| I've played baseball for 23 years (competitively--for 14 years), gone to camps at Mississippi State University (Will Clark, Raphael Palmeiro) Louisiana State University (Albert Belle), the University of Mississippi, and worked out with a bunch of guys from Florida State. The most important muscle groups for hitting are the triceps & forearms, which you have not isolated at all in your workout. The bench press + incline press would greatly develop your triceps.
To show you how important your tri's are, get in your hitting stance and, without moving your lower body at all, extend your arms like your swinging. What group of muscles extends your arms? The triceps. A couple of other exercises to build your triceps are dips. Go down all the way to stretch your tri's. You don't want short, inflexible tri's. Also, do lots of dumbbell overhead extensions and even pushups. Specifically, triangle (or diamond, goes by both names) pushups. To do them, form a triangle (or a diamond) with your thumbs and index fingers touching each other. It's actually a diamond. Then, do a pushup, but bring face down towards them diamond. If this causes pain in your shoulder or elbows, bring your chest down towards the diamond. This will really isolate your tri's.
Also, you might try this: lay down on a bench (without a rack, just a plain bench) and get a small dumbbell, about 10 or 15 lbs, depending on your strength. Hold the dumbbell in your hand so the back of your hand is facing the wall towards the back of your head. Start with the dumbbell almost touching your chest. Extend (WITHOUT MOVING YOUR ELBOW AT ALL) your arm to almost lockout--to keep tension through full range of motion. Do this 20 to 30 times. I know the reps seem high, but you're not going for bulk, you're going for strength and endurance so you can still hit in the 14th inning!
The second most important group of muscles is the forearms. You need more forearm exercises. I was given a weighted bat from MSU (Miss. State). It helped tremendously. To make you own, get an old aluminum bat, cut off the knob and take off the cap. Then, drill a hole about 6 or 8 inches from the barrel end. Pour a small amount of cement in the hole--just a couple of pounds, 8 to 10, adjust to your strength level. An excellent exercise is to take your hitting stance, and without moving your lower body, extend the bat to the hitting zone, not through the zone (you could damage your wrists and elbows if you do full swings). Just go from your starting point to the hitting zone. Try to go 1/2 to 3/4 speed. You should feel it in your forearms as well as your tri's.
Another exercise to do is to hold the weighted bat in one hand a little above waist high with your arm extended (leave a little bend in your elbow to prevent tendon/ligament damage). Then lower the bat to parallel with the ground very slowly, hold it there for about 8 or 10 seconds then slowly raise it again. The time that you take to lower and raise can be varied according to your strength.
Another variation is to hold the bat in front of you (one hand) at about a 45 degree angle with the ground, and slowly lower it to the right. Hold it, then slowly raise it back up and then do it to the left. Again, make sure you have a very slight bend in your elbows. You can also strengthen your tri's by doing overhead extensions with the weighted bat. Just hold the bat in one hand over your head, and extend your arm to almost lock-out with your elbows. This exercise is probably more effective if you use a dumbbell, though.
Train your forearms and triceps at least 4 or 5 times a week. You're not trying to bet bodybuilder arms, but you need strength and endurance in these muscles. In response to response #1, look at Ken Griffey's forearms, or Pete Rose's arms or Sammy Sosa's or Tony Gwynn or Wade Boggs or Derek Jeter,. These guys might not have all had great power, but all of them had great forearm strength and, therefore, were (and are) great hitters. Strong forearms and triceps correlate into greater bat control which equals a high batting average and maybe even some power.
One more thing about Ken Griffey--he has unbelievable bat speed which comes from great abs and obliques and intercostals and, of course, genetics. Another example of good forearm strength plus genetics (and great dedication) is Tiger Woods. Look at his forearms. They may not be extremely ripped with huge muscles, but they are strong and powerful, thus great club head speed. I know this is probably more than you wanted to know, but I hope it illustrates the importance of forearm and tricep strength.
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