Hitters Hit Deep Dive - Kyler Randazzo

Welcome to Hitters Hit Deep Dive. I've been with the PBR Nebraska team since it's inception in 2016 and accepted an expanded role in 2020. With a full year under my belt, I've gotten to take a deeper look at the hitters throughout the state. 

In this series we will spotlight players who stand out and take a deeper dive into their numbers. Since the implementation of the Trackman & Blast technology to our showcases in the summer of 2020 we have been fortunate enough to have seen a great deal of talent come through the system. Today, we will take a look at the #6 prospect in the 2021 class, Nebraska recruit Kyler Randazzo. 

Before we get started, we'll go over and define some of the terminology being used in the piece. 

Exit Speed-  this one's pretty simple but this metric measures the speed of the ball off the bat, measured in miles per hour (mph) during batting practice.

Distance- another simple one, 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 of the bat and negative numbers mean the ball is traveling downward off of the bat. 

Fly Ball %-  Percentage of fly balls hit during a given set of batted ball 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.

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. - Blast Motion

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

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

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

TRACKMAN DATA ANALYSIS

We caught up with Randazzo for the first time in 2020 at the Midwest Pro Day. At the event, he put up impressive numbers that saw him in the top half of players of each measured category. Let’s take a deeper dive into the numbers from September 2020. 

Exit Speed-  Checking it at just under 100 MPH, Randazzo showed an impressive max exit velocity during his BP round. As you will see later in the article this max exit velo is a product of elite hand/bat speed. He averaged an exit speed of 80.89 MPH, we would like to see this number a little higher and closer to the max exit velocity he produced, but this number will increase as he continues to find the barrel. 

Distance-  Randazzo showed some pop here with a furthest batted ball of 367 feet and an average distance of 230 feet. This lower average distance can be explained by looking at the line drive percentage of 42.9%. Throughout his round of BP, Randazzo could be seen driving the ball on a line gap to gap. When he increased his launch angle, we saw some of the further driven balls of the day.

Batted Ball Percentages-  As mentioned above, Randazzo looks to drive the ball on a line, his ground ball percentage of 14.3% was one of the lowest at the event. The high line drive and fly ball% will be beneficial for Randazzo especially if he works to increase his hard hit percentage from 28.6%. An additional thought, an increased ground ball % wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen for Randazzo as he showed he can run a 6.67 60-yard. Putting balls in play when you can run is never a bad idea.

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 at the same time this summer as the 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 data, it can paint a more complete picture of a hitter and help explain why a player is able to hit the ball harder, farther, and more consistently than others. 

Randazzo put up some impressive Blast Motion numbers. The numbers he put up would have put him in the near the top of most categories at the 2020 Super 60. 

It’s hard to pick out just one Blast metric that Randazzo was a standout in. He was the top performer at the Midwest Pro Day in 5 of the 7 metrics above. His on plane efficiency of 80% shows that his swing path is both consistent and on an ideal plane. This would indicate that the lower hard hit percentage and average exit velo above could just be a product of a smaller sample size. He would have had the 3rd best Rotational Acceleration at the 2020 Super 60. In short, his combination of high on plane efficiency and rotational acceleration means he gets his barrel on plane and gets it there quickly. This, along with elite hand/bat speed is something that will help Randazzo continue to put up the eye-catching exit velocities we’re used seeing from him.

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