MLB hitting coaches often try to identify their players’ strengths and work with them.
For example, some instructors used to teach hitters to use the opposite field.
Modern coaches often encourage pull-heavy hitters to forget about the middle of the field and the opposite field and try to pull everything into the air to tap into their power.
For Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, however, everything about hitting comes naturally.
He recently became just the 33rd player in the history of MLB to reach 3,000 hits, and he also has 599 doubles and 502 home runs.
He has been a true offensive force for years.
He has such a balanced, powerful swing that he didn’t have any problems hitting the ball to the other way, to the middle of the field, or pulling it: his natural abilities guaranteed a pretty even batted ball distribution, and that talks about his hitting prowess.
Now 39 years old, Cabrera is clearly declining: he hasn’t posted an OPS above .800 since 2018.
But that’s natural: time is undefeated.
An Otherworldly Hitter
During his prime, however, Cabrera was something else.
“Miguel Cabrera is one of the best hitters- if not the best- of his generation. For him, hitting is far more than max damage at all times. For him, hitting is an art. And his career painting is the epitome of what the art of hitting truly looks like,” Darren Fenster tweeted, together with a beautiful image: Cabrera’s hitting chart.
See it for yourself.
Miguel Cabrera is one of the best hitters- if not the best- of his generation.
For him, hitting is far more than max damage at all times. For him, hitting is an art. And his career painting is the epitome of what the art of hitting truly looks like. pic.twitter.com/UKFC9h3MMY
— Darren Fenster (@CoachYourKids) April 23, 2022
Cabrera is a hitter that every coach would dream to have: he has a short, compact, balanced swing with few holes to exploit.
Several batting titles, MVP and Silver Slugger awards, and even a Triple Crown prove it.
He may be, together with Albert Pujols, the best right-handed hitter of the millennium.
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