Southern Illinois Summer ID: Pitching Data Dive
July 5, 2024
On July 2nd, the Prep Baseball Illinois staff hosted the Southern Illinois Summer ID at John A. Logan JC in Carterville, Ill. Over 20 players participated in a pro-style workout, gathering unrivaled access to data through our state-of-the-art tech partners, as well as in-depth scouting analysis from our Prep Baseball Illinois staff.
On Wednesday, 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.
Now, we will take a further in-depth look at the top pitchers with the help of our tech partnerships, broken down by the categories down below:
TRACKMAN
FASTBALL
VELOCITY (MAX)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Velocity (max) |
1 | Brandon Menser | IL | Sesser Valier | 2025 | RHP | 88.6 mph |
2 | Brock Fearday | IL | St. Anthony | 2025 | RHP | 88.5 mph |
3 | Nathan Evans | IL | Murphysboro | 2025 | RHP | 87.2 mph |
4 | Josh Jones | IL | Normal University | 2026 | RHP | 86.8 mph |
5 | Alex Henry | IL | Marion | 2026 | RHP | 84.3 mph |
Max Fastball Velocity: This metric calculates the speed of the pitch as it’s released from the pitcher’s hand.
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Brandon Menser | IL | Sesser Valier | 2025 | RHP | 2411 rpm |
2 | Lucas Dunn | IL | Nashville Community | 2026 | RHP | 2351 rpm |
3 | Brock Fearday | IL | St. Anthony | 2025 | RHP | 2199 rpm |
4 | Nathan Evans | IL | Murphysboro | 2025 | RHP | 2139 rpm |
5 | Josh Jones | IL | Normal University | 2026 | RHP | 2107 rpm |
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.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Brandon Menser | IL | Sesser Valier | 2025 | RHP | 21.7 in |
2 | Lucas Dunn | IL | Nashville Community | 2026 | RHP | 20.2 in |
3 | Trey Buchanan | TX | Lone Star | 2028 | RHP | 17.3 in |
4 | Josh Jones | IL | Normal University | 2026 | RHP | 16.5 in |
5 | Cohen Merrill | IL | Freeburg | 2026 | RHP | 15.8 in |
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.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Xander Beals | IL | St. Anthony | 2026 | RHP | 18.7 |
2 | Josh Jones | IL | Normal University | 2026 | RHP | 14.6 |
3 | Jacob Cross | IL | Carbondale | 2025 | LHP | -14.4 |
4 | Brock Fearday | IL | St. Anthony | 2025 | RHP | 14.1 |
5 | Alex Henry | IL | Marion | 2026 | RHP | 14.0 |
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.”
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Nathan Evans | IL | Murphysboro | 2025 | RHP | 66 % |
^ | Xander Beals | IL | St. Anthony | 2026 | RHP | 66 % |
2 | Brandon Menser | IL | Sesser Valier | 2025 | RHP | 50 % |
^ | Lucas Dunn | IL | Nashville Community | 2026 | RHP | 50 % |
Average MLB pitchers throw 62% strikes, and better pitchers throw strikes 65% of the time, or roughly 2:1 strikes to balls.
CURVEBALL
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Lucas Dunn | IL | Nashville Community | 2026 | RHP | 2499 rpm |
2 | Nathan Evans | IL | Murphysboro | 2025 | RHP | 2454 rpm |
3 | Brandon Menser | IL | Sesser Valier | 2025 | RHP | 2409 rpm |
4 | Brock Fearday | IL | St. Anthony | 2025 | RHP | 2245 rpm |
5 | Josh Jones | IL | Normal University | 2026 | RHP | 2039 rpm |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Brock Fearday | IL | St. Anthony | 2025 | RHP | -11.9 in |
2 | Brandon Menser | IL | Sesser Valier | 2025 | RHP | -11.3 in |
3 | Alex Henry | IL | Marion | 2026 | RHP | -10.7 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Nathan Evans | IL | Murphysboro | 2025 | RHP | -17.1 |
2 | Lucas Dunn | IL | Nashville Community | 2026 | RHP | -16.5 |
3 | Brock Fearday | IL | St. Anthony | 2025 | RHP | -14.5 |
4 | Xander Beals | IL | St. Anthony | 2026 | RHP | -12.0 |
5 | Alex Henry | IL | Marion | 2026 | RHP | -12.0 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Brandon Menser | IL | Sesser Valier | 2025 | RHP | 80 % |
2 | Jacob Cross | IL | Carbondale | 2025 | LHP | 75 % |
3 | Nathan Evans | IL | Murphysboro | 2025 | RHP | 60 % |
SLIDER
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Lucas Dunn | IL | Nashville Community | 2026 | RHP | 2345 |
2 | Cohen Merrill | IL | Freeburg | 2026 | RHP | 2196 |
3 | Brock Fearday | IL | St. Anthony | 2025 | RHP | 2151 |
4 | Cayden Craig | IL | North Clay Community | 2026 | OF | 2081 |
5 | Xander Beals | IL | St. Anthony | 2026 | RHP | 1986 |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Trey Buchanan | TX | Lone Star | 2028 | RHP | 9.8 in |
2 | Jacob Cross | IL | Carbondale | 2025 | LHP | 7.1 in |
3 | Lucas Dunn | IL | Nashville Community | 2026 | RHP | 5.5 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Cohen Merrill | IL | Freeburg | 2026 | RHP | -14.7 |
2 | Cayden Craig | IL | North Clay Community | 2026 | OF | 8.3 |
3 | Xander Beals | IL | St. Anthony | 2026 | RHP | -7.9 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Alex Henry | IL | Marion | 2026 | RHP | 80 % |
2 | Brock Fearday | IL | St. Anthony | 2025 | RHP | 60 % |
CHANGEUP
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Josh Jones | IL | Normal University | 2026 | RHP | 2055 rpm |
2 | Brock Fearday | IL | St. Anthony | 2025 | RHP | 1856 rpm |
3 | Xander Beals | IL | St. Anthony | 2026 | RHP | 1710 rpm |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Brandon Menser | IL | Sesser Valier | 2025 | RHP | 16.0 in |
2 | Ayden Murphy | IL | Marion High School | 2026 | RHP | 15.8 in |
3 | Trey Buchanan | TX | Lone Star | 2028 | RHP | 11.5 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Brock Fearday | IL | St. Anthony | 2025 | RHP | 20.4 |
2 | Xander Beals | IL | St. Anthony | 2026 | RHP | 18.6 |
3 | Lucas Dunn | IL | Nashville Community | 2026 | RHP | 17.6 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Josh Jones | IL | Normal University | 2026 | RHP | 80 % |
2 | Brock Fearday | IL | St. Anthony | 2025 | RHP | 75 % |
+ CLICK HERE for a look at the complete statistics from the event.
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