2024 Top Prospect Games: Pitching Data Dive
June 16, 2023
On June 12th, the PBR Arizona staff hosted the 2024 Top Prospect Games at Milwaukee Brewers Complex in Phoenix, Arizona. This event featured around 41 prospects with uncommitted talent everywhere and allowed our staff an opportunity to get an in-depth look at the players in attendance.
Today we'll start our deep dive into the data collected at this event within this Pitching Data Dive story. Over the next couple of days we’ll be diving deeper into all of the data we collected rolling out even more coverage from the event.
For complete event results, click here.
To view upcoming event schedule, click here.
FASTBALL
MAX VELOCITY (MPH)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Velocity (max) |
1 | Gunnar Penzkover | AZ | Northwest Christian | 2024 | OF | 88.1 mph |
2 | Kyle Pettigrew | AZ | Desert Mountain | 2024 | 3B | 87.8 mph |
3 | Jacob Croxford | AZ | Liberty | 2024 | OF | 86.9 mph |
4 | Wyatt Schottel | AZ | Cactus Shadows | 2024 | LHP | 86.7 mph |
5 | Jordan Touhey | AZ | Poston Butte | 2024 | RHP | 86.7 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 | Jacob Croxford | AZ | Liberty | 2024 | OF | 2405 rpm |
2 | Gunnar Penzkover | AZ | Northwest Christian | 2024 | OF | 2238 rpm |
3 | Wyatt Schottel | AZ | Cactus Shadows | 2024 | LHP | 2213 rpm |
4 | Jacob Samsing | AZ | Millenium | 2024 | RHP | 2188 rpm |
5 | Kyle Pettigrew | AZ | Desert Mountain | 2024 | 3B | 2172 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 | Noah Andersen | AZ | Thunderbird | 2024 | OF | 18.5 in |
2 | Wyatt Schottel | AZ | Cactus Shadows | 2024 | LHP | 17.6 in |
3 | Christopher Margarella | AZ | Saguaro | 2024 | OF | 17.4 in |
4 | Kaden Major | AZ | Desert Ridge | 2024 | OF | 17.2 in |
5 | Jacob Samsing | AZ | Millenium | 2024 | RHP | 17.0 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 | Gunnar Penzkover | AZ | Northwest Christian | 2024 | OF | 16.1 |
2 | Erik Espinoza | AZ | Phoenix Christian Prep | 2024 | RHP | 15.1 |
3 | Jordan Touhey | AZ | Poston Butte | 2024 | RHP | 13.4 |
4 | Wyatt Schottel | AZ | Cactus Shadows | 2024 | LHP | -11.9 |
5 | Aiden Wood | AZ | Hamilton | 2024 | OF | -11.1 |
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 | Gunnar Penzkover | AZ | Northwest Christian | 2024 | OF | 75 % |
2 | Kyle Pettigrew | AZ | Desert Mountain | 2024 | 3B | 73 % |
3 | Jordan Touhey | AZ | Poston Butte | 2024 | RHP | 64 % |
4 | Jacob Samsing | AZ | Millenium | 2024 | RHP | 62 % |
5 | Erik Espinoza | AZ | Phoenix Christian Prep | 2024 | RHP | 54 % |
CURVEBALL
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Jacob Samsing | AZ | Millenium | 2024 | RHP | 2141 rpm |
2 | Noah Andersen | AZ | Thunderbird | 2024 | OF | 2007 rpm |
3 | Wyatt Schottel | AZ | Cactus Shadows | 2024 | LHP | 1881 rpm |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Noah Andersen | AZ | Thunderbird | 2024 | OF | -15.4 in |
2 | Jacob Samsing | AZ | Millenium | 2024 | RHP | -15.0 in |
3 | Wyatt Schottel | AZ | Cactus Shadows | 2024 | LHP | 6.5 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Jacob Samsing | AZ | Millenium | 2024 | RHP | -11.4 |
2 | Wyatt Schottel | AZ | Cactus Shadows | 2024 | LHP | 5.9 |
3 | Noah Andersen | AZ | Thunderbird | 2024 | OF | -1.8 |
SLIDER
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Jacob Croxford | AZ | Liberty | 2024 | OF | 2561 |
2 | Jordan Touhey | AZ | Poston Butte | 2024 | RHP | 2458 |
3 | Gunnar Penzkover | AZ | Northwest Christian | 2024 | OF | 2213 |
4 | Kaden Major | AZ | Desert Ridge | 2024 | OF | 2139 |
5 | Christopher Margarella | AZ | Saguaro | 2024 | OF | 2126 |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Jacob Croxford | AZ | Liberty | 2024 | OF | -9.5 in |
2 | Christopher Margarella | AZ | Saguaro | 2024 | OF | -9.2 in |
3 | Jordan Touhey | AZ | Poston Butte | 2024 | RHP | -7.6 in |
4 | Wyatt Schottel | AZ | Cactus Shadows | 2024 | LHP | 7.4 in |
5 | Kaden Major | AZ | Desert Ridge | 2024 | OF | -6.8 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Christopher Margarella | AZ | Saguaro | 2024 | OF | -17.1 |
2 | Kaden Major | AZ | Desert Ridge | 2024 | OF | -14.7 |
3 | Jordan Touhey | AZ | Poston Butte | 2024 | RHP | -14.5 |
4 | Jacob Croxford | AZ | Liberty | 2024 | OF | -12.5 |
5 | Wyatt Schottel | AZ | Cactus Shadows | 2024 | LHP | 6.7 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Johnny Casale | AZ | Brophy Prep | 2024 | LHP | 66 % |
2 | Kaden Major | AZ | Desert Ridge | 2024 | OF | 50 % |
3 | Jordan Touhey | AZ | Poston Butte | 2024 | RHP | 42 % |
^ | Kyle Pettigrew | AZ | Desert Mountain | 2024 | 3B | 42 % |
CHANGEUP
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Gunnar Penzkover | AZ | Northwest Christian | 2024 | OF | 11.2 |
2 | Erik Espinoza | AZ | Phoenix Christian Prep | 2024 | RHP | 11.2 |
3 | Noah Andersen | AZ | Thunderbird | 2024 | OF | 11.1 |
4 | Wyatt Schottel | AZ | Cactus Shadows | 2024 | LHP | -6.3 |
5 | Jordan Touhey | AZ | Poston Butte | 2024 | RHP | -0.7 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Zone %
1
Aiden Wood
AZ
Hamilton
2024
OF
100 %
^
Jacob Croxford
AZ
Liberty
2024
OF
100 %
2
Gunnar Penzkover
AZ
Northwest Christian
2024
OF
50 %
3
Erik Espinoza
AZ
Phoenix Christian Prep
2024
RHP
25 %
UPCOMING EVENTS
SHOWCASE | STATE | DATE | LOCATION |
Scottsdale Open | AZ | 07/11 | Scottsdale Stadium - Scottsdale, AZ |
PBR Junior Future Games | NATIONAL | 07/25 | LakePoint |
2023 PBR Future Games (Arizona Invite) | AZ | 07/26 | LakePoint Sports - Cartersville, GA |
2023 PBR West Coast Games | AZ | 08/4 | UNLV & College of Southern Nevada |
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- AZ 2024 Future Games: Arizona Stat Leaders 8/04/24
- AZ Junior Future Games: Quick Hits 8/01/24
- AZ Arizona Commitment Board: 2024 Class 8/01/24
- AZ Future Games: Team Arizona Scouting Notes 7/31/24
- AZ Glendale Summer ID: Pitching Data Dive 7/19/24
- AZ Glendale Summer ID: Positional Data Dive 7/18/24