Unsigned Senior Showcase: Data Dive

October 6, 2022
Kevin Cronin
Tech Analyst, Area Scout

On Oct. 2, PBR Illinois hosted the fall’s Unsigned Senior Showcase, as it does each and every fall, at The MAX complex in McCook, Ill., where nearly 70 prospects participated. These Class of 2023 athletes remain uncommitted headed into the final offseason of their prep careers, and this group that performed at The MAX last weekend underscored the unsigned talent still remaining in Illinois.

This week, we published our Quick Hits post that contained the highlights from the event. Today, we're going to continue breaking down the takeaways from the event by diving deeper into all of the data we collected at the showcase in the form of our Data Dive. Stay tuned for additional analysis coming out of the Unsigned Senior Showcase through the rest of the week.

For now, here’s some of the day’s top performers, broken down by position players and pitchers.

TRACKMAN

We'll continue to roll out the data we gathered from this event, starting with the analytics we have at our disposal from our TrackMan units. Below we'll look at which players had noteworthy batted ball and pitch data.

MAX FASTBALL VELOCITY & 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 CURVEBALL & SLIDER SPIN RATE

AVERAGE CHANGEUP HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT

MAX EXIT VELOCITY (HITTING)

MAX DISTANCE (HITTING)

BLAST MOTION

With the help of our Blast Motion sensors, we're analyzing the swing metrics measured at this open showcase.

HAND SPEED (PEAK & AVERAGE)

Peak Hand Speed: The observed maximum speed as measured on the handle of the bat (measured six inches from the knob of the bat). Peak Hand Speed will occur prior to the moment of impact, very close to the commit time in the swing when the wrists unhinge.

BAT SPEED (AVERAGE)

Bat Speed: The observed speed of the sweet spot of the bat at impact. The sweet spot of the bat is measured six inches from the tip of the bat.

ROTATIONAL ACCELERATION (PEAK & AVERAGE)

Body Rotation: A swing that has the appropriate relative contributions of body and bat rotations is an efficient and Powerful swing that maintains proper sequencing. An efficient baseball swing is one in which the body creates the initial movements, which is then transferred to the arms and out to the bat, thereby maximizing Bat Speed through this proximal-to-distal kinematic sequencing movement pattern.

VIZUAL EDGE

A look at the top Vizual Edge scores from the event.

The Edge Score is a comprehensive score out of 100 that takes the core-six visual skills into account, providing athletes, parents, coaches and scouts with a benchmark number for assessing an athlete’s overall visual ability. In general the higher the Edge Score, the higher chance of athletic success. Think of the Edge Score as the 'Sixth Metric' in the standard Five-Tools that make up a ball player.

The average Edge Score for the 2020 MLB Draft Class was 79.3 (of hitters who completed a Vizual Edge test). MLB players we've worked with typically show stronger scores, with elite hitters scoring consistently above 87.0 on their Edge Score.