Prep Baseball Report

South Suburban Summer ID: Positional Data Dive


Kevin Cronin
Illinois & Wisconsin Data Coordinator, Area Scout

On Tuesday, June 11th, the Prep Baseball Illinois staff traveled to Ozinga Field in Crestwood, Illinois to host the South Suburban Summer ID. The event hosted 30 players from across the state and allowed our staff to get a closer look at these players to kick off the summer circuit.

Yesterday, we looked at the top measurable data performers from the event, found in our Statistical Analysis, where we broke down the stat leaders from the more traditional categories. We also released our Quick Hits from the event, highlighting some of the event's top prospects.

Now, we will take a further in-depth look at the top positional prospects with the help from our tech partnerships, broken down by the categories down below:

ATHLETIC TESTING

60-YARD DASH

Traditionally, the 60-yard dash has been the in-event standard to help measure a player's speed tool. We implemented three timing gates at the 10 and 30 yards, to capture athletes’ quickness, explosiveness and reaction time. From there, we will calculate an athlete’s top-end speed in miles per hour. While the measurement still has its utility, the 10-yard split has started to become more and more applicable in determining the player's burst and reaction time in-game, whether that's in the outfield or on the basepaths.

Max Vertical Jump

Max RSI

The ability to develop force quickly is a requisite ability in most sports. The Reactive Strength Index (RSI) has been developed as a measure of explosive strength and is derived by evaluating jump height divided by ground contact time during the depth jump. Regarding Vertical Jumps and its application to baseball, there have been studies conducted that show a correlation between max jump height for an athlete and their ability to generate power and strength, especially on the mound.


TRACKMAN

EXIT VELOCITY (MAX)

EXIT VELOCITY (AVG.)

Exit Velocity: This metric measures the speed of the ball, measured in miles per hour, as it comes off the bat at the moment of contact.

BATTED BALL DISTANCE (MAX)

SWEET SPOT%

Sweet Spot percentage: This metric is determined by how often the player produces a batted ball during the session with a launch angle between 8 to 32 degrees.


BLAST MOTION

HAND SPEED (AVG.)

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Hand Speed: The observed 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 (AVG.)

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 (AVG.)

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.

+ CLICK HERE for a look at the complete statistics from the event.

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