Western Wisconsin Open: Pitcher Data Dive
August 15, 2023
On July 18th, PBR Wisconsin hosted the Western Wisconsin Open at Carson Park in Eau Claire, WI. Around 30 players made it out to this event, providing us with updated looks and a new list of prospects to follow in an area of Wisconsin that regularly produces some of the state’s top talent. As we begin to dissect the data and our own scouting reports recorded at this event, we’ll begin to publish our findings, including within stories like Quick Hits and our Statistical Analysis, featuring some of the most notable takeaways from the showcase.
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
Giles Groothousen
WI
Flambeau
2024
RHP
88.1 mph
2
Cooper Jesperson
WI
Eau Claire Memorial
2025
RHP
85.2 mph
3
Aaron Schwechler
WI
Hudson
2024
LHP
84.9 mph
4
Carter Gunderson
WI
Eleva-Strum
2024
RHP
84.7 mph
5
Jake Bjerke
WI
Eleva-Strum
2024
3B
84.2 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
Aaron Schwechler
WI
Hudson
2024
LHP
2589 rpm
2
Cooper Jesperson
WI
Eau Claire Memorial
2025
RHP
2516 rpm
3
Giles Groothousen
WI
Flambeau
2024
RHP
2386 rpm
4
Caden Pierzina
WI
Onalaska
2024
RHP
2277 rpm
5
Jake Bjerke
WI
Eleva-Strum
2024
3B
2209 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
Owen Treanor
WI
Onalaska
2024
LHP
19.6 in
2
Carter Gunderson
WI
Eleva-Strum
2024
RHP
18.1 in
3
Chase Watkins
WI
Eau Claire North
2024
RHP
17.5 in
4
Chase Williams
WI
Eau Claire North
2024
3B
16.3 in
5
Bennett Burke
WI
IMG Academy
2025
OF
15.6 in
6
Caden Pierzina
WI
Onalaska
2024
RHP
15.5 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
Brady Johnson
WI
Eau Claire Memorial
2025
RHP
18.7
2
Jake Bjerke
WI
Eleva-Strum
2024
3B
12.9
3
Blake Haun
WI
Tomah
2026
OF
-12.6
4
Aaron Schwechler
WI
Hudson
2024
LHP
-11.8
5
Owen Treanor
WI
Onalaska
2024
LHP
-11.7
6
Brady Schmidt
WI
Stratford
2024
RHP
11.7
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
Kellen Smith
WI
Altoona
2025
OF
100 %
2
Caden Pierzina
WI
Onalaska
2024
RHP
80 %
3
Brody Roach
WI
Hayward
2024
RHP
66 %
^
Giles Groothousen
WI
Flambeau
2024
RHP
66 %
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
Aaron Schwechler
WI
Hudson
2024
LHP
2436 rpm
2
Caden Pierzina
WI
Onalaska
2024
RHP
2277 rpm
3
Chase Watkins
WI
Eau Claire North
2024
RHP
2267 rpm
4
Kellen Smith
WI
Altoona
2025
OF
2250 rpm
5
Bennett Burke
WI
IMG Academy
2025
OF
2243 rpm
6
Blake Haun
WI
Tomah
2026
OF
2220 rpm
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
IVB (avg)
1
Chase Williams
WI
Eau Claire North
2024
3B
-14.1 in
2
Aaron Schwechler
WI
Hudson
2024
LHP
-13.0 in
3
Giles Groothousen
WI
Flambeau
2024
RHP
-12.7 in
4
Jake Bjerke
WI
Eleva-Strum
2024
3B
-11.3 in
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
HM (avg)
1
Chase Williams
WI
Eau Claire North
2024
3B
-20.9
2
Aaron Schwechler
WI
Hudson
2024
LHP
15.3
3
Bennett Burke
WI
IMG Academy
2025
OF
12.1
4
Giles Groothousen
WI
Flambeau
2024
RHP
-12.0
5
Jake Bjerke
WI
Eleva-Strum
2024
3B
-12.0
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Zone %
1
Owen Treanor
WI
Onalaska
2024
LHP
80 %
2
Brady Schmidt
WI
Stratford
2024
RHP
75 %
3
Chase Williams
WI
Eau Claire North
2024
3B
60 %
^
Chase Watkins
WI
Eau Claire North
2024
RHP
60 %
^
Jude Anderson
WI
Holmen
2025
2B
60 %
SLIDER
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Spin Rate (avg)
1
Jake Bjerke
WI
Eleva-Strum
2024
3B
2560
2
Cooper Jesperson
WI
Eau Claire Memorial
2025
RHP
2391
3
Caden Pierzina
WI
Onalaska
2024
RHP
2228
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
IVB (avg)
1
Aaron Schwechler
WI
Hudson
2024
LHP
-7.6 in
2
Jake Bjerke
WI
Eleva-Strum
2024
3B
-6.2 in
3
Jude Anderson
WI
Holmen
2025
2B
-4.2 in
4
Cooper Jesperson
WI
Eau Claire Memorial
2025
RHP
-2.0 in
5
Caden Pierzina
WI
Onalaska
2024
RHP
1.0 in
6
Brady Johnson
WI
Eau Claire Memorial
2025
RHP
0.2 in
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
HM (avg)
1
Brady Johnson
WI
Eau Claire Memorial
2025
RHP
-20.7
2
Aaron Schwechler
WI
Hudson
2024
LHP
19.8
3
Cooper Jesperson
WI
Eau Claire Memorial
2025
RHP
-16.0
4
Jake Bjerke
WI
Eleva-Strum
2024
3B
-13.4
5
Caden Pierzina
WI
Onalaska
2024
RHP
-12.0
6
Jude Anderson
WI
Holmen
2025
2B
-5.4
CHANGEUP
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
HM (avg)
1
Aaron Schwechler
WI
Hudson
2024
LHP
-21.3
2
Chase Williams
WI
Eau Claire North
2024
3B
18.2
3
Owen Treanor
WI
Onalaska
2024
LHP
-16.6
4
Brady Johnson
WI
Eau Claire Memorial
2025
RHP
15.4
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Zone %
1
Caden Pierzina
WI
Onalaska
2024
RHP
75 %
2
Aaron Schwechler
WI
Hudson
2024
LHP
66 %
3
Bennett Burke
WI
IMG Academy
2025
OF
60 %
4
Blake Haun
WI
Tomah
2026
OF
50 %
+ CLICK HERE for a look at the complete statistics from the event.
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