Houston Summer Open Data Dive: Pitchers
June 30, 2023
On Wednesday, June 7 the PBR Texas team hosted the Houston Summer Open at Rice University. The event featured players from all HS classes and provided our staff with an in-depth look at some of the area's top prospects.
We broke down the top measurable data performers from the event with our Stat Story. Now, we will take a further in-depth look at the top pitchers with the help of our tech partnerships, broken down by the categories down below:
FASTBALL
MAX VELOCITY (MPH)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Velocity (max) |
1 | Griffin Lewis | TX | Flower Mound | 2024 | RHP | 91.3 mph |
2 | Jacob Gilbert | TX | McKinney Boyd High School | 2025 | RHP | 90.2 mph |
3 | Nicholas Ellis | TX | Midland Christian | 2024 | RHP | 85.9 mph |
4 | Logan Sariga | TX | Clear Brook | 2025 | OF | 84.9 mph |
5 | Ethan Goldstein | TX | The Kinkaid School | 2024 | SS | 84.2 mph |
Max Fastball Velocity: This metric calculates the speed of the pitch as it’s released from the pitcher’s hand.
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Griffin Lewis | TX | Flower Mound | 2024 | RHP | 2276 rpm |
2 | Ethan Goldstein | TX | The Kinkaid School | 2024 | SS | 2155 rpm |
3 | Logan Sariga | TX | Clear Brook | 2025 | OF | 2091 rpm |
4 | Nicholas Ellis | TX | Midland Christian | 2024 | RHP | 2069 rpm |
5 | Talan Plott | TX | Clear Creek | 2024 | LHP | 1937 rpm |
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.
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Logan Sariga | TX | Clear Brook | 2025 | OF | 17.2 in |
2 | Jacob Gilbert | TX | McKinney Boyd High School | 2025 | RHP | 14.0 in |
3 | Ethan Goldstein | TX | The Kinkaid School | 2024 | SS | 13.7 in |
4 | Nicholas Ellis | TX | Midland Christian | 2024 | RHP | 13.5 in |
5 | Talan Plott | TX | Clear Creek | 2024 | LHP | 13.1 in |
Induced Vertical Break: Used in short form as "IVB," this metric is most important on fastballs for creating rise and on curveballs for creating depth – it can also have some use when measuring sliders and cutters as well. Sliders tend to be closer to zero inches while cutters are generally between 5 and 15 inches. Usually fastballs and curveballs with large IVB have higher spin efficiencies as well. Sliders generally have very little (closer to zero) IVB and very low spin efficiency. You could also categorize IVB into spin rate as this is part of the “useful movement” you’re looking for. IVB is also a huge part of the vertical approach angle.
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Griffin Lewis | TX | Flower Mound | 2024 | RHP | 16.4 |
2 | Ethan Goldstein | TX | The Kinkaid School | 2024 | SS | 12.0 |
3 | Talan Plott | TX | Clear Creek | 2024 | LHP | -11.3 |
4 | David Austin | TX | George Ranch | 2024 | LHP | -11.1 |
5 | Nicholas Ellis | TX | Midland Christian | 2024 | RHP | 10.6 |
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.”
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Nicholas Ellis | TX | Midland Christian | 2024 | RHP | 66 % |
^ | Ethan Goldstein | TX | The Kinkaid School | 2024 | SS | 66 % |
2 | Logan Sariga | TX | Clear Brook | 2025 | OF | 55 % |
3 | Evan Jenkins | TX | Lumberton High School | 2027 | 2B | 50 % |
CURVEBALL
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Jacob Gilbert | TX | McKinney Boyd High School | 2025 | RHP | 2292 rpm |
2 | Logan Sariga | TX | Clear Brook | 2025 | OF | 2151 rpm |
3 | Evan Jenkins | TX | Lumberton High School | 2027 | 2B | 2119 rpm |
4 | Ethan Goldstein | TX | The Kinkaid School | 2024 | SS | 1863 rpm |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Logan Sariga | TX | Clear Brook | 2025 | OF | -8.9 in |
2 | Ethan Goldstein | TX | The Kinkaid School | 2024 | SS | -6.9 in |
3 | Jacob Gilbert | TX | McKinney Boyd High School | 2025 | RHP | -3.6 in |
4 | Evan Jenkins | TX | Lumberton High School | 2027 | 2B | 3.4 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Ethan Goldstein | TX | The Kinkaid School | 2024 | SS | -12.1 |
2 | Logan Sariga | TX | Clear Brook | 2025 | OF | -9.0 |
3 | Evan Jenkins | TX | Lumberton High School | 2027 | 2B | -8.4 |
4 | Jacob Gilbert | TX | McKinney Boyd High School | 2025 | RHP | -7.0 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Evan Jenkins | TX | Lumberton High School | 2027 | 2B | 80 % |
2 | Ethan Goldstein | TX | The Kinkaid School | 2024 | SS | 33 % |
SLIDER
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Griffin Lewis | TX | Flower Mound | 2024 | RHP | 2360 |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Talan Plott | TX | Clear Creek | 2024 | LHP | 5.7 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Griffin Lewis | TX | Flower Mound | 2024 | RHP | -10.0 |
2 | Logan Sariga | TX | Clear Brook | 2025 | OF | -5.5 |
3 | Jacob Gilbert | TX | McKinney Boyd High School | 2025 | RHP | -5.0 |
CHANGEUP
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Griffin Lewis | TX | Flower Mound | 2024 | RHP | 16.7 |
2 | Talan Plott | TX | Clear Creek | 2024 | LHP | -14.2 |
3 | Ethan Goldstein | TX | The Kinkaid School | 2024 | SS | 10.6 |
4 | Jacob Gilbert | TX | McKinney Boyd High School | 2025 | RHP | 8.8 |