Trackman Traits – Hitting: Patrick Forbes (Bowling Green HS)

Welcome to the hitting side of Trackman Traits. In this series we spotlight players who stood out in the 2020 season and take a deeper dive into their numbers to see what really stands out. Since the implementation of the Trackman and Blast technologies to our showcases this summer, we have been fortunate to have seen a great deal of talent come through the system. Today we will be looking at one of the top shortstops in the 2022 class, Patrick Forbes.

Before we get started, we’ll go over and define some of the terminology being used in this piece:

Exit Velocity – This metric measures the speed of the ball off the bat, measured in miles per hour (MPH).

Distance – This metric measures how far the ball traveled, or would travel if it was not obstructed, measured in feet.

Launch Angle – Measures the vertical angle of the ball as it leaves the bat. Positive numbers represent balls traveling upward off the bat and negative numbers mean the ball is traveling downward off the bat.

Fly Ball % - Percentage of fly balls hit during a given set of batted balls events. Trackman defines a fly ball as any batted ball with a launch angle between 25 degrees and 49.9 degrees.

Line Drive % - Percentage of line drives hit during a given set of batted ball events. Trackman defines a line drive as any batted ball with a launch angle between 10 degrees and 24.9 degrees.

Ground Ball % - Percentage of ground balls hit during a given set of batted ball events. Trackman defines a ground ball as any batted ball with a launch angle below 9.9 degrees.

Hard Hit % - Percentage of batted balls with an exit velocity of 90 MPH or higher.

Bat Speed – The speed of the sweet spot of the bat at impact, measured in MPH. The sweet spot is measured 6 inches from the tip of the bat.

Hand Speed – The speed of the handle of the bat just before impact, measured in MPH. The handle is measured 6 inches from the knob of the bat.

Rotational Acceleration – A measure of how quickly the hitter gets from launch position to being on plane. This is measured in G-Force (g).

On Plane Efficiency % - A measure of the percentage of your swing that was on swing plane.

Trackman Data Analysis

Patrick Forbes was a familiar face at PBR events, attending four over the course of 2020, including the Future Games and KY/TN Border Battle events. One of the things that stood out the most about Forbes was his consistent improvement each time we were able to see him. Let’s dive into the Trackman numbers and put some concrete numbers to those improvements.

Exit Velocity – One of the places Forbes saw the biggest improvement was in his max exit velocity. At an event on 1/12/20, Forbes posted a max exit velo of 86 mph. By the end of the year, that number jumped to a max of 96 MPH at the KY/TN border battle event. His average exit velo is another area where Forbes improved. Throughout the summer, Forbes posted average exit velos in the mid 80’s before making the jump at the Border Battle event where he put up an average exit velo of 90.38 MPH. Forbes is already showing an ability to make consistent, hard contact to all fields. At 6-2, 170-pounds, he has room to add to his frame. If he does, look for his exit velocities to continue improving and possibly reach triple digits.

Distance –  Forbes’ approach at the plate is line drive centric and gap-to-gap. This type of approach really brings down his average distance, which was between 201 and 236 feet at events this year. But, that doesn’t mean that doesn’t have the ability to hit for power. At the Border Battle, Forbes posted a max distance of 366 ft, good for third best among players at the event.

Batted Ball Percentages – As I had mentioned before, Forbes has a gap-to-gap approach at the plate, so it comes as no surprise that he has posted line drive rates as high as 71.4%. During the Border Battle event, he posted a Hard Hit% of 70%, the highest percentage of the event. His Hard Hit% is another metric in which Forbes saw big improvement, up from 40% in events early in the year. Being line drive centric, and consistently hitting the ball hard, Forbes is able to rack up base hits with ease. Throw in the fact that he possesses a 6.97 60-time and Forbes presents himself as an extra base hit threat every time he steps to the plate.

Blast Connection

Trackman does a great job showing the outcomes of players swings and their batted ball events. Its data is results based, the best numbers come when you get off your best swing and make your best contact. Blast Motion technology, also implemented this year along with Trackman, tracks the swing data of a player and can shine a light into what a player does well in their swing. When paired with Trackman, it can paint a more complete picture of a hitter and help explain why a player is able to hit the ball harder, further, and more consistently than others.

Forbes is a real standout in terms of Blast Metrics, posting above average numbers across the board. Forbes posted a max hand speed of 25.5 MPH with an average speed of 24.67. His bat speed, while still above average, is a little closer to average for his age with a max of 74.6 mph and average of 71.78, but where Forbes really separates himself is his rotational acceleration. Forbes posted a max rotational acceleration of 28.6 g with an average of 22.45 g. For reference, the average for a high school hitter is 10.34 g, found in a study conducted by Driveline Baseball in partnership with Blast. Another metric Forbes stands out in is on-plane efficiency%. The ideal mark for this metric is 70% and Forbes comes in with an efficiency % of 76%. Now, I just threw a lot of numbers out at once, so let’s talk about how these things work together and what they mean for Forbes at the plate.

Rotational acceleration measures how quickly a hitter gets to being on plane. Forbes’ max of 28.6 g is more than twice the average of a high school hitter, 10.34 g. Forbes being able to get on his swing plane so fast helps him in two areas: handling velocity and pitch recognition. If a player is able to start his swing faster, they have an easier time facing high velocity arms without being overmatched. His high rotational acceleration is a good indicator that Forbes shouldn’t have trouble as he sees higher velocities when he moves on to college. The second way high rotational acceleration helps is in pitch recognition. Forbes is able to watch pitches longer before making a decision on whether to swing because of his ability to quickly get his bat onto the swing plane.

Once Forbes is on his swing plane, he remains there for a long time. His on-plane efficiency% of 76% means he is able to keep his barrel in the zone and on pitches longer, meaning he can hit more pitches and fight off tough pitches to keep at-bats alive. Forbes’ hand and bat speed combined with the force he is generating at the start of his swing are what allow him to generate exit velos over 90 MPH 70% of the time.

Conclusion

The improvements that Patrick Forbes has made over the last year have helped turn him into a real threat at the plate. His Trackman and Blast metrics will continue to get better as he matures physically. With a 6.97 60-yard dash, athletic actions in the field, and his offensive approach, Patrick Forbes is definitely worth following throughout the rest of his high school career.