Medicine Hat Preseason ID: Pitching Data Dive
April 17, 2024
On Sunday, April 14th the Prep Baseball Alberta staff hosted it's second Preseason ID of the year with the Medicine Hat Preseason ID at The Mavericks Athletic Club in Medicine Hat, Alberta. This event featured 13 players from the area within the 2025 - 2028 classes and allowed our staff an opportunity to get an up-close look at the prospects, as well as collect updates metrics and data for player profiles.
Preseason ID events allow our staff to see players ahead of their outdoor season and helps us identify players to select for our three Future Games teams (Future Games, Senior Future Games and Jr. Future Games), West Coast Games and more.
Earlier this week we began our post-event coverage within our Statistical Analysis article. Today we'll take a deeper dive into all of the data we collected from the event within this article as we provide leaderboards on each metric collected on TrackMan during bullpens at the event.
For complete event results, click here.
To view upcoming events, click here.
FASTBALL
MAX VELOCITY (MPH)
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Velocity (max) |
| 1 | Ryler Straarup | AB | Medicine Hat high school | 2025 | 3B | 82.5 mph |
| 2 | Riley Tweten | AB | South Central High School | 2026 | RHP | 78.6 mph |
| 3 | Ty Meyer | AB | Eagle Butte | 2026 | C | 74.5 mph |
| 4 | Liam Cunningham | MS | MCCOMB HIGH SCHOOL | 2027 | RHP | 72.3 mph |
| 5 | Nixon Kunkel | AB | Monsignor McCoy | 2027 | RHP | 71.7 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 | Liam Cunningham | MS | MCCOMB HIGH SCHOOL | 2027 | RHP | 2056 rpm |
| 2 | Riley Tweten | AB | South Central High School | 2026 | RHP | 2050 rpm |
| 3 | Ryler Straarup | AB | Medicine Hat high school | 2025 | 3B | 2013 rpm |
| 4 | Jayden Mook | MS | 2026 | RHP | 2012 rpm | |
| 5 | Nixon Kunkel | AB | Monsignor McCoy | 2027 | RHP | 1992 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 | Ryan Ziebart | AB | Notre Dame Academy | 2027 | RHP | 17.1 in |
| 2 | Nixon Kunkel | AB | Monsignor McCoy | 2027 | RHP | 17.0 in |
| 3 | Liam Cunningham | MS | MCCOMB HIGH SCHOOL | 2027 | RHP | 15.9 in |
| 4 | Jayden Mook | MS | 2026 | RHP | 15.8 in | |
| 5 | Ty Meyer | AB | Eagle Butte | 2026 | C | 14.9 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 | Hudson Gross | AB | Notre Dame Academy | 2028 | RHP | 17.8 |
| 2 | Riley Tweten | AB | South Central High School | 2026 | RHP | 12.3 |
| 3 | Liam Cunningham | MS | MCCOMB HIGH SCHOOL | 2027 | RHP | 12.1 |
| 4 | Nixon Kunkel | AB | Monsignor McCoy | 2027 | RHP | 11.9 |
| 5 | Ryan Ziebart | AB | Notre Dame Academy | 2027 | RHP | 9.6 |
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 | Riley Tweten | AB | South Central High School | 2026 | RHP | 83 % |
| 2 | Hudson Gross | AB | Notre Dame Academy | 2028 | RHP | 60 % |
| 3 | Ty Meyer | AB | Eagle Butte | 2026 | C | 50 % |
| ^ | Liam Cunningham | MS | MCCOMB HIGH SCHOOL | 2027 | RHP | 50 % |
| ^ | Ryan Ziebart | AB | Notre Dame Academy | 2027 | RHP | 50 % |
CURVEBALL
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
| 1 | Ty Meyer | AB | Eagle Butte | 2026 | C | 2045 rpm |
| 2 | Jayden Mook | MS | 2026 | RHP | 2042 rpm | |
| 3 | Riley Tweten | AB | South Central High School | 2026 | RHP | 1975 rpm |
| 4 | Ryler Straarup | AB | Medicine Hat high school | 2025 | 3B | 1949 rpm |
| 5 | Ryan Ziebart | AB | Notre Dame Academy | 2027 | RHP | 1914 rpm |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
| 1 | Ryler Straarup | AB | Medicine Hat high school | 2025 | 3B | -8.1 in |
| 2 | Liam Cunningham | MS | MCCOMB HIGH SCHOOL | 2027 | RHP | -6.9 in |
| 3 | Riley Tweten | AB | South Central High School | 2026 | RHP | -6.7 in |
| 4 | Jayden Mook | MS | 2026 | RHP | -4.9 in | |
| 5 | Ty Meyer | AB | Eagle Butte | 2026 | C | 0.6 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
| 1 | Jayden Mook | MS | 2026 | RHP | -14.3 | |
| 2 | Ty Meyer | AB | Eagle Butte | 2026 | C | -12.6 |
| 3 | Ryler Straarup | AB | Medicine Hat high school | 2025 | 3B | -12.3 |
| 4 | Liam Cunningham | MS | MCCOMB HIGH SCHOOL | 2027 | RHP | -9.2 |
| 5 | Riley Tweten | AB | South Central High School | 2026 | RHP | -4.9 |
SLIDER
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
| 1 | Nixon Kunkel | AB | Monsignor McCoy | 2027 | RHP | 2027 |
| 2 | Ryler Straarup | AB | Medicine Hat high school | 2025 | 3B | 2008 |
| 3 | Ryan Ziebart | AB | Notre Dame Academy | 2027 | RHP | 1864 |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
| 1 | Nixon Kunkel | AB | Monsignor McCoy | 2027 | RHP | 12.8 in |
| 2 | Ryler Straarup | AB | Medicine Hat high school | 2025 | 3B | -7.2 in |
| 3 | Ryan Ziebart | AB | Notre Dame Academy | 2027 | RHP | 5.8 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
| 1 | Ryler Straarup | AB | Medicine Hat high school | 2025 | 3B | -16.5 |
| 2 | Nixon Kunkel | AB | Monsignor McCoy | 2027 | RHP | 13.7 |
| 3 | Ryan Ziebart | AB | Notre Dame Academy | 2027 | RHP | 1.1 |
CHANGEUP
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
| 1 | Nixon Kunkel | AB | Monsignor McCoy | 2027 | RHP | 17.2 |
| 2 | Jayden Mook | MS | 2026 | RHP | 16.8 | |
| 3 | Riley Tweten | AB | South Central High School | 2026 | RHP | 16.7 |
| 4 | Ryler Straarup | AB | Medicine Hat high school | 2025 | 3B | 11.3 |
| 5 | Ryan Ziebart | AB | Notre Dame Academy | 2027 | RHP | 10.7 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
| 1 | Nixon Kunkel | AB | Monsignor McCoy | 2027 | RHP | 80 % |
| 2 | Ryler Straarup | AB | Medicine Hat high school | 2025 | 3B | 50 % |
| ^ | Ryan Ziebart | AB | Notre Dame Academy | 2027 | RHP | 50 % |
UPCOMING EVENTS
| SHOWCASE | STATE | DATE | LOCATION |
| 2024 Calgary Future Games Trials | AB | 04/17 | Dunvernay Fielhouse |
| 2024 18U Best of the West | AB | 05/01 | Norbrock Stadium (Kamloops, BC) |
| 2024 15U Best of the West | AB | 05/01 | Norbrock Stadium (Kamloops, BC) |
| 2024 Calgary Blues Scout Day | AB | 05/10 | Optimist Athletic Park |
| 2024 Black Gold 47s Scout Day | AB | 05/15 | Turf Training Centre |
| 2024 Calgary Summer ID | AB | 06/26 | Webber Academy Athletic Park |
| 2024 New England Academic Games (Invite Only) | AB | 07/09 | Yale |
| Future Games (Class of 2026/27) | NATIONAL | 07/24 | LakePoint Sports |
| Junior Future Games (Class of 2028/29) | NATIONAL | 07/24 | LakePoint Sports |
| Senior Future Games (Class of 2025) | NATIONAL | 07/24 | LakePoint Sports |
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