Gwynn was an aggressive hitter who was able to expand his hitting zone and frequently hit bad balls that were out of the strike zone. He rarely struck out and generally did not draw many walks. His philosophy was to “see the ball and react”. He was less concerned with getting a hit in a particular at-bat and was more focused with being comfortable at the plate, having a fluid swing, and making solid contact. Over the course of the season, he figured it would result in success. Gwynn saw the ball better than any of his peers, identifying the type of pitch as the ball left the pitcher’s hand. He rarely recognized the rotation of the ball, and did not look to the pitcher’s arm speed for clues. He had excellent 20–10 vision that later decreased to 20–15. Gwynn tried wearing glasses around 1994 but stopped, fearing he “looked like a dork”. His peripheral vision allowed him to stare directly at the pitcher and still adjust his hitting based on the defense’s setup, even if players shifted before the pitch was released. He would identify gaps in the defense based on where fielders were positioned, and then wait for a pitch which allowed him to hit the ball where he wanted.

Gwynn was a 15-time All-Star, voted 11 times by fans to be a starter. He accumulated 3,141 hits and a career batting average of .338, and hit .371 in two World Series. Gwynn was often lauded for his artistry at the plate,[215] and his Hall of Fame plaque refers to him as “an artisan with the bat”.[72] The New York Times called him “arguably the best pure hitter of his generation”. Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux, against whom Gwynn had more hits than any other pitcher, called him “the best pure hitter in the game. Easily”. A 1997 Sports Illustrated cover declared Gwynn as “The Best Hitter Since Ted Williams”. Gwynn won eight NL batting titles, tying him with Honus Wagner for the league record— second only to all-time Major League leader Ty Cobb, who won 12 AL titles. He finished in the top 10 in batting for 15 consecutive seasons. From 1984 though 1997, he finished in the top five in all but one season (1990), when he missed it by one hit. He recorded five of the 14 highest season averages since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941.

Gwynn hit above .300 in an NL-record 19 consecutive seasons, exceeded only by Cobb (23). The only season Gwynn failed to bat .300 was his first, when he hit .289 in 54 games. Seven times he batted over .350, the most of any player since World War II. He was just the fourth player in MLB history to hit above .350 for five consecutive years. During that span (1993–1997), which was preceded by his first meeting with Williams, Gwynn averaged .368 while leading the league each season except 1993, when he hit .358 to finish second. The four consecutive NL batting titles he won starting in 1994 had not been matched since Rogers Hornsby won six straight beginning in 1920. Gwynn is the only major leaguer to win four batting titles each in two separate decades, and he batted .351 over his final 10 seasons. Six times he led the NL in both batting average and hits in a season, and five times he reached the 200-hit milestone.