On Tuesday, July 18th the PBR Illinois team hosted the Central Illinois Open at the Corn Crib in Normal, IL. This open event was for all high school classes (2024-27), and gave our staff a chance to get a look at 80+ 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.

Friday, we took a closer look at some of the immediate standouts who caught our attention with our Quick Hits and 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	Samuel McArthur	IL	Champaign Central	2024	RHP	87.7 mph
2	Joseph Stewart	IL	Mattoon	2025	RHP	87.2 mph
3	Mason Orton	IL	Mahomet-Seymour	2025	LHP	85.7 mph
4	Chance Payne	IL	Mount Pulaski	2025	1B	84.1 mph
5	Cooper Eggert	IL	Providence Catholic	2025	RHP	83.5 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	Mason Vandegraft	IL	El Paso Gridley	2025	RHP	2208 rpm
2	Levi Hoagland	IL	A-C Central	2026	RHP	2201 rpm
3	Eli Giganti	IL	University	2024	RHP	2175 rpm
4	Jack Roessler	IL	Waterloo	2024	RHP	2165 rpm
5	Samuel McArthur	IL	Champaign Central	2024	RHP	2147 rpm
6	Cooper Eggert	IL	Providence Catholic	2025	RHP	2143 rpm
7	Tanner Rogers	IL	Monmouth United	2025	LHP	2052 rpm
8	Mason Orton	IL	Mahomet-Seymour	2025	LHP	2033 rpm
9	Miles Leman	IL	Morton	2025	RHP	2024 rpm
10	Brooks Neuhoff	FL	IMG ACADEMY	2024	3B	2003 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.)

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.)

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%

Average MLB pitchers throw 62% strikes, and better pitchers throw strikes 65% of the time, or roughly 2:1 strikes to balls.

 

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CURVEBALL

SPIN RATE (AVG.)

INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

 

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SLIDER

SPIN RATE (AVG.)

INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

 

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CHANGEUP

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

+ CLICK HERE for a look at the complete statistics from the event.

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