Portland Senior Games: Pitching Data Dive
October 31, 2023
On October 8th, PBR Oregon hosted the Portland Senior Games in Forest Grove. Perennially, showcases helps introduce our staff to new need-to-know players in the state that we’d not yet seen before, as well as provided us with updated looks at players who’ve earned our attention in the past. This event was strictly for uncommitted 2024 graduates.
Previously, we have published our Statistical Analysis. 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:
TRACKMAN
FASTBALL
VELOCITY (MAX)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Velocity (max) |
1 | Hudson Normand | OR | Clackamas | 2024 | RHP | 85.3 mph |
2 | Cameron Ames | OR | Central Catholic | 2024 | 3B | 83.8 mph |
3 | Alex Lopez | OR | Sam Barlow | 2024 | 1B | 82.1 mph |
4 | Jaxson Bowen | OR | Sherwood | 2024 | RHP | 82.0 mph |
5 | Quintin Esmay | OR | Canby | 2024 | RHP | 81.8 mph |
6 | Kheller Larson | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | SS | 81.5 mph |
7 | Elijah Breault | OR | Century | 2024 | 3B | 80.5 mph |
8 | Blake Thomas | OR | La Salle Catholic | 2024 | RHP | 80.0 mph |
9 | Elijah Rasco | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | RHP | 79.3 mph |
10 | Julius Christensen | OR | Jesuit | 2024 | OF | 79.3 mph |
Max Fastball Velocity: This metric calculates the speed of the pitch as it’s released from the pitcher’s hand.
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Kheller Larson | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | SS | 2365 rpm |
2 | Cameron Ames | OR | Central Catholic | 2024 | 3B | 2257 rpm |
3 | Julius Christensen | OR | Jesuit | 2024 | OF | 2088 rpm |
4 | Alex Lopez | OR | Sam Barlow | 2024 | 1B | 2079 rpm |
5 | Quintin Esmay | OR | Canby | 2024 | RHP | 1945 rpm |
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.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Quintin Esmay | OR | Canby | 2024 | RHP | 23.9 in |
2 | Brandon Goodell | OR | Tualatin | 2024 | LHP | 21.5 in |
3 | Brock Brenton | OR | Tualatin | 2024 | 2B | 19.9 in |
4 | Glen Maduro III | OR | Tualatin | 2024 | 1B | 19.6 in |
5 | Kheller Larson | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | SS | 17.7 in |
6 | Cooper Adams | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | LHP | 16.9 in |
7 | Tanner Ellis | OR | Mountain View | 2024 | RHP | 16.0 in |
8 | Alex Lopez | OR | Sam Barlow | 2024 | 1B | 15.6 in |
9 | Jonathan Fitzpatrick | OR | Pleasant Hill | 2024 | 3B | 15.6 in |
10 | Jaxson Bowen | OR | Sherwood | 2024 | RHP | 13.6 in |
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.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Blake Thomas | OR | La Salle Catholic | 2024 | RHP | 14.1 |
2 | Cooper Adams | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | LHP | -13.6 |
3 | Hudson Normand | OR | Clackamas | 2024 | RHP | 13.5 |
4 | Julius Christensen | OR | Jesuit | 2024 | OF | -13.4 |
5 | Brock Brenton | OR | Tualatin | 2024 | 2B | 13.1 |
6 | Tanner Ellis | OR | Mountain View | 2024 | RHP | 12.2 |
7 | Kheller Larson | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | SS | 10.7 |
8 | Elijah Breault | OR | Century | 2024 | 3B | 10.5 |
9 | Jaxson Bowen | OR | Sherwood | 2024 | RHP | 10.3 |
10 | Glen Maduro III | OR | Tualatin | 2024 | 1B | 9.8 |
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 RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Jaxson Bowen | OR | Sherwood | 2024 | RHP | 68 % |
2 | Hudson Normand | OR | Clackamas | 2024 | RHP | 68 % |
3 | Brock Brenton | OR | Tualatin | 2024 | 2B | 63 % |
4 | Alex Lopez | OR | Sam Barlow | 2024 | 1B | 62 % |
5 | Cooper Adams | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | LHP | 58 % |
6 | Tanner Ellis | OR | Mountain View | 2024 | RHP | 54 % |
7 | Elijah Breault | OR | Century | 2024 | 3B | 53 % |
8 | Brandon Goodell | OR | Tualatin | 2024 | LHP | 52 % |
9 | Kheller Larson | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | SS | 50 % |
10 | Quintin Esmay | OR | Canby | 2024 | RHP | 47 % |
Average MLB pitchers throw 62% strikes, and better pitchers throw strikes 65% of the time, or roughly 2:1 strikes to balls.
CURVEBALL
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Jonathan Fitzpatrick | OR | Pleasant Hill | 2024 | 3B | 2122 rpm |
2 | Blake Thomas | OR | La Salle Catholic | 2024 | RHP | 2101 rpm |
3 | Tanner Ellis | OR | Mountain View | 2024 | RHP | 2079 rpm |
4 | Jaxson Bowen | OR | Sherwood | 2024 | RHP | 2026 rpm |
5 | Brock Brenton | OR | Tualatin | 2024 | 2B | 2003 rpm |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Elijah Breault | OR | Century | 2024 | 3B | -10.9 in |
2 | Hudson Normand | OR | Clackamas | 2024 | RHP | -8.1 in |
3 | Blake Thomas | OR | La Salle Catholic | 2024 | RHP | -6.6 in |
4 | Cooper Adams | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | LHP | 6.6 in |
5 | Brock Brenton | OR | Tualatin | 2024 | 2B | -4.9 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Blake Thomas | OR | La Salle Catholic | 2024 | RHP | -16.6 |
2 | Elijah Breault | OR | Century | 2024 | 3B | -14.8 |
3 | Jaxson Bowen | OR | Sherwood | 2024 | RHP | -12.2 |
4 | Jonathan Fitzpatrick | OR | Pleasant Hill | 2024 | 3B | -11.4 |
5 | Hudson Normand | OR | Clackamas | 2024 | RHP | -10.4 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Quintin Esmay | OR | Canby | 2024 | RHP | 66 % |
2 | Alex Lopez | OR | Sam Barlow | 2024 | 1B | 57 % |
3 | Blake Thomas | OR | La Salle Catholic | 2024 | RHP | 50 % |
^ | Brock Brenton | OR | Tualatin | 2024 | 2B | 50 % |
^ | Jonathan Fitzpatrick | OR | Pleasant Hill | 2024 | 3B | 50 % |
SLIDER
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Kheller Larson | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | SS | 2264 |
2 | Quintin Esmay | OR | Canby | 2024 | RHP | 2076 |
3 | Elijah Rasco | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | RHP | 1988 |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Brandon Goodell | OR | Tualatin | 2024 | LHP | 19.7 in |
2 | Elijah Rasco | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | RHP | 9.8 in |
3 | Jaxson Bowen | OR | Sherwood | 2024 | RHP | 8.9 in |
4 | Julius Christensen | OR | Jesuit | 2024 | OF | 5.4 in |
5 | Kheller Larson | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | SS | 4.3 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Jaxson Bowen | OR | Sherwood | 2024 | RHP | -10.3 |
2 | Brandon Goodell | OR | Tualatin | 2024 | LHP | -5.8 |
3 | Kheller Larson | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | SS | -5.6 |
4 | Cameron Ames | OR | Central Catholic | 2024 | 3B | -4.5 |
5 | Quintin Esmay | OR | Canby | 2024 | RHP | -3.6 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Brandon Goodell | OR | Tualatin | 2024 | LHP | 100 % |
2 | Quintin Esmay | OR | Canby | 2024 | RHP | 66 % |
^ | Elijah Rasco | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | RHP | 66 % |
3 | Jaxson Bowen | OR | Sherwood | 2024 | RHP | 63 % |
4 | Julius Christensen | OR | Jesuit | 2024 | OF | 58 % |
5 | Cameron Ames | OR | Central Catholic | 2024 | 3B | 40 % |
CHANGEUP
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Brock Brenton | OR | Tualatin | 2024 | 2B | 16.0 |
2 | Julius Christensen | OR | Jesuit | 2024 | OF | -14.5 |
3 | Jaxson Bowen | OR | Sherwood | 2024 | RHP | 12.2 |
4 | Cameron Ames | OR | Central Catholic | 2024 | 3B | 12.0 |
5 | Blake Thomas | OR | La Salle Catholic | 2024 | RHP | 8.5 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Alex Lopez | OR | Sam Barlow | 2024 | 1B | 100 % |
^ | Julius Christensen | OR | Jesuit | 2024 | OF | 100 % |
^ | Cameron Ames | OR | Central Catholic | 2024 | 3B | 100 % |
2 | Hudson Normand | OR | Clackamas | 2024 | RHP | 60 % |
3 | Tanner Ellis | OR | Mountain View | 2024 | RHP | 50 % |
^ | Cooper Adams | OR | Wilsonville | 2024 | LHP | 50 % |
+ CLICK HERE for a look at the complete statistics from the event.
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