West Milwaukee Preseason I.D.: TrackMan Files
February 24, 2021
On Feb. 21, the PBR Wisconsin team hosted its second event of 2021, the West Milwaukee Preseason I.D., at STiKS Academy in Waukesha, Wis. This was an open event for all high school classes (2021-24), and gave our staff an ample look at the area's top players.
If you missed us in Waukesha, check out our showcase page to see when we’re in the neighborhood next.
On Monday, we published our biggest takeaways and highlights from Sunday’s showcase within our Quick Hits story. Tuesday, we started to analyze the statistical side of things, and we published the leaderboards from the traditional stats gathered here. Today, with the help of our TrackMan unit, we're diving a little deeper into the data to see what we can find.
MAX FASTBALL VELOCITY & PEak SPIN RATE
Max Fastball Velocity: This metric calculates the speed of the pitch as it’s released from the pitcher’s hand.
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.
AVERAGE FASTBALL HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT
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.”
AVERAGE SLIDER SPIN RATE
AVERAGE CURVEBALL SPIN RATE
AVERAGE CHANGEUP HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT
AVERAGE EXIT VELOCITY (HITTING)
Exit Speed: Also according to TrackMan’s own website: “The speed of the ball, measured in miles per hour, as it comes off the bat at the moment of contact.”
PEAK EXIT VELOCITY (HITTING)
PEAK ESTIMATED BATTED DISTANCE (HITTING)
For a complete look at each of the statistics measured at Sunday's showcase, click here.