SARALAND, AL - The South AL Preseason All-State was held on Sunday, January 7th at Saraland High School in Saraland, AL. This event was an invite-only event that consisted of some of the top prospects from the 2024-2028 classes. These players went through extended pro-style workout that included batting practice using Trackman and Blast Motion, ran the 60 yard dash using Swift Performance, and much more. Pitchers were able to throw in simulated bullpens during the workout and were able to get numbers and metrics off of our Trackman unit, such as pitch velocity, spin rate, horizontal & vertical movement & much more. There were some players who showed up and continued to build off of prior performances, but there were also some new names who jumped onto our radar with a strong showing on Sunday.

Continuing off our post-event coverage for this event, we take a look back at some of the leaders from each statistical category recorded on the Trackman B1 unit. Please continue to check back over the next week, as we will release individual scouting reports on each player present at the event. 

View entire event stats HERE.

MAX FASTBALL & AVERAGE 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.

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AVERAGE INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK

Induced Vertical Break: As far as deception and importance goes, fast induced vertical break (IVB) may be the most important. Induced vertical break is not what is sounds. IVB simply means the pitch is "breaking" upward from the average level a pitch falls from release to home plate. This is a stat that you want to stay away from being average at. Fortunately, this can be tweaked slightly depending on release height. To put it simply, the higher number = more "rise" the pitch has compared to average. 

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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.”

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AVERAGE CURVEBALL SPIN RATE

Spin Rate: The metric calculates how fast the ball is spinning as it leaves the pitcher’s hand, reported in the number of times the pitched ball would spin per minute (“revolutions per minute” or “rpm”).

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AVERAGE SLIDER SPIN RATE

Spin Rate: The metric calculates how fast the ball is spinning as it leaves the pitcher’s hand, reported in the number of times the pitched ball would spin per minute (“revolutions per minute” or “rpm”).

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AVERAGE CHANGEUP HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT

Horizontal Break: This metric measures the distance, 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.

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PEAK EXIT VELOCITY (HITTING)

Exit Velocity: This metric measures the speed of the ball, measured in miles per hour, as it comes off the bat at the moment of contact.

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PEAK ESTIMATED BATTED DISTANCE (HITTING)

Distance: This metric measures the estimated “carry flat” distance, measured in feet, meaning the distance that the ball travels before it lands, or would have landed if it were not caught or obstructed. 

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