Doc, do you know the methodology of these studies?
If you look at a player vs. player basis, comparing guys who K vs. those who don't, are you just comparing guys who hit more homers to guys who don't. In essence, if you K a bunch and don't bash, do you stay around the league for very long? Such a study wouldn't reveal much about the impact of the reduction of K's.
If you do examine whole teams, then you have to examine teams that have the same lineups and see theri K's go up or down.
It would seem that what we would wish to look at is individual players who see a measurable and significant reduction in K's. What does that do to their productivity?
Are there any players (or many) who see such a reduction? Does the data tell us that such a reduction is neutral in terms of overall batting performance?
I would be surprised.