Three Uncommon Tips to Become a Better Hitter

• By Grant Young

Hitting a baseball is an incredibly demanding skill that requires a remarkable blend of precision, split-second decision-making, and physical prowess. 

The sheer velocity of the ball, often exceeding 90 miles per hour in college and at the professional level, adds an intense level of difficulty. Batters must not only track the ball as it leaves the pitcher's hand but also anticipate its movement and type within a fraction of a second. This rapid decision-making amidst high-stakes scenarios adds an exhilarating complexity to the art of hitting a baseball. 

Furthermore, external factors such as wind conditions, the pitcher's unique delivery, and the unyielding mental pressure of the game only amplify the challenge. Professional baseball players dedicate years of labor and determination to mastering this demanding skill, partaking in endless hours of baseball hitting coaching. Even then, the unforgiving nature of the sport ensures that success is never guaranteed.

Despite this, some hitters have overcome these challenges and gone on to craft incredible careers for themselves due to their hitting abilities. And Ivan Melendez is undoubtedly one such success story. 

Melendez is an American professional baseball infielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and is currently the No. 23 ranked player in Arizona’s farm system. He played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns, winning the Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy, and National Baseball College Player of the Year in 2022. In this historic season, Melendez started in all 67 games and had a .387 batting average, a 1.371 OPS, 32 home runs, 94 RBIs, and an on-base percentage of .508. 

Prior to that iconic Texas season, Melendez had an incredibly successful career at Odessa College. After being selected in the 16th round of the 2021 Major League Baseball draft by the Miami Marlins, Melendez chose to return to Texas for his junior year. Then he produced the historic 2022 season and was selected by the Diamondbacks in the second round, with the 43rd overall selection, of the 2022 MLB draft.

Melendez’s ‘Hitting it out of the Park with Ivan Melendez’ contains some fascinating insights about how he managed to become one of college baseball’s most impressive hitting prospects and a future MLB player.  

Increase Explosiveness, Distance and Aim Through Changing Bats

Coach Melendez makes it clear that much of success as a hitter comes before the hitter steps up to the plate. There are many methods of preparation that take place before the at-bat that can either make or break the hitter’s performance on a daily and season-long basis. 

One plate where this preparation occurs is on the on-deck circle. One thing that Coach Melendez likes to do is swing a much heavier bat while on deck than the one he uses at the plate. He does this because he, “wants the bat at the plate to feel like a toothpick” and, “because I want lightning in my hands” while swinging. 

In addition to swinging a heavier bat, Melendez is getting his timing down on the pitcher and seeing how he’s pitching to the batter at the plate in order to glean what pitches he might see when his plate appearance begins. This will also give him an idea of what pitches are working for the pitcher, or whether he can eliminate any pitches because the pitcher hasn’t been able to execute them in the strike zone. 

Working on Swinging Down With the Bat 

One common mistake that many youth baseball players who want to be power hitters make is that they swing up on the baseball because they believe that will help them create more loft and distance on their hits. 

But Coach Melendez recommends not doing this. Instead, he recommends swinging down on the baseball; especially at the game’s higher levels, where pitchers are throwing into the mid to upper 90s, and swinging up will take too long and get a hitter off-balance. 

Melendez goes on to say that swinging down on the baseball is also important because when a hitter swings and misses, nine times out of ten they were too far under the baseball and therefore swung beneath it. Swinging down on the ball should help alleviate that. 

Furthermore, Melendez explains how he wants all of his power to start with and transfer through the backside. This is why he starts with his weight on his back leg, and transfers it through his hips as he navigates his swing. He also drives his back knee down toward the ground to generate additional power at this point. 

Best Piece of Advice I Have Received

Coach Melendez provided some excellent insight when asked about what the best piece of advice he has ever received is. 

“Just keep going at it,” Melendez said. “You don’t have to go to every single showcase or outside tournament just to be seen. Once you work hard, that’s all the coaches look at: your work ethic. You know, if someone is coachable… once you make it to the college level, talent is only going to take you so far. So being coachable and working hard will take you places.”

This great advice is proven by the fact that Melendez spent the first few seasons of his college career at Odessa College, which is a junior college in Texas. While this surely wasn’t where Melendez preferred to go out of high school, he kept working hard, performed on the field, developed his abilities, and ended up getting recruited by Texas. 

And with the positive habits he developed in the process, he made history at Texas and now has Major League Baseball in his sights.