Ron Roenicke that Hart was ready to play on opening weekend.
"The decision to activate him for Opening Day was because of what we saw with those at-bats, and he's doing the same thing," Roenicke said. "He's really seeing the ball well. He's not jumping out at pitches, which is really hard to do when you miss that kind of time."
Hart's two home runs on Saturday sailed a combined total of 860 feet. His longest blast, a solo shot in the bottom of the second inning, traveled 447 feet to left field and gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead.
What makes Hart's production even more pleasing for the Brewers is his ability to succeed while hitting out of the No. 5 spot in the lineup. Last season, he served primarily as Milwaukee's leadoff man. When he did hit fifth behind first baseman Prince Fielder, he batted just .182 (6 for 33). Hart said he wasn't fond of pitchers throwing around Fielder to face him, which added pressure to the situation and toyed with his mind.
"I didn't like hitting behind Prince, but I'll hit behind anybody else," Hart said. "That's not a big deal."
This season, Roenicke opted to put Rickie Weeks into the leadoff spot and drop Hart down to help make up for the loss of Fielder, who signed as a free agent in the offseason with Detroit. The 3-4-5 hitters in the Brewers' lineup now consist of left fielder Ryan Braun, third baseman Aramis Ramirez and Hart.
The 30-year-old Hart is in his ninth major league season, all with the Brewers, and is a two-time All-star. This season, more than ever, his importance to the team will be fully on display given Fielder's departure.
"He makes the lineup that much better," Weeks said Friday. "Corey is an All-Star player, obviously. To have a guy like that in the lineup and swinging the way he's swinging right now, it makes our lineup that much longer, so it's good."
On Saturday, Roenicke pulled Hart from the game in the top of the seventh inning to keep his legs fresh for Sunday's rubber match with the Cardinals. Although Hart is swinging a hot bat, he still isn't 100 percent recovered from knee surgery.
"When you have that surgery, there's going to be a little swelling there. But when he needs to turn it on to run, he will," Roenicke said.
That is, unless he keeps belting home runs. In which case, Hart can use as much time as he needs to trot around the bases.
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