Editor's Note: Offense might be at its lowest point in nearly 35 years, but a small subset of hitters continues to thrive. They've achieved solid results and, in some cases, have even improved their numbers. In an era of pitching dominance, what could other hitters learn from their offensive excellence? We focus on four exemplary hitters -- Jose Abreu, Jose Altuve, Victor Martinez and Andrew McCutchen -- as they talk about their successful approaches at the plate.
In this Q&A, Jayson Stark talks with Altuve, the Houston Astros' All-Star second baseman.
What's your daily routine as a hitter?
I come to the ballpark around 6:30 a.m., sometimes before, every morning. I get my breakfast. I go to the gym, just to prepare my body for the day. I do a little warm-up there, some abs or something that gets me ready to swing the bat. Then I go straight to the cage.
That's the right time to worry about my mechanics, my swing and where I want to hit the ball, what spot I want the ball thrown. I spend a little bit of time there, then I come back to the gym and do my normal workout for another hour. Then we go out to practice, and I take my BP.
In spring training, I just try to spread everything out so I can be 100 percent before the season starts. I don't want to start feeling like I don't get it once the season starts. I want to be 100 percent on Opening Day. And after BP's done, I come back inside, take lunch. Then I go back to the cage to get ready for the game.
During the season, it's a little different. You can't go to the cage and do 1,000 swings and then come back and do another 500, because everybody knows that it's a long season. So what I do is pretty much the same. I go to the gym first. Warm up. Then I go to the cage. But I spend half of the time there that I spend in spring training.
In spring training, I'm trying to get ready. During the season, I just try to maintain what I'm doing. So I go to the cage. [Hit a] couple balls away, [then a] couple balls inside. Try to swing easy, but execute every swing I make. Try to be perfect. Then I go take BP and try do the same -- get ready for the game and execute every ball I hit. I go to the cage about 20 minutes before the game, just to hit like 10 balls, but at game speed. I don't try to worry too much about mechanics. I just try to swing at the ball at game speed. So that way I can be ready to go in my first at-bat, and won't be like, 'Oh, I don't feel really good now.' I just go to the cage, take 10 to 15 swings at 100 percent, as hard as I can. That way, in my first at-bat, I'm ready.
Just to be clear: You don't really take 1,000 swings in the cage, do you?
Oh, no no no no no! That was just a number. I take a lot of swings, but it's actually probably between 60-100. Depends on the day. I go tee, then soft toss, then front toss, then side. And even at the end of the spring, I have to be smart. I know that I'm close to the season, so I try to save my swing a little bit and do more quality than quantity.
What do you think the key is to your swing being effective?
I don't think too much about mechanics. I just like to go up there and swing. It's more than my swing, though. It's my mindset. I always go to home plate with a plan. [I had] 660 at-bats last year, and at least 659 times I went to home plate with a plan.
So there was one time you didn't?
Maybe. I don't know. But every time I do that, I feel great. I think that's the most important thing. I know every single ballplayer in the big leagues has a plan when they go to the home plate. So that's what I do. And it's been working for me.
How do you mentally prepare to hit?
For me, that's the biggest part of the game. As soon as I wake up, I start thinking about today. It depends on who we're playing. I start thinking how I do against that team? If I hit the ball away good against that team, I start thinking, "OK, they might change a little bit. So let's think about new pitches. Let's adjust to what they're doing." And if they're throwing too many breaking balls to me and I've been hitting good, I'll say, "OK, maybe they're going to change." But if I'm not doing really good against breaking balls, as soon as I wake up, I say, "OK, I think that's it, they might throw it again." So you've got to show them you can hit the breaking ball. ...
It's a long process during the day. Then I go to the cage. Everything I do, every one of my swings, I'm thinking of the game already. I say, "OK, this is your first at-bat." Even in BP, sometimes I'll say to the hitting coach, "OK, this is what I'm going to do in my first at-bat." If I get a line drive, he's happy. If I roll over, he'll say, "Hey, hey, try to change that."
But everything I do, I'm trying to do 100 percent, trying to do it pretending I'm playing. I don't overthink it. But you have to think, "OK, they're doing this to you." That's part of your plan. That's part of what you're going to take to home plate. You can't take too many things in your head, like, "Oh no, he's going to throw a curveball or breaking ball." I'm going up there ready to swing. I try to just simplify all the information I have, try to be aware of breaking balls, but try to keep [to] my plan.
What's the biggest adjustment you've had to make as a major league hitter?
The biggest adjustment? I think it's to be consistent. I played good ball in the minor leagues, and that's why they called me up to the major leagues. But I made a lot of mistakes hitting. I missed too many balls right there that you need to hit, but then maybe you get another one. In the big leagues, if you see a fastball right in the middle and you miss it, it's almost like you are out already. So I'm trying to learn to be consistent. If they throw you a fastball and you hit it good, then if they throw you a fastball again next at-bat, you've got to hit it, too. Be consistent, every day. At-bat by at-bat. Day by day. And that's how you become a consistent player. ...
It's not all about mechanics. If you think too much about mechanics, that's going to blow your mind up a little bit. I'm more like, "OK, just try to hit the ball this way, try to look for this pitch and just swing the bat." I don't think too much, like, "Don't go around. Don't do this." No. I just swing the bat. Have a plan. Look for one pitch.
I mean, every single ballplayer, they switch the pitch, like mixing up the pitch. So sometimes you're going to look for breaking balls. Sometimes you're going to look for change-ups. Sometimes you're going to look for a fastball. But if you look for something, just try to keep with that. Like if you're looking for a fastball and they throw you a curveball, just let it go. You've got another pitch. That's what I mean by being consistent. That's what it means for me, to be consistent and have a plan.
When you're in a slump, what typically is the cause of the slump?
For me, slumps are something ... in your mind. The pitchers might be doing the same things that they've been doing all year to you. But you are doing something different. It's a long season. That's going to happen.
I haven't met anybody who gets a base hit every single day. It's too hard. So you can be in a short slump, a long slump, a regular slump. But you've got to be smart and see what you're doing. If you're hitting the ball in front, in front, in front, just give yourself one at-bat and try to stay back, and try to make an out but different from what you're doing.
"I don't think too much about mechanics. I just like to go up there and swing. It's more than my swing, though. It's my mindset. I always go to home plate with a plan. [I had] 660 at-bats last year, and at least 659 times I went to home plate with a plan." Jose Altuve
If I'm hitting too many ground balls to shortstop, what I do is, my first at-bat, say, "OK, I'm going to be an out, but I'm going to be an out the other way." And maybe, in that at-bat, I'm going to get a hit. Then, OK, you start getting the feeling. And that's how you come back.
Something that helps me a lot, too, is my speed. Sometimes I'm not hitting the ball well, but I hit a high chopper or a ground ball between third and shortstop, sometimes in the hole, and there's not going to be a chance to throw me out at first. That helps me, because a slump is more in your mind than in your body. So when I'm not doing really good, I tell myself, "OK, let's put the ball in play." I get a high chopper. I get a ground ball to shortstop. I'm safe at first base. And I'm like, "OK, I'm back."
I think I led the league in infield hits last year. So that's a big part of my game. And that's not something that everybody can do. Like Miggy, Miguel Cabrera. If Miguel Cabrera hits a ground ball in the hole, he's going to be out at first base. And that's why I give him more credit, because he hits so much for average that he has to hit almost every ball hard. He has to hit the ball outside the infield for it to be a base hit. I don't have to do that. I don't need to do that. I can get a ground ball in the shortstop hole, and I'm going to be safe. So I really admire those guys who are not very fast and still hit .330, .340, like Miggy.
How much video do you watch, either of yourself or the pitchers?
Not too much, because when I see videos, I think, "What am I doing with my life? I'm standing too close to the [plate]. I'm trying to go back." I don't [watch] pitchers too much because we are human beings. So I might see a video of Justin Verlander, and see that he threw a really good change-up that day. But let's say the next time, against the Astros, he doesn't feel good about his change-up, so he's going to change everything up. He's going to start to throw more curveballs and fastballs, and I've got the change-up on my mind and he never throws it. So that's why I don't see videos too much. I'm trying to keep my plan, keep what is working for me.
Do you watch videos of yourself when you're doing well?
I don't do that. The only thing I watch is how close [to the plate] I am in the box. You know, sometimes I get too close. And I think the fastball in the middle is inside. And the fastball in, I just take it, and they call it a strike. So I've got to watch the video when I'm hitting pretty good, just to see, "Where is my step to the home plate?"
How much do you use scouting reports?
Not too much. But it just depends. Like I said, if they say that pitcher has a good slider, obviously ... I start to see if the slider is working good that day and I start thinking about it. But it just depends on the day. I try to give [the pitcher] some pitches to see how he's doing. Then my second at-bat, I have a plan for where I want to hit the ball and what pitch I want to look for. ...
This year is going to be my fifth in the big leagues, so I'm pretty good at remembering pitchers. Most of the time, I know already what they throw. So I might need a little reminder. Or maybe if it's a new guy coming up from Triple-A. I go to the hitting coach and say, "Hey, do you know what he throws?" I think that's very important.
What is the best hitting advice you ever got? Who gave it to you, and when?
I'm pretty close to Miguel Cabrera. We are such different hitters, but at the same time we're pretty close, because we both like to hit the ball middle-away. Everybody knows he's the best in baseball, better than everybody else. No disrespect for anybody, but he does everything really good. So if it works for him, it works for somebody else.
He told me one day to hit the ball up the middle, and middle-away. And he said, "Just react," and I think that helped me a lot. I think that was the first time we played each other, in 2013 in Houston.
I'm very open to advice. Another guy who I talk to a lot is Adrian Beltre. We play the Texas Rangers a lot so I always ask him something. And he tells me what I'm doing. Last year, even when I had a good year, there was one time during the season when I wasn't hitting the ball very good. And he came to me and said, "Just let the ball travel and do what you know how to do. Like hit the ball up the middle." That was like a reminder of Miggy's advice. And after that, after [Beltre] said that, I started hitting the ball hard again and everything came back.
What individual stat means the most to you?
"Wins" was my first thought, because that's the most important stat in the game right now. But individual stat? I think if I say RBIs, that means you get runs and somebody has to score the runs. So I would say RBIs and runs scored. But for that, you need to get on base. So that's a hard question. ... I think RBIs, because I've got so many good guys behind me, like George Springer, Chris Carter, Jason Castro. Now I have Evan Gattis, Colby Rasmus, Luis Valbuena. If they get a lot of RBIs, that's going to be a big part of our [success]. If I get on base and they don't drive me in, then there's no run scored and there's no RBI. So I think RBIs and runs scored, one of those two.
I think I know the answer, but who's your favorite hitter to watch?
Oh, Miggy. Ever since he got to the big leagues 11 or 12 years ago. He's just so good. He hits for average, for power, and there's not too many guys that can do that. He's a big guy with bat control. He hits [for] average. He hits line drives. He hits homers. He hits every pitch.