still new to HBD and am trying to learn what makes a good hitter

1)  is it a combination of vs L/R and batting eye?  Or do I need to factor in contact?
2)  power - is that just HR hitting?  is it possible for a hitter to have linedrive gap power (doubles and triples) but not HR power?
3)  how important is batting eye towards getting a hit?  Or is it just to draw walks?

Contact - ability to put the ball in play.  Players with good contact ratings shouldn't strike out very much.  They might ground out or fly out, but shouldn't K.
Power - not just home-run hitting ability.  I'm sure that speed and base-running have an effect, but more power = more extra base hits
Splits (VL/VR)  - seems to have the greatest effect on batting average.  I like versus right splits better, since there are more RHP to hit against.
Eye - ability to judge balls and strikes.  Higher eye = better ability to draw walks.  I also assume that higher eye players strike out less.
Obviously, high ratings in all of these categories makes for a great hitter.  What you need to do is figure out which rating mixes make for what roles in the lineup.  You want good splits eye and good speed/base-running from your lead-off guy.  You want good splits , contact and eye from your number 2.  You put your best all around hitter number three.  You put your best power hitter number four.  You put the best of the rest number five (hopefully he has power too), then you arrange your lineup the rest of the way in descending order.

Doit, a lot of owners are happy to help newer owners learn the game, but shy away from discussing specific ratings.

I'll say that I've seen effective hitters with 0 power, and effective hitters with 0 contact. I've also carried players on my roster with 0 l or r.

I'll also give you the advice that the great mikeT always gives: look at successful hitters in your leagues, and see what ratings (or rating combinations) they have in common.

1) You need to factor in all of the hitting ratings: contact, power, vs. L/R, Batting eye, and even speed and baserunning.
2) The more power that he has the more balls that get hit hard will get out of the park. Average power is gap power, or more fly outs to the track.
3) I am pretty sure that eye only affects walks, but I could be wrong.

L/R = AVG
Power = ISO
Eye = OBP-AVG
Contact = +/- AVG

That is basically how I view it. Greater Speed and Baserunning ups the value of Contact, and will provide more XBH.

Look at guys who are good. Look at their ratings. Try to get guys who have ratings like that.

I'll put it like this:   If you disqualify a guy because "His power is below 30" or "I don't like guys with less than 50 eye", you're doing me a favor.  The ratings work in conjunction with one another.   Obviously a guy flaunting 30 across the board will suck but a lot of useful players get cast aside because owners require specific minimums in each category.  I do it too, with splits, but I do recognize the error of my ways.