Welcome to the hitting side of Trackman Traits! We have covered the pitching side of the numbers produced by Trackman, now we will take a bit of a dive into the hitting numbers and break down some of the best uncommitted bats from the Garden State. Beyond looking at the Trackman metrics, or result based metrics, we will be highlighting a few Blast Motion metrics to get a better look into how that player's swing is able to produce the results that is does. Today we will be looking at a 2022 C out of Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Chris Smith. Before we get started, we'll go over and define some of the terminology being used in the piece. 

Exit Velocity-  this one's pretty simple but this metric measures the speed of the ball off the bat, measured in miles per hour (MPH).

Distance- another simple one, this metric measures how far the ball traveled or would travel if it was not obstructed, measured in feet.

Launch Angle- measures the vertical angle of the ball as it leaves the bat. Positive numbers represent balls traveling upward off of the bat and negative numbers mean the ball is traveling downward off of the bat. 

Fly Ball %-  Percentage of fly balls hit during a given set of batted ball events. Trackman defines a fly ball as any batted ball with a launch angle between 25 degrees and 49.9 degrees. 

Line Drive%-  Percentage of line drives hit during a given set of batted ball events. Trackman defines a line drive as any batted ball with a launch angle between 10 degrees and 24.9 degrees.

Ground Ball %- Percentage of ground balls hit during a given set of batted ball events. Trackman defines a ground ball as any batted ball with a launch angle below 9.9 degrees. 

Hard Hit%-  Percentage of batted balls with an exit velocity of 90 MPH or higher. 

Bat Speed- The speed of the sweet spot of the bat at impact, measured in MPH. The sweet spot is measured 6 inches from the tip of the bat. - Blast Motion

Hand Speed-  The speed of the handle of the bat just before impact, measured in MPH. The handle us measured 6 inches from the knob of the bat. - Blast Motion

Rotational Acceleration- A measure of how quickly the hitter gets from launch position to being on plane. This is measured in G-Force (g).  - Blast Motion 

On Plane Efficiency %-   A measure of the percentage of your swing that was on the swing plane. -Blast Motion 

 

TRACKMAN DATA ANALYSIS

Exit Velocity- Today. we'll be taking a look at Smith's performance from the 2020 Upperclass Games, where he put on an offensive show. To lead things off, let's start with his max exit velocity. At just about 101 MPH, it's clear Smith is capable of hitting the ball quite hard. He does this on a consistent basis as well, finding his average sitting at 93.41 MPH. He found himself atop the leaderboards in both of those categories for this event, truly standing out as a top offensive performer. 

Batted Ball Percentages- Like mentioned above, Smith does a good job of hitting the ball on the button consistently and another number to back up that claim is his hard hit rate. He hit the ball above 90 MPH 77.8% of the time, making him the top performer in this category by a healthy margin over anyone else who attended this event. He hit fly balls 44.4% of the time, line drives 33.3% of the time and ground balls 22.2% of the time. 

Distance- Thanks to a majority of his batted balls staying off the ground, his average distance was also quite high, finishing second among all players at the event at 256 feet. His furthest hit ball was an absolute tank at 379 feet, the furthest hit ball of the showcase.

BLAST CONNECTION

Smith is able to generate such high exit velocities and power through a very quick bat. We have seen his bat speed climb to nearly 84 MPH this spring, while averaging around 78 MPH. These are both well above average for high school bats and is no doubt a big reason for his pop at the dish.

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