Welcome back to the hitting side of Trackman Traits. In this series we will spotlight one player each week who stood has stood out in our "Trackman Era" and take a deeper dive into their numbers and take a look at some that really stand out. Since the implementation of the Trackman technology to our showcases during the 2020 summer we have been fortunate enough to have seen a great deal of talent come through the system. Today, we will be taking a look at the twelfth ranked catcher in Pennsylvania's 2022 class, Connor Booth.

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.

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 of the bat is measured 6 inches from the knob of the bat. -Blast Motion 

Rotational Acceleration- A measure of how quickly the hitter gets from the 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 ANALYSIS

We got the opportunity to see Booth a couple of times this summer including the PA Prospect Showcase, the PA Summer Prospect Games and the PA State Games. While he stood out in all of those events, his numbers stood out the most during the PA State Games. Let's dive in. 

Exit Velocity- Right off the bat, the exit velocity numbers here stand off the page to me. When you're a member of the triple digit exit velocity club, it's pretty easy to stand out. His max exit velocity reached 101.09 MPH, making him one of the fifteen batters at the PA State Games to register a max exit velocity over 100 MPH. His average exit speed was also advanced, coming in at just under 93 MPH, placing himself in the top ten for this category at the event. 

Distance- Taking a look at his max distance, we see Booth has shown some power. At 361 ft, that's pretty decent pop and his exit velocity numbers suggest these numbers are legit and could even take a bump up if he continued to hit the ball in the air. His average difference came in at 157 ft, which speaks more to his batted ball profile than his power capabilities.

Batted Ball Percentages- The one number here that stick out to me here is the hard hit percentage, coming in at 83.3%. He was able to consistently hit the ball hard, which profiles well for any hitter no matter where they tend to hit the ball. He hit the ball mostly on the ground with a ground ball percentage at 50%. He split his line drives and fly balls at 25% a piece. If he could take away some ground ball and hit more on a line and in the air, he would find greater success at the plate and utilize those advanced exit velocity numbers to hit the ball further, and further more consistently.

BLAST CONNECTION

Trackman does a great job showing the outcomes of players swings and their batted ball events. Its data is results based, the best numbers come when you get off your best swing and make your best contact. Blast Motion technology, also implemented at the same time this summer as the Trackman, tracks the swing data of a player and can shine a light into what a player does well in their swing. When paired with Trackman data, it can paint a more complete picture of a hitter and help explain why a player is able to hit the ball harder, farther, and more consistently than others. 

Taking a look into Connor Booth's Blast Motion Metrics, there were a few numbers that stood out to me. The first numbers that stood out was the bat speed numbers. His max bat speed was 72.8 MPH and his average bat speed was 70.97 MPH, both right around the top end of the 57-71 MPH average bat speed numbers for high schoolers. He also found himself in the high school average range for hand speed as well with a max hand speed of 22.4 MPH and an average of 21.12 MPH. This is interesting to see as there are players with higher bat and hand speeds who do not have the same exit velocity capabilities as he does. It just goes to show, exit velocity can be manufactured in a number of ways.

CONCLUSION

Booth was one of the more impressive backstops we saw this summer, he swung the bat well and looked solid behind the dish as well. We look forward to catching back up with Booth this year and hoping to see someone snag this uncommitted diamond in the rough.