Chicagoland Open: Pitching Data Dive
June 19, 2023
On Tuesday, June 13th the PBR Illinois team hosted the Chicagoland Open at Triton College in River Grove, IL. This open event was for all high school classes (2024-27), and gave our staff a chance to get a look at 30+ uncommitted prospects before the summer gets into full swing.
For a closer look at the showcase details and the technologies we'll have on-site to assist our in-person evaluation for all in attendance, click here. For a complete look at those registered to attend this event, view the most up-to-date version of the roster by clicking here.
Yesterday, we published our Quick Hits. Yesterday, we published our Statistical Analysis, where we broke down the stat leaders from the more traditional categories. Today, 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 | Josh Efflandt | IL | Wauconda | 2024 | RHP | 88.6 mph |
2 | Owen Novak | IL | Lincoln-Way Central | 2026 | RHP | 83.2 mph |
3 | Ben Fawcett | IL | Stevenson | 2024 | RHP | 82.4 mph |
4 | Justin Garcia Hernandez | IL | St. Patrick | 2025 | OF | 82.4 mph |
5 | Mason Monce | IL | Wheaton Warrenville South | 2025 | C | 81.9 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
Josh Colaizzi
IL
Bartlett
2026
OF
2196 rpm
2
Josh Efflandt
IL
Wauconda
2024
RHP
2164 rpm
3
Ben Fawcett
IL
Stevenson
2024
RHP
2157 rpm
4
Owen Novak
IL
Lincoln-Way Central
2026
RHP
2144 rpm
5
justin bradley
IL
De La Salle
2024
SS
1984 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
Josh Efflandt
IL
Wauconda
2024
RHP
16.1 in
2
Sean Dabe
IL
Huntley High School
2027
SS
15.6 in
3
Ben Fawcett
IL
Stevenson
2024
RHP
14.2 in
4
Diego Herrera
IL
Huntley High School
2026
2B
13.2 in
5
Weston Spreng
WI
Sussex Hamilton
2025
2B
13.2 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
Owen Novak
IL
Lincoln-Way Central
2026
RHP
13.0
2
Weston Spreng
WI
Sussex Hamilton
2025
2B
10.9
3
Mason Monce
IL
Wheaton Warrenville South
2025
C
9.2
4
Ethan Hibicke
WI
Sussex Hamilton
2025
1B
9.1
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
Justin Garcia Hernandez
IL
St. Patrick
2025
OF
100 %
2
Ethan Hibicke
WI
Sussex Hamilton
2025
1B
83 %
3
Mason Monce
IL
Wheaton Warrenville South
2025
C
60 %
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
Darren Law
IL
Oak Park-River Forest
2026
RHP
2582 rpm
2
Ben Fawcett
IL
Stevenson
2024
RHP
2355 rpm
3
Josh Colaizzi
IL
Bartlett
2026
OF
2352 rpm
4
Josh Efflandt
IL
Wauconda
2024
RHP
2214 rpm
5
justin bradley
IL
De La Salle
2024
SS
2137 rpm
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
IVB (avg)
1
Darren Law
IL
Oak Park-River Forest
2026
RHP
-18.3 in
2
Ethan Hibicke
WI
Sussex Hamilton
2025
1B
-18.0 in
3
Josh Efflandt
IL
Wauconda
2024
RHP
-12.0 in
4
Josh Colaizzi
IL
Bartlett
2026
OF
-11.4 in
5
Tommy Mitchell
IL
Loyola Academy
2026
RHP
-9.8 in
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
HM (avg)
1
Sean Dabe
IL
Huntley High School
2027
SS
-16.4
2
Ben Fawcett
IL
Stevenson
2024
RHP
-15.7
3
Josh Colaizzi
IL
Bartlett
2026
OF
-14.0
4
Isaac Beenders
IL
Morton High School
2026
OF
-13.2
5
Mathiu Jadrych
IN
Bishop Noll
2024
RHP
-12.5
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Zone %
1
Ben Fawcett
IL
Stevenson
2024
RHP
80 %
2
Justin Garcia Hernandez
IL
St. Patrick
2025
OF
60 %
^
Diego Herrera
IL
Huntley High School
2026
2B
60 %
SLIDER
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Spin Rate (avg)
1
Josh Colaizzi
IL
Bartlett
2026
OF
2518
2
Darren Law
IL
Oak Park-River Forest
2026
RHP
2484
3
justin bradley
IL
De La Salle
2024
SS
2244
4
Owen Novak
IL
Lincoln-Way Central
2026
RHP
2138
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
IVB (avg)
1
Darren Law
IL
Oak Park-River Forest
2026
RHP
-14.4 in
2
Isaac Beenders
IL
Morton High School
2026
OF
-9.1 in
3
Josh Colaizzi
IL
Bartlett
2026
OF
-7.7 in
4
Tommy Mitchell
IL
Loyola Academy
2026
RHP
-7.0 in
5
Owen Novak
IL
Lincoln-Way Central
2026
RHP
-6.2 in
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
HM (avg)
1
Darren Law
IL
Oak Park-River Forest
2026
RHP
-22.1
2
Isaac Beenders
IL
Morton High School
2026
OF
-16.4
3
Mathiu Jadrych
IN
Bishop Noll
2024
RHP
-13.5
4
Josh Colaizzi
IL
Bartlett
2026
OF
-13.4
5
justin bradley
IL
De La Salle
2024
SS
-11.5
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Zone %
1
Mason Monce
IL
Wheaton Warrenville South
2025
C
75 %
2
Sean Dabe
IL
Huntley High School
2027
SS
50 %
CHANGEUP
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
HM (avg)
1
Ethan Hibicke
WI
Sussex Hamilton
2025
1B
11.5
2
Owen Novak
IL
Lincoln-Way Central
2026
RHP
10.9
3
Weston Spreng
WI
Sussex Hamilton
2025
2B
10.5
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Zone %
1
justin bradley
IL
De La Salle
2024
SS
75 %
^
Mason Monce
IL
Wheaton Warrenville South
2025
C
75 %
2
Sean Dabe
IL
Huntley High School
2027
SS
66 %
+ CLICK HERE for a look at the complete statistics from the event.