WHO DO YOU LIKE AND WHY? I am liking Paul Glodschmidt right now. Great lower half and quite approach.
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One of mine. Yadier Molina. just a smart player all around. Don't remember the situation exactly, but their were 2 men on and one out. He was 1-2 or 0-2. Fouled off a few, then put the ball in play, after he got fooled on a pitch, by lunging and swinging at a ball a foot in front of the plate. Ended up being a slow roller to the pitcher who threw it away.
He KNEW what he wanted to do there. Not strike out.
Probably the most underated player in the game.
I really like Molina. He has always been a great catcher. Most importantly he just keeps getting better and better as a hitter. It just goes to show that even great players can still improve their game.
Cabrera. Can hit to all fields, very short to the ball, and lets the ball get very deep.
I like Cabrera's mechanics. Being a left handed hitter with two left handed hitting kids I usually lean towards lefties. But Cabrera is real clean.
RJM,
I am right handed and have always gravitated towards righties. The funny thing id my son hits left handed and now I have started to have a real liking towards lefties.
Hands down, my favorite hitter is Pedroia. You know he's thinking and working the pitcher and has a plan. His expectations change as the AB evolves into different counts. His swings are entertaining and then when he puts it in play you get to some hustle on the bases.
Hands down, my favorite hitter is Pedroia. You know he's thinking and working the pitcher and has a plan. His expectations change as the AB evolves into different counts. His swings are entertaining and then when he puts it in play you get to some hustle on the bases.
Pedroia is not pretty at the plate. But the physical and mental effort is top shelf. He frustrates the hell out out of pitchers with his two strike success.
Daniel Murphy of the Mets. Not so much because of his hitting, but because of his response to the question, asked of him when he was in the minors, "What is your best position?" His answer? "Batting third."
Goldschmidt is good. David Wright, Matt Kemp, Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, Andrew McCutchen. Follow any of those guys and you'll be fine.
Stay away from Bryce Harper and Jason Heyward.
Buster Posey ! Gap to gap hitter with power to all fields.Great all around guy. I hope he remains a Giant his entire career
I'll take a healthy Joey Votto, Freddie Freeman and Chris Davis.
I've always really liked Torii Hunter, not because he has had eye-popping numbers, but he's always been so solid, he looks like he's having an absolute blast, and I love when he gets a high fastball in a hitter's count, he absolutely comes out of his shoes.
Mike Trout - so quick, so strong. Plus, the adjustments and maturity he's shown in two seasons. As a rookie, he was baseball's best lead off hitter, then, last season he's shuttled around the order between lead-off and finally settling into three-hole, which of course demands somewhat different approaches, and he did not miss a beat. To me, he's the most exciting guy to watch at the plate since Bo Jackson, because you feel like there is somewhat extraordinary that can happen at every AB.
Ichiro - I remember some naysayers on ESPN Sportcenter or something like that analyzing him on film getting beat by some fastballs his rookie year in Seattle, predicting he'll be over matched by MLB pitching - not so much.
I used to love watching Tony Gwynn hit. Speaking of retired players, how about Bill Madlock, that was a sweet swing. My favorite hitter as a kid was Billy Williams.
I've always thought Joey Votto's swing just looked great and smooth. However, I'm surprised (as are others) that he does not bat with more power.
From a pure swing perspective I like Tony Gwynn.
I think Pedroia is the guy that I would recommend to all my young players for all the reasons listed in previous posts.
But one guy I just really liked to watch at the plate was Vlad G. Never saw a pitch that guy couldn't hit...and hit it far!
I really like Cano and Trout...
For sheer drama - Ortiz
Michael Brantley, here's why...
Several + years ago, I asked my then 10 yo son who he thought he swung like, Josh Hamilton? David Ortiz? Adrian Gonzalez? He said no, Michael Brantley. I said who? I found a video of him swinging and sure enough, swings look just alike. Further evidence he passed me up a long time ago with knowledge and insight.