In a hitting discussion with a friend, the topic of handling fast balls in on the hands came up. Obviously if a pitcher can pound a hitter inside at will, he can often work his way with hitters. According to Curt Schilling how a hitter handles the fast ball in is one thing that separates good, from great, from hall of fame type hitters.
Here's the quote about an AB of Miguel Cabrera's in which he turned on a 97 mph fastball way inside and drove it for a dinger.
This, this very thing, is what separates the goods from the greats, and the greats from the Hall of Famers,” Schilling said. “Good players hope to be able to fight this off to live for another pitch. Great players occasionally fight this off and fist a single. Hall of Famers — Miguel, Manny Ramirez — hit this pitch into the nacho stand. The ability to bring your hands this far in, and get the barrel of the bat not just to it, but through it, are once-in-a-generation things. When you talk about being able to do it at 97 mph, well, you just can’t do that. No one can but this guy.
