Printable View
I thought this forum would be the best place for this discussion since it's mainly about why prospects - and eventual major league players - from the Dominican Republic don't have a high walk rate.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...rticleid=18731
To surmise: It is two fold. First, they don't often have many players grow up playing games, they are practice players. So they see a lot of BP type pitching, so they can afford to swing at a lot because they see lots of hittable pitches in practice. That leaves them with the idea that they can be super aggressive. Then of course is the idea that when people come to see them showcase their skills, if you are walking and not hitting, they aren't going to see your skills, so they feel the pressure to swing away and it gets engrained in them that hitting is the way to do things.
You can't walk off the island. It's told to them from the time they can comprehend language.