Battle For The Arch: TrackMan Files

On Thursday, September 28, the PBR Illinois and PBR Missouri scouting staffs collaborated to host the first annual Battle for The Arch event at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Missouri. This invite-only event pitted several talented uncommitted prospects from both states against each other, starting with a workout portion and concluding with a quick game between the teams afterwards.

Now, at the event's conclusion, it's time for our staff to start the post-event process by rolling out several different content pieces based on the day's performances. We previously rolled out our Statistical Analysis, where we looked at which prospects topped our leaderboards from the event.

Today, we'll start to further unravel the data we collected throughout the showcase, starting with the deeper, more analytical outputs we have through our TrackMan portable units, found 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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