On Monday, April 1st the Prep Baseball Ontario staff hosted the first Junior Future Games Trials across the nation at the The Athlete Matrix in Mississauga, Ontario. The Jr. Future Games serve as the main identifier for Canada's lone JFG team heading to LakePoint Sports in late July and the team will feature players from the true 2028 and 2029 classes. The Jr. Future Games allows our staff to identify the next wave of players coming through the country and allows the players an opportunity to compete against top players in America, as well as give them a look at the Future Games event taking place on the complex at the samee time.

This event featured roughly 28 positional players from the across the province in the 2028 class and allowed our staff an opportunity to get an in-depth look at the players, as well as collect metrics via our tech partner TrackMan.

Earlier this week, we broke down the top measurable data performers from the event with our Statistical Analysis and Hitting Data Dive. Now, 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:

For complete event results, click here.
To view upcoming event schedule, click here.

FASTBALL

MAX VELOCITY (MPH)

Max Fastball Velocity: This metric calculates the speed of the pitch as it’s released from the pitcher’s hand.

SPIN RATE (AVG)

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.)

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.)

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 %

CURVEBALL

SPIN RATE (AVG.)

INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

SLIDER

SPIN RATE (AVG.)

INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

STRIKE ZONE %

CHANGEUP

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

UPCOMING EVENTS

SHOWCASE	STATE	DATE	LOCATION
2024 Team Ontario Scout Day	ON	04/17	The Dugout
2024 Ontario Blue Jays Scout Day	ON	04/18	The Athlete Matrix
2024 Terriers Scout Day	ON	04/24	King's Christian Collegiate
2024 18U Best of the West	ON	05/01	Norbrock Stadium (Kamloops, BC)
2024 15U Best of the West	ON	05/01	Norbrock Stadium (Kamloops, BC)
2024 Canadian Trials	ON	05/09	TNXL Academy - Ocoee, FL
2024 New England Academic Games (Invite Only)	ON	07/09	Yale
Future Games (Class of 2026/27)	NATIONAL	07/24	LakePoint Sports
Junior Future Games (Class of 2028/29)	NATIONAL	07/24	LakePoint Sports
Senior Future Games (Class of 2025)	NATIONAL	07/24	LakePoint Sports
2024 Toronto Summer Open	ON	07/30	Dan Lang Field
2024 Midwest Super Sophomore Games (Invite Only)	ON	08/02	Indiana University - Bart Kaufman Field
Improve My Profile with Game Video (Ontario)	ON	08/29	Ontario

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