IF Valasquez is able to recreate Arraez, I would be ecstatic. I am just pointing out that more often than not, bat skills without even a hint of power is usually exposed at higher levels.
Being on the wrong side of .. old ... some of the best hitters Ive seen without power were ... Pete Rose ... Ozzie Smith .... Willie Randolph ... even Mookie Betts may fall into that catagory ... maybe even Ron Hunt ... probably many more I just can’t remember
Tony Gwynn
Ichiro?
I seem to remember reading somewhere that, when he wanted to, Ichiro could turn on the power in batting practice at any time but he chose to focus on, in game, getting on base instead of trying to power the ball out of the park. Not sure if that was a story about him that was true or not but it was an interesting thought.
I fully believe it, he chose a specific path
I have heard this same anecdote many times. We probably just heard the same telling, tbf…
After. Reading through this I did find an article that quoted Ichiro .... he once said that he could hit 40 HRs a year but it hat his average would probably drop to .220 ... i do realize that he was joking ... but it also shows something about his mindset ... I have to believe that he crafted his swing for average and not power ... and knew the difference ...
???
He should have said “Legume, Nuts!”
