St. Louis Fall ID: Pitching Data Dive
October 14, 2024
On Oct. 8th, Prep Baseball Illinois hosted the St. Louis Fall ID at the Sports Barn complex in Wood River, Ill. 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.
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. Later in the week, we will release our Takeaways from the event, highlighting some of the event's top prospects.
Today, 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 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | 89.4 mph |
2 | Mick Niebrugge | IL | Teutopolis | 2025 | 1B | 88.5 mph |
3 | Hunter Fryman | MO | Marshfield | 2026 | SS | 84.9 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 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | 2427 rpm |
2 | Mathew Crownhart | IL | Homeschool (IL) | 2027 | LHP | 2320 rpm |
3 | Mick Niebrugge | IL | Teutopolis | 2025 | 1B | 2268 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 | Aaron Gibson | MO | Parkway North | 2026 | 1B | 21.3 in |
2 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | 17.1 in |
3 | Wyatt Stephens | MO | Francis Howell | 2028 | 2B | 16.3 in |
4 | Mick Niebrugge | IL | Teutopolis | 2025 | 1B | 15.8 in |
5 | Hunter Fryman | MO | Marshfield | 2026 | SS | 12.6 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 | Eli Doerr | MO | Francis Howell | 2027 | RHP | 18.6 |
2 | Hunter Fryman | MO | Marshfield | 2026 | SS | 15.9 |
3 | Blake Branstetter | MO | Westminster Christian | 2025 | OF | 13.8 |
4 | Mathew Crownhart | IL | Homeschool (IL) | 2027 | LHP | -13.6 |
5 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | 12.1 |
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 | Mick Niebrugge | IL | Teutopolis | 2025 | 1B | 50 % |
2 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | 42 % |
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 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | 2475 rpm |
2 | Mick Niebrugge | IL | Teutopolis | 2025 | 1B | 2330 rpm |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Wyatt Stephens | MO | Francis Howell | 2028 | 2B | -7.1 in |
2 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | -6.8 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | -17.2 |
2 | Eli Doerr | MO | Francis Howell | 2027 | RHP | -12.5 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Eli Doerr | MO | Francis Howell | 2027 | RHP | 75 % |
2 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | 50 % |
^ | Wyatt Stephens | MO | Francis Howell | 2028 | 2B | 50 % |
SLIDER
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | 2729 |
2 | Hunter Fryman | MO | Marshfield | 2026 | SS | 2312 |
3 | Mathew Crownhart | IL | Homeschool (IL) | 2027 | LHP | 2082 |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Aaron Gibson | MO | Parkway North | 2026 | 1B | 10.1 in |
2 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | -5.4 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | -16.3 |
2 | Wyatt Stephens | MO | Francis Howell | 2028 | 2B | -11.0 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | 66 % |
2 | Hunter Fryman | MO | Marshfield | 2026 | SS | 60 % |
CHANGEUP
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | 2003 rpm |
2 | Mathew Crownhart | IL | Homeschool (IL) | 2027 | LHP | 1850 rpm |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Blake Branstetter | MO | Westminster Christian | 2025 | OF | 11.7 in |
2 | Mathew Crownhart | IL | Homeschool (IL) | 2027 | LHP | 11.2 in |
3 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | 11.0 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Mathew Crownhart | IL | Homeschool (IL) | 2027 | LHP | -16.1 |
2 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | 15.8 |
3 | Eli Doerr | MO | Francis Howell | 2027 | RHP | 15.3 |
4 | Mick Niebrugge | IL | Teutopolis | 2025 | 1B | 14.5 |
5 | Blake Branstetter | MO | Westminster Christian | 2025 | OF | 14.2 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Mathew Crownhart | IL | Homeschool (IL) | 2027 | LHP | 50 % |
2 | Brody Simily | MO | West County | 2027 | SS | 25 % |
+ CLICK HERE for a look at the complete statistics from the event.
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