Underclass Trials - North: TrackMan Files

June 14, 2021
Diego Solares
Staff Writer, Associate Scout

On June 8, the PBR Illinois team hosted players ranging from the classes of 2023 through 2025 at The MAX facility in McCook for its Underclass Trials - North showcase.

As the Illinois scout team began to break down a lot of the talent being seen for the first time, there were a lot of takeaways. This event previewed what the northern part of the state has to look forward to in years to come.

We published our Quick Hits from the event shortly after, providing a few highlight performances that stood out on Wednesday and followed that up with our traditional Statistical Analysis, an article that looks at some standouts from a pure numerical standpoint.

Today, we'll be taking a look at batted ball and pitch data captured by our portable TrackMan units that allow us to provide more data-filled information from this event.

MAX FASTBALL VELOCITY & PEak SPIN RATE

Max Fastball Velocity: This metric calculates the speed of the pitch as it’s released from the pitcher’s hand.

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.

AVERAGE FASTBALL HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT

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.”

AVERAGE SLIDER SPIN RATE

AVERAGE CURVEBALL SPIN RATE

AVERAGE CHANGEUP HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT

AVERAGE EXIT VELOCITY (HITTING)

Exit Speed: Also according to TrackMan’s own website: “The speed of the ball, measured in miles per hour, as it comes off the bat at the moment of contact.”

PEAK EXIT VELOCITY (HITTING)

PEAK ESTIMATED BATTED DISTANCE (HITTING)

For a complete look at each of the statistics measured at this showcase, CLICK HERE