I've been researching this type of thing, and it's clear to me that the physics of succeeding by "reaching base on balls in play" and succeeding by "hitting the ball hard in the air" are quite different. For even very skilled humans, attempting to do one makes you worse at the other, and the statistics bear this out.
Only a very elite few have been able to consistently hit both ways over the long haul, and they are the slam-dunk Hall of Famers. Not surprising given that a hitter only has microseconds to figure out what to do and then actually do it, and all the uncertainty associated with a moving, spinning object in mid-air.
In the Dead Ball Era, there was only one way to succeed so everyone did it. Now there are still plenty of guys with Dead Ball skills, but very few are willing to give up the notion of hitting the ball hard in the air. Even the Gwynns and Bogges and Molitors got their dozen-plus homers.
There was Ichiro, of course, and, just in a quick glance, it looks like Dee Gordon comes up as a guy embracing Dead Ball skills. But you have to look pretty hard.
This will be interesting: Leonys Martin is a guy who might get better if he stops caring about an ISO over .100. Ketel Marte is someone who might be much better not trying to slug (it looks to me like his ISO over .100 this year was pretty flukish).
And the M's have an ultimate Dead Ball player coming up through the system in Aaron Barbosa. Will they embrace him?