The name of the game is striking the ball with extreme force. I'm sure you've heard "It's not the destination, it's the journey." In hitting, the journey has infinite paths.
Juxtapose Matt Holliday and Hunter Pence at the dish.
Matt looks like he's going to fall asleep. Perpetually relaxed, he succeeds with fluidity. The moment, no matter how high the leverage, seems to induce yawns from Holliday. He sees the ball and fires effortlessly from this calm state.
Hunter Pence's actions epitomize anxiety. His at-bat initiation contains tics, leading to violence in his set-up. Nothing appears to happen without a fight.
However, Hunter leads the NL in hits since 2007, more than Holliday and the rest of the pretty (swing) boys. How does he do it?
When his mechanics need to be sound, they are. I wrote the following in a piece on the best hitters' swings back in June:
"At the point of contact, the top (dominant) hand is in a palm-up position. Brace yourself if you're a traditional hitting coach, I'm about to say something that will hurt your feelings. The best baseball swing is an uppercut. That aforementioned top hand is in a clear 'uppercut punch' position, busting that old 'swing down!' myth in the mouth."
Pence's swing checks the appropriate boxes before any dead-end signs emerge.
There is frequently an alternate route to the final destination. Hunter Pence's happens to be among the least-traveled.
