Prep Baseball Report

Upperclass Top Prospect Games: Blast Motion Leaderboard


Brett Harrison
Nevada Scouting Director

The annual Upperclass Top Prospect Games is an Invite Only event that featured a group of 60+ standouts from the Scout Day Season earlier this year, giving us an up close look to evaluate the progress made over the past few months as they begin their Summer seasons. This event provided an opportunity players an opportunity to showcases themselves next to similar high caliber players, many uncommitted, with the help of the leading technology in the game with Blast Motion and TrackMan as we also rolling out two new features that will be a fixture at future Prep Baseball Report events in Vizual Edge and Driveline.

Along with the tech, players also received updated metrics during the Pro-Style Workout portion of the event beginning with the Laser Time 60 Yard Dash, Batting Practice, Catcher Evaluations including Pop Times, Velocity, Receiving and Blocking, Outfield Evaluations and Infield Evaluations. 

Today, we take a look at the Blast Motion Leaderboard that highlights the Top In-Swing Metrics collected from the Upperclass Top Prospect Games.

ABOUT BLAST MOTION:

Since the beginning of the summer, one of the important tools Prep Baseball Report has started to implement at its events is the use of Blast Motion sensors. During batting practice, the Blast Motion sensors measure Swing and Impact Metrics across several categories. Swing metrics measure pre-impact mechanics centered around plane, connection, and rotation while Impact metrics measure pre-impact performance outcomes based on ball contact.

HERE ARE THE TOP METRICS OF THE DAY:

Top PEAK Bat Speed: 81.90 mph | Tai Nguyen - 2022 / Bishop Gorman / Yale

Top PEAK Hand Speed: 25.70 mph | Alex Rhynes - 2023 / Centennial / Uncommitted

On-Plane Efficiency: 87% | Devyn Easton-Brooks - 2022 / Damonte Ranch / Uncommitted

Rotational Acceleration: 22.93 g | Caden Hunt - 2023 / Coronado / Uncommitted

Below will you find the swing & impact metrics from the event in four different categories (Top-15 listed):

BAT SPEED:

Bat Speed is the observed speed of the sweet spot of the bat at impact. For more info: Blast Bat Speed 

MLB Avg: 66-78 mph   MiLB: 63-75 mph   College: 66-75 mph

Rank Name State School Class Pos Bat Speed (max)
1 Tai Nguyen NV Bishop Gorman 2022 1B 81.9 mph
2 James Starkus NV Southwest Career & Technical 2023 OF 78.0 mph
3 Kody Bialas NV Palo Verde 2023 3B 76.1 mph
4 Jake Morrison NV Coronado 2023 3B 75.3 mph
5 Alec Vincent NV Palo Verde 2022 C 75.2 mph
6 Ty Silva NV Shadow Ridge 2023 OF 74.9 mph
7 Marcus Matias NV Bishop Gorman 2023 OF 74.2 mph
8 Brett Matson NV Liberty 2022 2B 74.0 mph
9 Easton Shelton NV Bishop Gorman 2023 1B 73.7 mph
^ Lucas Boesen NV Bishop Gorman 2022 RHP 73.7 mph
^ Dallin Smith NV Coronado 2022 C 73.7 mph
10 Alex Rhynes NV Centennial 2023 OF 73.3 mph
11 Kaiden Smaka NV Palo Verde 2022 OF 72.9 mph
12 Dominick Rush NV Liberty 2023 OF 72.4 mph
13 Logan Smith NV Centennial 2023 RHP 72.3 mph
14 Trevor LaPres NV Lake Mead Christian 2023 OF 72.2 mph
^ Aiden Pollock NV Bishop Gorman 2023 OF 72.2 mph
15 Bryce Ferrer-Leo NV Palo Verde 2023 LHP 72.0 mph

PEAK HAND SPEED: 

Peak Hand Speed is the observed maximum speed as measured on the handle of the bat (measured six inches from the knob of the bat). Peak Hand Speed will occur prior to the moment of impact, very close to the commit time in the swing when the wrists unhinge. For more info: Peak Hand Speed

MLB Avg: 23-29 mph MiLB Avg: 22-28 mph College Avg: 21-24 mph

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hand Speed (max)
1 Alex Rhynes NV Centennial 2023 OF 25.7 mph
2 Easton Shelton NV Bishop Gorman 2023 1B 25.2 mph
3 Jackson Sadler NV Reno 2023 RHP 25.1 mph
4 Kody Bialas NV Palo Verde 2023 3B 25.0 mph
5 Kaiden Smaka NV Palo Verde 2022 OF 24.7 mph
6 James Starkus NV Southwest Career & Technical 2023 OF 24.3 mph
7 Ty Silva NV Shadow Ridge 2023 OF 24.2 mph
8 Tai Nguyen NV Bishop Gorman 2022 1B 23.9 mph
^ Caden Hunt NV Coronado 2023 C 23.9 mph
9 Brett Matson NV Liberty 2022 2B 23.7 mph
10 Dallin Smith NV Coronado 2022 C 23.4 mph
^ Joey Randazzo NV Bishop Gorman 2022 C 23.4 mph
11 Dominick Rush NV Liberty 2023 OF 23.3 mph
^ Marcus Matias NV Bishop Gorman 2023 OF 23.3 mph
12 Aiden Pollock NV Bishop Gorman 2023 OF 23.1 mph
^ Brady Ballinger NV Green Valley 2023 LHP 23.1 mph
13 Trevor LaPres NV Lake Mead Christian 2023 OF 23.0 mph
14 Benjamin Smith NV Basic Academy 2023 1B 22.9 mph
^ Noah Tschopp NV Rancho 2022 RHP 22.9 mph
15 Nicholas Morrison NV Coronado 2023 SS 22.8 mph
^ Jake Morrison NV Coronado 2023 3B 22.8 mph

ON PLANE EFFICIENCY: 


Measures the percentage of your swing where the bat is on the swing plane. Your vertical bat angle at contact establishes the plane for that swing. Plane is a great indicator for making more consistent contact on the barrel of the bat. For more info: On Plane Efficiency

Ideal Efficiency %: 70% or Higher    Range: 65%-85%

Rank Name State School Class Pos On Plane Eff (avg)
1 Devyn Easton-Brooks NV Damonte Ranch 2022 OF 87 %
2 Justin Kania NV Bishop Gorman 2023 2B 85 %
3 Kaiden Smaka NV Palo Verde 2022 OF 84 %
4 Jackson Sadler NV Reno 2023 RHP 82 %
5 Jakob Van Blaricom NV Damonte Ranch 2022 OF 82 %
6 Nicholas Morrison NV Coronado 2023 SS 81 %
7 Caden Hunt NV Coronado 2023 C 81 %
8 Trevor LaPres NV Lake Mead Christian 2023 OF 79 %
9 Jackson Tanko NV Palo Verde 2022 SS 79 %
10 Payton Smith NV Bishop Gorman 2023 SS 75 %
11 Benjamin Smith NV Basic Academy 2023 1B 75 %
12 Sebastian Cadena Jr. NV Damonte Ranch 2023 OF 75 %
13 Tyler Ray NV Rancho 2022 RHP 75 %
14 Jared Layfield NV Arbor View 2023 C 74 %
15 Brant Hannon NV Rancho 2022 2B 73 %

ROTATIONAL ACCELERATION:

Measures how quickly your bat accelerates into the swing plane. Rotation is a good indicator of how you build bat speed by sequencing properly. The quicker your rotational acceleration, the more power you will have and the more time you have to adjust to pitch locations. For more info: Rotational Acceleration

MLB Avg: 16.8 g   MiLB Avg: 12.6 g   College Avg: 12.9 g

Rank Name State School Class Pos Rot. Acc (avg)
1 Caden Hunt NV Coronado 2023 C 22.9 g
2 Kaiden Smaka NV Palo Verde 2022 OF 20.1 g
3 Ty Silva NV Shadow Ridge 2023 OF 20.1 g
4 Jackson Tanko NV Palo Verde 2022 SS 19.3 g
5 Kody Bialas NV Palo Verde 2023 3B 18.6 g
6 James Starkus NV Southwest Career & Technical 2023 OF 18.1 g
7 Tai Nguyen NV Bishop Gorman 2022 1B 17.5 g
8 Jared Layfield NV Arbor View 2023 C 17.4 g
9 Jackson Sadler NV Reno 2023 RHP 16.8 g
10 Dominick Rush NV Liberty 2023 OF 15.7 g
11 Derek Bain NV Basic 2024 C 15.4 g
12 Joey Randazzo NV Bishop Gorman 2022 C 14.3 g
13 Alec Vincent NV Palo Verde 2022 C 14.2 g
14 Brett Matson NV Liberty 2022 2B 14.0 g
15 Bryce Ferrer-Leo NV Palo Verde 2023 LHP 13.8 g

______________________________________________________________

UPCOMING EVENTS

SHOWCASE STATE DATE LOCATION
Nevada Underclass Top Prospect Games (Invite-Only) NV 07/01 UNLV
Nevada Upperclass Top Prospect Games - Session 2 (Invite Only) NV 07/01 UNLV

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