Chicagoland Open: Trackman Files

On Sunday, August 22, the PBR Illinois scouting staff hosted the ninth annual Chicagoland Open at Triton College in River Grove, IL. Roughly 80+ prospects attended and provided our staff with an up-to-date look at their particular skill-sets or, for some, a first glance at the talents they bring to the baseball field.

Yesterday our scouting staff collaborated to provide you with our Quick Hits piece, highlighting several standout performances of the day. Earlier today, we started our dive into the data side of things by looking at those who topped our traditional leaderboards from Sunday's showcases, which you can find by clicking HERE.

Today, we’re continuing our post-event analysis by examining the data measured by our TrackMan units. The technology is able to capture information that’s difficult to capture by the naked eye, like pitch-by-pitch metrics and batted-ball data. We’ll explain more below:

MAX FASTBALL & 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 this showcase, CLICK HERE.

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