Super 60: FlightScope Pitching Leaderboard

TOP fastball velocity
Ryan Cusick and Tyler Lewis solidified themselves as one and two in terms of arm strength on the mound. Together they hold eight of the ten spots on our leaderboard, with Cusick holding four of the top six. Cusick's 96.8 mph fastball was an event-best, and his 95.6 mph effort was runner-up. Lewis topped out at 95.4 mph, good for the third positon. The other two arms to populate our table are Francois Castillo, who was clocked at 94.4 mph, and Nick Thwaits at 93.9 mph.

TOP FASTBALL zone speed
Fastball zone speed is the measure of the ball's velocity as it crosses home plate. This differs from our fastball velocity table above, as that is a measure of the ball's velocity as it is leaving the pitcher's hand. It should come as no surprise that this leaderboard features the same names as the fastball velocity leaderboard. These prospects had the hardest fastballs, so you can expect them to be corssing the plate at a higher velcoity than others, given that a typical fastball loses approximately eight miles per hour from pitcher's hand to plate. It is interesting to see that the hardest fastball of the day, Ryan Cusick's 96.8 mph pitch, came across at 85.0 mph, one of the last entries on the leaderboard. While a 93.1 mph fastball from Nick Thwaits maintained better velocity, crossing at 85.4 mph. 

When it comes to spin rate on a fastball, you want to be anything but average. Why is that? Because average is what batters are used to, it is ingrained in their muscle memory, the typical flight of a fastball. How does a high spin rate on a fastball help? In simple terms, it fends off the effects of gravity for a longer period of time, meaning the path of the ball stays up longer than that of an average fastball. Pitcher's with high fastball spin rate typically induce more fly balls than others. For reference, the 2015 MLB average fastball spin rate was around 2,200 rpm. This leaderboard shows us that William English and Wyatt Olds had the highest of spin rates and were able to consistently do it. A deeper dive into fastball spin rate from the Super 60 would show that Kohl Franklin and Nathan Lavender, although not spinning it at the rate of English and Olds, consistently have their fastball spin rates in the 2,400-to-2,500 range.

As stated above, you want your fastball to have anything but average spin rate. This means that a low spin rate can be extremely effective as well. What does a low spin rate on a fastball do? It allows for gravity to play a larger part in the trajectory of the ball, causing the flight of the ball to drop lower than that of an average spin rate fastball. This type of pitch, rightly called a sinker, induces far more ground balls than its counterparts. The table below consistents of only two prospects, LHP Kaleb Hill and 6-foot-9 RHP Jack Neely. Not seen on this leaderboard is Micah Dallas. Dallas consistently had spin rate on his fastball at, or just below, 2000 rpm. In general, Neely's entire repetoire (Fastball, Cutter, Changeup, Curveball) was below 2000 rpm.

A slider is one of the more difficult pitches to identify and classify, as they can be thrown with a wide range of spin rates and velocity. The 2015 MLB average spin rate on a slider was just under 2,100 rpm. As the table shows, Tyler Lewis and Mateo Gil were able to spin their sliders at an alarmingly high rate. It is interesting to note that while Lewis' slider came in at 81-84 mph, Gil's sat 77-78 out of the windup and dipped to 74-75 in the stretch, but he maintained spin rate. This further illustrates that velocity does not translate to spin rate. Although not thrown with quite as much spin, Gus Radel and Jacob Maton threw sliders with above-average spin rate. Radel was consistently up above 2,500 rpm, while Maton was between the 2,400 and 2,500 range.

Changeups are, by nature, thrown with less spin, which creates that fade/sink action. As it was discussed earlier, low spin rate allows for the effects of gravity to be more pronounce. Meaning a changeup will look like a fastball out of the hand, but arrive at the plate with less velocity and at a lower trajectory. Kaleb Hill and Drew Rom were the only two pitchers to throw a split-finger, which is similar to a changeup in that you do not want a lot of spin on it. The 2015 MLB average spin rate on a split-finger was just over 1,500 rpm, while a changeup came in around 1,700 rpm. A number of prospects were able to consisntely spin a changeup below the 2015 MLB average. Connor Van Scoyoc, Wade Beasley, and Connor Noland were able to do it at the highest rate, with the majority of their spin rates coming in under 1,500. While Ryan Cusick would slot in right behind them.