Lost amid the glow of the early success of hitting catcher Jason Kendall ninth in the batting order is the aftershock that goes through the rest of the Milwaukee Brewers' lineup.

That's especially true for shortstop J.J. Hardy, who is locked into the seventh spot, ahead of the starting pitcher every time Kendall is behind the plate.

"I don't like it," Hardy admitted this week as he tried to shake off a slow start at the plate. "It's not an easy spot to hit in.

"But no one on the team would like it, and someone has to do it, so ..."

Hardy's not whining. He's just facing the reality of what it's like to bat ahead of the pitcher, a spot no one wants to hit in.

Even manager Ned Yost, who plugged Kendall into the ninth spot, knows Hardy has a difficult task ahead of him.

"It's a big adjustment. It's a very tough spot to hit," Yost said.

"You have to be more selective, more disciplined. You have to understand situations more, knowing you're probably going to lose opportunities to drive in runs because they'll pitch around you if (first) base is open.

"You have to be smart enough and strong enough to understand and know how to react."

Kendall is the bright side in a sometimes-struggling lineup for the Brewers after 11 games. Even after going 0-for-4 Saturday against the New York Mets he is hitting .424 (14-for-33).

But there is a dark side, and Hardy is trying to find a way into the light.

Hardy started the season 1-for-13, but even after going hitless in three at-bats Saturday he has six hits in his last 23 at-bats. But 21 of Hardy's at-bats have come without runners on base and he's had just eight chances with runners in scoring position.

"It's going to be tough," Hardy said. "It's not going to be the 80 RBI (season) if it's going to be like this all year."

Hardy came into his own offensively last season when he road a hot start into a spot in on the National League All-Star team. He hit .277 with 26 home runs and 80 RBIs, with almost 79 percent of his 592 at-bats coming in the second spot in the lineup.

That spot is now being tended by the center field platoon of Gabe Gross and Gabe Kapler, keeping it warm for the return of Mike Cameron from his 25-game suspension.

Hardy and Yost met this week to discuss the situation, a conversation Yost described as a "nice chat," often a code phrase for a more contentious discussion.

Yost certainly doesn't want to bury Hardy in the lineup for any old reason. Instead, he sees Kendall hitting ninth as a boon to the top of the lineup that will increase the Brewers' overall run production.

"He's just doing his thing," Yost said of Kendall's early production. "When you look at it, it just made sense for a lot of reasons. This is all part of what we thought it would be.

I'm not doing it just to do it. It's something that gives us an edge. We feel we can score more runs.

"There are going to be times it doesn't work, but for the most part, over the long haul, it's going to pay dividends for us."

Hardy, meanwhile, seems resigned to his fate.

"I don't want it to come off like I'm unhappy because it's already under the microscope," he said. "You can look at it any way you want to and we're going to score more runs with Jason being a second leadoff guy.

"But at the same time, it's going to take away opportunities for me to produce runs. So it's flip a coin, whichever way you think we're going to score more runs."