Two strikes used to mean surrender. For a growing number of hitters, it means a different plan — and the results are hard to ignore.

The trick isn't swinging harder. It's swinging smaller: a shorter path, a wider zone to protect, and a willingness to give up power for the simple act of putting the ball in play. The best two-strike hitters have turned the count that favors the pitcher into a coin flip.

We pulled the numbers, and the story they tell is consistent. Contact travels.