The official site has posted a Q&A with Matt Murton. To gear up for what will be a winter-long pro-Murton propaganda campaign, I'd like to highlight this section, because I think it's one of the best explanations of what I want to see from a hitter that I've ever seen:

I'm trying to recognize it as the ball comes out of [the pitcher's] hand. It's a matter of spin, location, and the more patient you are -- that's the biggest thing I want to get better at. My body knows it's a strike. I can tell the difference nine out of 10 times between a ball and a strike. They'll throw me a pitcher's pitch and it's a strike, and I feel I need to swing at it because I know it's a strike, instead of sitting on a certain location or certain zone where I can drive the ball better. [Michael] Barrett and I talked about that a little bit. When you're swinging your best, you're not afraid to go to a 2-0 count and take a pitcher's pitch for a strike and go 2-1. If you're a little overanxious, you'll get 2-0 and they'll throw a good fastball down and away and you'll want to swing, because it's a fastball in a hitter's count. The biggest thing is making sure you can get pitches you can drive.

I think that's just wonderful.

So often, "plate discipline" and "patience" are confused for "taking walks," but Murton explains exactly what patience really is. It's not just knowing the strike zone, it's knowing what pitches he can hit and which ones he can't - and having the discipline to lay off pitches he can't hit, even if they're strikes. Walks are simply a by-product of not getting good pitches to hit.

Obviously, there's a big gap between talking and doing, but I think Murton's already won half the battle if he's using this approach at the plate. And the results he's gotten so far bear that out.