Batting practice is just batting practice, and professional baseball players should be able to rip the ball. Even pitchers.
But what they shouldn’t necessarily be able to do is show bunt, pull back with everyone watching, absolutely destroy the ball, and then chuck a bat nearly as far as the ball travelled.
James Shields can do all of that:
"THAT'S HOW I BAT FLIP, BOYS!" #PitchersWhoRake #PadresSThttps://t.co/CdkVHw5qlA
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) February 29, 2016
And on a loop for even more beauty:
#PitchersWhoRake https://t.co/WwDLgdXbBb
— MLB (@MLB) March 1, 2016
You win, Big Game James.
In case you’re wondering, Shields is a career .165/.186/.191 (that’s a 0 wRC+ (zero!)) hitter, and has never hit a big league homer. Hitting against big league pitching is hard, man.