Where a hitter stands, front or back of the box may depend on his bat speed. The standing away from the plate to hit the outside pitch is old school linear instruction. The idea is to see the ball better (questionable) and be forced to poke the ball the other way. Extend those arms when you hit. (geez ... shaking head)
Through kiddie ball to soph year of high school my son pulled everything. Outside pitches often caused grounders to second or quails to right. He spent the off season with a hitting instructor just working on letting the ball get deep and driving it the other way. It was done without altering his stance, swing or positioning in the box. His batting average went from .340 to .525. He wasn't getting less quality pull hits and power. The grounders and quails turned into line drives the other way. He was also bigger, stronger and a year older.