I watched the movie Moneyball. The players were encouraged to take more pitches and to get deeper into the count. I saw similar advice give to HS baseball players by way of a big sign in the practice area.
What do you think about that philosophy?
As a ''philosophy,'' it's not a good idea. For a specific player, it might be a great idea.
Didn't see the movie, but I understand it gets into the belief that players with high walk numbers have been underrated (up until that time) and that it's a good thing to have a lot of walks. And that is true.
But the problem with adopting this as a ''philosophy'' of taking more pitches is that getting walks is largely a skill, not a choice. It's not like a major league baseball player can just decide to walk 100 times a season. Barry Bonds walked an astronomical number of times, partly because he had a great eye for the strike zone, partly because he was so dangerous that nobody wanted to pitch to him. MLB pitchers aren't going to risk free passes to just anybody.
Vlad Guerrero was the classic example of great hitter who was very aggressive (ie, low walks). Should he have been more patient? If he could've walked 100 times/year, he'd be a Hall of Famer. He might be anyway. But that approach might've backfired and caused his power/average numbers to topple. Maybe he should've been smarter, or maybe his skill set wouldn't allow him to be more patient and still produce like he did.
Each hitter has to decide for himself/herself. Everybody has different talents at reading the strike zone and at hitting a good pitcher's pitch. And every hitter (at least at the highest levels, when they're familiarity and scouting) is pitched differently. There's no team philosophy that accounts for all that.