On Feb. 19, the PBR Illinois staff traveled to the Pullman Community Center in Chicago to host the Chicago Preseason ID. This event provided us an ample opportunity to check-in on some of the area’s top high school prospects and identify several new names to know as we prepare for the IHSA season, as well as future invite-only events on the PBR Illinois calendar, like Saturday’s Preseason All-State events. 

Earlier this week we published Quick Hits highlighting the top prospects of the event by class. We also rolled out a Statistical Analysis pointing out the top recorded stats by category.

Now we'll continue to roll out the data we gathered from this event, starting with the analytics we have at our disposal from our TrackMan units. Below we'll look at which players had noteworthy batted ball and pitch metric data.

MAX FASTBALL & PEAK SPIN RATE

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Velocity (max)
1	Owen Ruff	IL	Barrington	2023	RHP	86.5 mph
2	Kenneth Jackson	IL	Simeon	2023	RHP	85.1 mph
3	Mason Lei	IL	Freeport	2023	RHP	84.0 mph
4	Tyler Patterson	IL	Simeon	2023	RHP	82.5 mph
5	Mac Collins	MO	Blue Springs South	2024	RHP	82.2 mph

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Spin Rate (max)
1	Caleb Martinez	IL	Wheeling	2023	RHP	2352 rpm
2	Owen Ruff	IL	Barrington	2023	RHP	2288 rpm
3	Mac Collins	MO	Blue Springs South	2024	RHP	2181 rpm
4	Kenneth Jackson	IL	Simeon	2023	RHP	2156 rpm
5	Mason Lei	IL	Freeport	2023	RHP	2151 rpm
6	Tyler Patterson	IL	Simeon	2023	RHP	2145 rpm
7	Max Pavlik	IL	Hinsdale Central	2023	3B	2124 rpm

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 this showcase, CLICK HERE.

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