ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick did a nice article on the rising importantce of plate discipline.  Atlanta Braves third baseman, Chipper Jones, provided a good definition:

“For me, plate discipline is being able to know what pitch you want to put in play before you step in the box and not swinging at anything else but that,” Jones says.

The article also mentions a bit of the approach used within the Boston Red Sox minor league system:

“It’s an incredibly difficult thing to teach at the major league level,” says Red Sox assistant GM Ben Cherington. “There’s pressure on players in terms of winning, keeping a job and earning money. It’s hard to do at any level, but it’s really hard at the major league level.”

Boston’s approach is centered on two building blocks. First, hitters are encouraged to approach an 0-0 count with the same mindset they have at 2-0 or 3-1. If they see a fastball in their zone, they’re poised to climb all over it and drive it. If they don’t see that pitch, they lay off, and it’s either a ball or a strike they probably couldn’t have done much with, anyway.

One of the challenges is to have a player balance selectivity with aggressiveness, and Anaheim Angels’ hitting coach, Mickey Hatcher, sums it up nicely:

“We’re not saying don’t swing at the first pitch” every time, he said. “All we want them to do is get the pitch they can hit and focus on that.”

Jeff General bobby abreu, chipper jones, hitting approach, mickey hatcher