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Tilt

3/23/2008

The principle of Tilt states that, rather than keeping their shoulders level during the swing, major league hitters vary the tilt of their upper body out over the plate in order to hit pitches in different locations (e.g. up and down in the strike zone) but still stay connected.

Tilt - Donnie Murphy

When thinking about tilt, remember that we are talking about tilt out over the plate, not tilt back toward the catcher.
Every major league player must tilt out over the plate to adjust to balls up and down in the strike zone. However, different major league players will show different amounts of tilt back toward the catcher.

Albert Pujols

For example, while Albert Pujols tilts out over the plate on pretty much every pitch, his torso stays relatively upright and he doesn't lean back toward the catcher.
Here are some more pictures of major league hitters tilting out over the plate in order to adjust to pitches up and down in the strike zone.