2023 West Coast Games: Pitching Data Dive
August 11, 2023
The West Coast Games is a one-of-a-kind event featured the best uncommitted Class of 2024 & select 2025 prospects from throughout the West Region that had been identified by each of the state’s scouting directors. This years event featured top prospects from Arizona, Canada, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
A premier event for uncommitted rising upperclassmen on the West Coast, the PBR West Coast Games gave an unparalleled opportunity to each player in attendance by delivering a “one-stop-shop” for college coaches to recruit in the city of Las Vegas. Beyond the on-looking eyes of scouts and coaches, PBR’s unmatched coverage and commitment to elevating players via advanced metrics and technology (Trackman, Blast Motion, Swift Performance and Vizual Edge), along with multiple social media platforms, providing elite exposure for each player in attendance.
Today, we conclude our post-event coverage with the top TrackMan pitching data collected at the event.
Complete event leaderboards available HERE
FASTBALL
MAX VELOCITY (MPH)
Max Fastball Velocity: This metric calculates the speed of the pitch as it’s released from the pitcher’s hand.
SPIN RATE (AVG)
Spin Rate: This metric calculates the rate of spin on the baseball as it leaves the pitcher’s hand, measured in revolutions per minute (rpm). Historical data shows that high-spin fastballs lessen the impact of gravity, allowing for more ‘rise’ (or less fall, in other words) as it carries through the zone. Low-spin fastballs typically indicate the pitch has greater horizontal action, often making it tougher to square up, but generally easier to make contact with, leading to more ground balls, while high-spin fastballs show a correlation with swings and misses.
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Induced Vertical Break: Used in short form as "IVB," this metric is most important on fastballs for creating rise and on curveballs for creating depth – it can also have some use when measuring sliders and cutters as well. Sliders tend to be closer to zero inches while cutters are generally between 5 and 15 inches. Usually fastballs and curveballs with large IVB have higher spin efficiencies as well. Sliders generally have very little (closer to zero) IVB and very low spin efficiency. You could also categorize IVB into spin rate as this is part of the “useful movement” you’re looking for. IVB is also a huge part of the vertical approach angle.
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Horizontal Break: Outlined on TrackMan’s own website: “... horizontal movement is measured in inches between where the pitch actually crosses the front of home plate side-wise, and where it would have crossed home plate side-wise if had it traveled in a perfectly straight line from release. A positive number means the break was to the right from the pitcher’s perspective, while a negative number means the break was to the left from the pitcher’s perspective.”