Does "to bat" always mean "batear"?
I came across the sentence, "The cats like to bat the leaves in the air." Meaning that they like to hit them with their paws so that they fly into the air.
"To bat" usually means to hit with a bat, like in baseball, which would be "batear".
Can I say "A los gatos les gusta batear las ojas en el aire."? Neither "batear" nor "en el aire" sound correct to me.
"Cats like to bat at strings." Does "A gatos les gusta tocar cuerdas con las patas" work? Or would "A gatos les gusta jugar con cuerda." be a better translation?
3 Answers
Another untranslatable use for "bat" in English: "bat the eyelashes". In Spanish it's "hacer ojitos" or "pestañear", but you cannot say "batear las pestañas". 
As far as the cats batting goes, I may say something like "los gatos manotean las hojas, o los hilos". Although strictly speaking cats do not have "hands - manos"; that action of hitting an object with one's hands or paws can be referred to as "manotear".
Can I say "A los gatos les gusta batear las ojas en el aire."? Neither "batear" nor "en el aire" sound correct to me.
Welcome to the dunce corner dear alba
jeje, "hoja"
Pues no, eso no va. En este caso al menos en España usaríamos "dar" cada vez que es dar un golpe simplemente usamos dar.
A los gatos les gusta dar a las hojas con sus patas.
"A los gatos les gusta tocar cordeles/hilos con las patas" work? Or would "A los gatos les gusta jugar con cuerdas/hilos cordeles...." be a better translation?
Pues sí, elegimos normalmente la segunda opción. 
From what Heidi says, I guess the way we use "to bat" (to tap at lightly and playfully) doesn't translate to one specific verb in Spanish.
