Prep Baseball Report

South Charlotte Braves: Trackman Pitching Analytics


Patrick Johnson
North Carolina Assistant Scouting Director


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PBR was in Matthews, NC on Thursday May 29, 2024, at Warner Park home field of Covenant Day School. To see the PBR Scout Day with South Charlotte Braves. 12 players from the 2026-2027 classes were on hand for the workout day.

The day started with players running a laser timed  60. From there hitters took multiple rounds of BP with TrackMan tracking each ball put in fair play.  After the offensive evaluations, players were evaluated at their primary defensive positions.  To finish the day, pitchers threw controlled bullpens, again with TrackMan tracking each pitch and giving analytic data on each player.

Below we begin to break down the player performances from the workout.  To see the full roster with all of the stats from the workout, you can CLICK HERE.

South Charlotte Braves Scout Day - Trackman Pitching Analytics

FASTBALL STATS

Peak Velocity

Rank Name State School Class Pos Velocity (max)
1 Zeb Engstrom NC COVENANT DAY SCHOOL 2027 OF 84.9 mph
2 Matthew Winser NC Providence High School 2027 3B 79.8 mph
3 Kyle Kroehler NC Sun Valley 2026 OF 79.7 mph
4 Colby Epperly NC Ardrey Kell 2026 1B 77.5 mph
5 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP 72.2 mph


Average Effective Velocity

Effective velocity is taking into account the velocity of each pitch, its release distance, the pitches time to the plate / hitting area, and the pitches movement.  With all of this information, Effective Velocity is allowing coaches and scouts to more accurately compare how a pitch is affecting a hitter.

Rank Name State School Class Pos Eff Velocity (avg)
1 Zeb Engstrom NC COVENANT DAY SCHOOL 2027 OF 81.5 mph
2 Matthew Winser NC Providence High School 2027 3B 75.9 mph
3 Kyle Kroehler NC Sun Valley 2026 OF 75.5 mph
4 Colby Epperly NC Ardrey Kell 2026 1B 72.9 mph
5 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP 68.5 mph


Peak Spin Rate

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Rate (max)
1 Matthew Winser NC Providence High School 2027 3B 2067 rpm
2 Kyle Kroehler NC Sun Valley 2026 OF 2032 rpm
3 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP 1995 rpm
4 Luca Reyner NC Weddington 2026 2B 1959 rpm
5 Colby Epperly NC Ardrey Kell 2026 1B 1796 rpm


Average Spin Rate

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Rate (avg)
1 Kyle Kroehler NC Sun Valley 2026 OF 1917 rpm
2 Matthew Winser NC Providence High School 2027 3B 1900 rpm
3 Luca Reyner NC Weddington 2026 2B 1859 rpm
4 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP 1828 rpm
5 Zeb Engstrom NC COVENANT DAY SCHOOL 2027 OF 1701 rpm


Average Induced Vertical Movement

Induced vertical movement tracks how the ball rides through the zone, or sinks through the zone.  For the purpose of this board we are tracking which fastballs showed the most ride, typically leading to more swing and miss opportunities

Rank Name State School Class Pos IVB (avg)
1 Colby Epperly NC Ardrey Kell 2026 1B 18.6 in
2 Kyle Kroehler NC Sun Valley 2026 OF 15.8 in
3 Matthew Winser NC Providence High School 2027 3B 14.7 in
4 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP 14.0 in
5 Zeb Engstrom NC COVENANT DAY SCHOOL 2027 OF 10.9 in


Average Horizontal Movement

Horizontal movement is often referred to as run.  This measurement does not distinguish between early and late movement, just the overall amount the ball tracks to the arm side out of the hand.

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Kyle Kroehler NC Sun Valley 2026 OF -18.9
2 Colby Epperly NC Ardrey Kell 2026 1B 12.5
3 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP 10.5


Peak Spin Score

The Spin Score is a measurement linking velocity and spin.  It is calculated by dividing the spin rate by the velocity of each pitch.  

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Score (max)
1 Luca Reyner NC Weddington 2026 2B 28
2 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP 27
3 Matthew Winser NC Providence High School 2027 3B 26
4 Kyle Kroehler NC Sun Valley 2026 OF 25
5 Colby Epperly NC Ardrey Kell 2026 1B 23


CURVEBALL STATS

Peak Velocity

Rank Name State School Class Pos Velocity (max)
1 Kyle Kroehler NC Sun Valley 2026 OF 67.6 mph
2 Colby Epperly NC Ardrey Kell 2026 1B 65.4 mph
3 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP 61.7 mph


Peak Spin Rate

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Rate (max)
1 Colby Epperly NC Ardrey Kell 2026 1B 2523 rpm
2 Kyle Kroehler NC Sun Valley 2026 OF 2387 rpm
3 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP 2141 rpm


Average Spin Rate

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Rate (avg)
1 Colby Epperly NC Ardrey Kell 2026 1B 2407 rpm
2 Kyle Kroehler NC Sun Valley 2026 OF 2345 rpm
3 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP 2062 rpm


Average Induced Vertical Movement

This is a measurement of how much the ball drops from its original position and trajectory.  It does not measure how late the movement happens.  This can be referred to as depth on a breaking ball.

Rank Name State School Class Pos IVB (avg)
1 Colby Epperly NC Ardrey Kell 2026 1B -14.4 in
2 Kyle Kroehler NC Sun Valley 2026 OF -10.8 in
3 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP -9.4 in


Average Horizontal Movement

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Kyle Kroehler NC Sun Valley 2026 OF -18.9
2 Colby Epperly NC Ardrey Kell 2026 1B 12.5
3 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP 10.5


Peak Spin Score

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Score (max)
1 Colby Epperly NC Ardrey Kell 2026 1B 39
2 Kyle Kroehler NC Sun Valley 2026 OF 35
3 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP 34

CHANGEUP STATS

Peak Velocity

Rank Name State School Class Pos Velocity (max)
1 Matthew Winser NC Providence High School 2027 3B 72.8 mph
2 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP 67.5 mph
3 Luca Reyner NC Weddington 2026 2B 62.3 mph


Average Induced Vertical Movement

Rank Name State School Class Pos IVB (avg)
1 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP 14.6 in
2 Matthew Winser NC Providence High School 2027 3B 13.4 in
3 Luca Reyner NC Weddington 2026 2B 4.7 in


Average Horizontal Movement

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Luca Reyner NC Weddington 2026 2B 17.5
2 Matthew Winser NC Providence High School 2027 3B 13.6
3 Drake Covington NC Piedmont High 2027 LHP -2.6