Illinois Underclass Showcase: TrackMan Files
October 30, 2020
On Oct. 25, the PBR Illinois staff hosted its final event of the year: the Underclass Showcase. This event was open to all of the state’s prospects in its 2023, 2024, and 2025 graduating classes, and allowed us to end our annual showcase circuit with a bang.
Our staff was treated to a look at some of the brightest up-and-coming talents in the state, and we began our event breakdown on Tuesday with a close examination of the event’s highlights, inside this Quick Hits post, and we later took a magnifying glass to the event’s leaderboards in our Statistical Analysis post.
We also analyzed the hitting data we gathered from last Sunday’s showcase with the help of our Blast Motion device that captured swings during batting practice. For those leaderboards, check them out at the following link.
Today, we’re wrapping up this event’s content with an analysis for the time being by examining our TrackMan-collected data.
MAX FASTBALL VELOCITY & PEak SPIN RATE
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Velocity (max) |
1 | Derek Jahn | IL | Warren Township | 2023 | RHP | 93.3 mph |
2 | Luke Oblen | IL | DePaul College Prep | 2024 | RHP | 88.5 mph |
3 | William Ho | IL | Hinsdale Central | 2023 | RHP | 86.5 mph |
4 | Michael Furmanek | IL | Plainfield East High School | 2025 | RHP | 84.9 mph |
5 | Christian Graves | IL | Jacobs | 2023 | 3B | 84.8 mph |
6 | Joseph Martin | IL | Newark | 2023 | RHP | 84.6 mph |
7 | Jacob O'Day | IL | Normal Community | 2023 | RHP | 84.3 mph |
8 | Adam Behrens | IL | Warren Township | 2023 | RHP | 83.8 mph |
9 | Mark Mennecke | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2023 | 1B | 83.6 mph |
10 | Taylor Waldron | IL | Marquette Academy | 2023 | RHP | 83.3 mph |
11 | Finn O'Meara | IL | Nazareth Academy | 2023 | RHP | 83.2 mph |
12 | Lleyton Grubich | IL | McHenry | 2023 | LHP | 83.2 mph |
13 | Ian Boal | IL | Johnsburg | 2023 | LHP | 83.1 mph |
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (max) |
1 | Derek Jahn | IL | Warren Township | 2023 | RHP | 2572 rpm |
2 | Jacob McPherson | IL | Reed-Custer | 2023 | RHP | 2414 rpm |
3 | Hank Liss | IL | Evanston | 2023 | RHP | 2394 rpm |
4 | Cristian Ruiz | IL | Oak Lawn | 2023 | SS | 2381 rpm |
5 | Finn O'Meara | IL | Nazareth Academy | 2023 | RHP | 2353 rpm |
6 | Taylor Kujak | IL | Plainfield Central | 2023 | MIF | 2347 rpm |
7 | Luke Oblen | IL | DePaul College Prep | 2024 | RHP | 2344 rpm |
8 | Michael Farina | IL | Mundelein | 2023 | SS | 2339 rpm |
9 | Tyler Williams | IL | DePaul College Prep | 2024 | LHP | 2283 rpm |
10 | Jack Wilson | IL | New Trier | 2024 | RHP | 2270 rpm |
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 EXTENSION (fastball)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Extension (avg) |
1 | Adam Behrens | IL | Warren Township | 2023 | RHP | 6.5 ft |
2 | Aidan Duggan | IL | Providence Catholic | 2023 | RHP | 6.4 ft |
3 | Tommy Korn | IL | Crystal Lake Central | 2024 | RHP | 6.4 ft |
4 | Charlie Wolf | IL | St. Ignatius | 2023 | RHP | 6.4 ft |
5 | Michael Scarpelli | IL | Libertyville | 2023 | RHP | 6.3 ft |
6 | Tommy Haggerty | IL | Homewood-Flossmoor | 2023 | RHP | 6.3 ft |
7 | Alexander Clark | IL | New Trier | 2024 | OF | 6.2 ft |
8 | Carter Green | IL | Homewood-Flossmoor | 2023 | LHP | 6.2 ft |
9 | Ian Boal | IL | Johnsburg | 2023 | LHP | 6.2 ft |
10 | Mark Mennecke | IL | Neuqua Valley | 2023 | 1B | 6.2 ft |
Extension: The measurement of the release point relative to the rubber, reported in feet. Essentially, a higher extension can create an advantage for pitchers as they shorten the time in which the ball is traveling from their hand to home.
AVERAGE FASTBALL HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (RHP)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Aj Burnett | IL | Romeoville | 2023 | RHP | 21.4 |
2 | Jacob O'Day | IL | Normal Community | 2023 | RHP | 19.5 |
3 | Zach Zalewski | IL | Wheeling | 2023 | 1B | 18.6 |
4 | Michael Dabe | IL | Huntley | 2023 | 1B | 17.2 |
5 | Lleyton Grubich | IL | McHenry | 2023 | LHP | -16.3 |
6 | Ashton Henkel | IL | Byron | 2024 | 3B | 15.8 |
AVERAGE FASTBALL HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (LHP)
- Lleyton Grubich (-16.3 inches)
- Carter Green (-15.1)
- Emin Hartigan (-11.6)
- Mark Mennecke (-10.8)
- Charles Filipek (-8.8)
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 SPIN RATE (SLIDER)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Spin Rate (avg)
1
Hank Liss
IL
Evanston
2023
RHP
2550
2
Finn O'Meara
IL
Nazareth Academy
2023
RHP
2379
3
Derek Jahn
IL
Warren Township
2023
RHP
2274
4
Charlie Wolf
IL
St. Ignatius
2023
RHP
2153
5
Michael Furmanek
IL
Plainfield East High School
2025
RHP
2147
6
Carver Banker
IL
Moline
2023
RHP
2143
7
Joseph Martin
IL
Newark
2023
RHP
2137
AVERAGE SPIN RATE (CURVEBALL)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Spin Rate (avg)
1
Aidan Duggan
IL
Providence Catholic
2023
RHP
2447 rpm
2
Dean Goldman
IL
Jones College Prep
2023
RHP
2386 rpm
3
Mark Mennecke
IL
Neuqua Valley
2023
1B
2375 rpm
4
RJ Bergren
IL
Mount Carmel
2023
LHP
2344 rpm
5
Hank Liss
IL
Evanston
2023
RHP
2332 rpm
6
Jacob McPherson
IL
Reed-Custer
2023
RHP
2271 rpm
7
Ian Boal
IL
Johnsburg
2023
LHP
2269 rpm
8
Lleyton Grubich
IL
McHenry
2023
LHP
2262 rpm
9
Michael Farina
IL
Mundelein
2023
SS
2262 rpm
10
Luke Oblen
IL
DePaul College Prep
2024
RHP
2246 rpm
AVERAGE EXIT VELOCITY (HITTING)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Exit Velocity (avg) |
1 | Cal Sefcik | IL | Marist | 2023 | SS | 90.1 mph |
2 | Michael Clarkson | IL | Loyola Academy | 2023 | C | 89.8 mph |
3 | Colin Barczi | IL | Naperville Central | 2023 | C | 88.3 mph |
4 | Daniel Connelly | IL | Mundelein | 2023 | C | 87.5 mph |
5 | Colin Schmitke | IL | Stevenson | 2023 | SS | 87.0 mph |
6 | Luca Morelli | IL | Stevenson | 2023 | C | 85.2 mph |
7 | Eduardo Letamendi | IL | Von Steuben | 2023 | SS | 85.0 mph |
8 | Lucas Smith | IL | Nazareth | 2023 | CF | 85.0 mph |
9 | Drew Gilley | IL | New Trier | 2023 | OF | 83.3 mph |
10 | Jacob O'Day | IL | Normal Community | 2023 | RHP | 83.0 mph |
11 | Andy Roman | IL | Wheaton Academy | 2023 | C | 83.0 mph |
12 | Tyler Stack | IL | Oswego | 2023 | C | 82.9 mph |
13 | Tommy Korn | IL | Crystal Lake Central | 2024 | RHP | 82.8 mph |
14 | Tommy Haggerty | IL | Homewood-Flossmoor | 2023 | RHP | 82.6 mph |
15 | Henry Murray | IL | Lane Technical High School | 2025 | OF | 82.5 mph |
16 | Michael Farina | IL | Mundelein | 2023 | SS | 82.3 mph |
17 | Krew Bond | IL | Mendota | 2023 | OF | 82.1 mph |
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.”
AVERAGE DISTANCE (HITTING)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Distance (avg) |
1 | Cal Sefcik | IL | Marist | 2023 | SS | 315 ft |
2 | Michael Farina | IL | Mundelein | 2023 | SS | 273 ft |
3 | Eduardo Letamendi | IL | Von Steuben | 2023 | SS | 241 ft |
4 | Colin Barczi | IL | Naperville Central | 2023 | C | 235 ft |
5 | Phillip Tick | IL | Von Steuben | 2023 | 1B | 231 ft |
6 | Tyler Stack | IL | Oswego | 2023 | C | 230 ft |
7 | Michael Scarpelli | IL | Libertyville | 2023 | RHP | 228 ft |
8 | William Ho | IL | Hinsdale Central | 2023 | RHP | 226 ft |
9 | Khamaree Thomas | IL | Kenwood | 2024 | OF | 225 ft |
10 | Albert Moreno | IL | Providence Catholic | 2023 | 3B | 224 ft |
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