Unsigned Senior Showcase: TrackMan Files
February 24, 2021
On Feb. 21, the PBR Illinois team hosted the final Unsigned Senior Showcase for 2021 prospects at The MAX in McCook, Ill. The event featured 50 unsigned seniors, with the majority hailing from Illinois.
On Monday, our staff collaborated to highlight the biggest takeaways and highlights from Sunday’s showcase and published them within this Quick Hits piece. Tuesday, we analyzed the traditional statistics we measured on Sunday and published our findings within this Statistical Analysis. Today, with the help of our TrackMan unit, we're diving a little deeper into the data to see what we can find.
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 Sunday's showcase, CLICK HERE.