[Rubeskies]

Hey Kyle,

Great stuff.

My question has to do with "Intangibles."

You mentioned about great plate discipline (avoiding swinging at pitches in their weak zones early in the count). But what about other things that have to do with pitch recognition. As a pitcher in college and as a hitter in high school and summer leagues, I've noticed that certain hitters simply cannot identify the change-up or slider or curveball or splitter. These hitters have a really hard time against good pitchers that notice these things. Now I suppose everyone in the majors has to be decent at identifying these pitches, but my guess is that some are better than others.

For example, Bobby Abreu. When he is locked in, he often won't even flinch at a really good curveball because he recognizes it almost when it leaves the pitchers hands.

Micky Mantle was quoted as saying that he would be an average hitter today because he can't pick up the spin on a slider.

How important is this to hitting or is it one of those things like catcher's calling a good game that don't have much impact on the outcome?

Also, comparing the Bonds and the Mauer videos, Bonds looks perfectly balanced while Mauer looks a bit off balance (his front foot is all over the place). Is this just an unlucky video or does he always look that off balance? Or am I just interpreting the herky jerky motions incorrectly?