Aside from swinging with increased line-drive contact and hitting fastballs with more authority, very little has actually changed in the catcher's approach. One trait that has always persisted is that Molina is an aggressive and free-swinging — but high-contact — hitter. Through 2012, he swung at more than 51% percent of the pitches he saw — he has a reputation for swinging at pitches in and out of the strike zone, low and away and even in toward his hands. Because of his free-swinging tendency, he naturally has a walk rate (7.1%) below the Major League average (8.4%). Combined with his ability to put the bat on the ball quite frequently (87%) and his improved approach at the plate, he increased his career-high single-season batting average five times between 2006 and 2013.