I think his pitch recognition is among the best of the current Brewers (if not the best). Rarely does he even have to check his swing on the sliders/breaking stuff that breaks down & away. Compare that with someone like Hall -- who I would agree has little to no batting eye -- that frequently starts his swing on breaking pitches out of the zone. When trying to define something as abstract as "batting eye", I think the raw data helps, but only to a point. I think Rickie has ended up taking pitches that are strikes, but this year I think that has far more to do with his early struggles than 'not having a batting eye'. In short, I think he happens to not be 'seeing the ball well' right now, but overall I think his eye at the plate is as good as the best the Brewers have, if not better. Perhaps I'm in the 'it seems like' territory. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif