Prep Baseball Report

Super 60: Vizual Edge Testing Leaders


By Andy Sroka & Alex Kikos
Prep Baseball Report & Vizual Edge staff

On Feb. 6, Prep Baseball Report hosted the 20th edition of the Super 60 Pro Showcase back at its usual home, The MAX, in McCook, Ill., on the outskirts of Chicago. Since the event’s inception in 2003, more than 300 players have been selected in the MLB Draft, including over 25 first-round picks and over 25 second-rounders.

And this year’s event proved to be an exciting first stop on 2022’s road to the MLB Draft, as we were treated to some show-stealing performances and several players catapulted themselves onto must-follow lists after a breakout day. This was already one of the most impressive rosters assembled in Super 60 history, as 12 states had their No. 1 prospect in attendance, and 12 more had their Nos. 2-5 prospect at the event, too.

We’ve already begun to break down the best takeaways of the day, which you can find here:

This year's Super 60 also marked the third consecutive year that Vizual Edge was in attendance, the official vision evaluation and training technology of Prep Baseball Report, putting all position players through a visual skills baseline assessment. Vision plays a critical role in baseball, but there's more to it than a 20/20 assessment. Over 80 percent of sensory information is visual, thus it is important to assess where an athlete's visual skills stand, which is done through the Vizual Edge online baseline test.

This is also the first Super 60 event where player Edge Scores were added to PBR profiles, a recent update that will be the standard moving forward at nearly all PBR state events. Players have an opportunity to not only improve their Vizual Edge scores, which are metrics used by MLB teams and scouts, but also improve their performance on the field through discounted, at-home visual performance training. Every year, numerous MLB teams have potential draft picks complete the Vizual Edge test to gain insight into a player's visual processing system, and many Super 60 players should expect to be asked to take this test again in the coming months. Research has shown that better players tend to have better visual skills, which is why it is no surprise that players who reach the MLB have better visual skills and Vizual Edge scores than their counterparts.

As we dive deeper into the Vizual Edge metrics, we take a look at the top 5 position-players in each of the core visual skill categories and where each measurement impacts a player’s on-field performance. We also take a look at the visual skill differences in Exit Velocity and Hand Speed metrics measured by TrackMan and Blast Motion technologies, respectively.

EDGE SCORE

RANK   NAME EDGE SCORE STATE SCHOOL POS
1 Zander Buchan 85.87 SC AC Flora C
2 Luke Adams 84.10 IL Hinsdale Central OF
3 Dylan Carey 82.42 CO Ponderosa SS
4 Travis Sanders 80.32 TX Copperas Cove SS
5 Ethan Frey 80.16 LA Rosepine C

The Edge Score is a comprehensive score out of 100 that takes the core-six visual skills into account, providing athletes, parents, coaches and scouts with a benchmark number for assessing an athlete’s overall visual ability. In general the higher the Edge Score, the higher chance of athletic success. Think of the Edge Score as the 'Sixth Metric' in the standard Five-Tools that make up a ball player.

The average top Edge Score for the 2021 MLB Draft Class was 80.0 (72 percent of hitters drafted in 2021 completed at least one Vizual Edge test). MLB players we've worked with typically show stronger scores, and elite hitters consistently score above 85.0 in Edge.

CONVERGENCE

RANK   NAME CONVERGENCE STATE SCHOOL POS
1 Zander Buchan 67 SC AC Flora C
2 Dylan Carey 65 CO Ponderosa SS
3 Luke Adams 64 IL Hinsdale Central OF
- Mitchell Voit 64 WI Whitefish Bay 3B/RHP
5 Dylan Dreiling 53 KS Hays OF

Arguably the most important visual skill in baseball, Convergence relates to a player's ability to focus on a pitch as it approaches the final 15-20 feet to the plate. Many top hitters in the MLB have elite Convergence scores, another attribute that helps separate them from average hitters.

Convergence has also been a skill that is linked to exit velocity. The maximum Convergence score on the assessment is 77, and Super 60 position players whose max EV was equal to or above 100 mph had Convergence scores eight points higher than those below that mark.

DIVERGENCE

RANK   NAME DIVERGENCE STATE SCHOOL POS
1 Travis Sanders 50 TX Copperas Cove SS
2 Caden Powell 43 OK Clinton SS
3 Derek Smith 37 AZ Horizon C
4 Ethan Frey 35 MN Rosepine C
5 Kaden Carpenter 34 UT American Fork OF

Similar to the scoring of Convergence, Divergence is also scored out of 77. Generally a more difficult skill compared to Convergence for baseball players, mainly due to the nature of the sport, Divergence focuses on the ability to locate objects from a distance.

Divergence plays a key role in early pitch and spin detection, as well as locating the ball out of the pitcher's hand.

Convergence and Divergence work in tandem to ensure a hitter can smoothly first identify and locate the ball leaving the pitcher's hand (Divergence) and be ready and track the ball all the way in as it approaches the plate (Convergence). The use of both of these skills simultaneously is called Alternating Flexibility, another key skill that is trainable with Vizual Edge.

RECOGNITION

RANK   NAME RECOGNITION STATE SCHOOL POS
1 Chris Maldonado 0.50s (93%) NJ Seton Hall Prep SS
2 Gregory Pace Jr. 0.58s (93%) MI Detroit Edison Academy OF
3 Zander Buchan 0.65s (85%) SC AC Flora C
4 Derek Smith 0.69s (89%) AZ Horizon C
5 Easton Carmichael 0.75s (77%) TX Prosper C

The Recognition test measures a player's ability to view a sequence of three arrows that briefly flash across the screen and then quickly recite and enter the sequence they just viewed. This exercise is scored based on both response time (seconds) and accuracy (percentage).

At every level, especially with MLB hitters, players who have better Recognition scores generally have better plate discipline, as they are better at first accurately identifying a pitch type, but then also quicker in their decision to swing or lay off a pitch.

TRACKING

RANK   NAME TRACKING STATE SCHOOL POS
1 Chris Maldonado 0.44s (89%) NJ Seton Hall Prep SS
2 Payton Gubler 0.45s (84%) UT Desert Hills SS
3 Easton Carmichael 0.45s (84%) TX Prosper C
4 Brooks Brannon 0.47s (88%) NC Randleman C
- Shai Robinson 0.47s (88%) IL Homewood-Flossmoor SS

Tracking is another vital skill in baseball for hitting and fielding. The Tracking exercise is scored based on response time and accuracy (just like the Recognition test) and tests a player's saccadic eye movements to locate a quick moving arrow and enter the correct response.

Players with better Tracking skills generally have a better ability to see a ball approach the plate, as well as react quick enough to identify the speed and distance of the ball as soon as it leaves an opponent's bat.

DEPTH PERCEPTION

RANK   NAME DEPTH PERCEPTION STATE SCHOOL POS
1 Zander Buchan 100% SC AC Flora C
- Brooks Brannon 100% NC Randleman C
- Chris Maldonado 100% NJ Seton Hall Prep SS
4 Luke Adams 88% IL Hinsdale Central OF
- Gregory Pace Jr. 88% MI Detroit Edison Academy OF

Depth Perception measures a player's ability to identify differences with 3D objects. Depth Perception plays an important role in hand-eye coordination and especially in baseball.

Often, players with better Depth Perception skills have a better ability to pick up the spin, speed and trajectory of a pitch, which can help them in swing/don't swing situations.

VISUAL SKILLS & HITTING METRICS

"How does this translate to hitting performance?"

This is a question Vizual Edge is often asked, and the answer is relatively simple: Better hitters tend to have better visual skills. But don't just take our word for it, take a look at the visual profile differences between this year's Super 60 hitters, whose max exit velocity was above 100 mph and those below that mark, captured by TrackMan. A clear difference in Depth Perception and Convergence scores, both of which impact their ability to pick up spin and track the ball as it approaches them.

Visual processing speed is a recurring theme Vizual Edge is focused on, and Blast Motion's swing capture technology helps assess the relationship between the two. 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) and occurs prior to the moment of impact. Players that are able to visually process an incoming pitch quicker are faster with their hands, and Super 60 players with Hand Speeds above 25.0 mph (MLB average) were 0.17 seconds quicker at the visual Recognition portion of the baseline test. Similar to Exit Velocity, players were also significantly better at Converging, aiding their ability to focus on an incoming pitch and timing at the plate.

TRAIN YOUR VISUAL SKILLS

At the end of the day, good vision alone isn't going to make a player into Major League material, but it does play a critical role in performance. There are many variables that make the entire profile of an athlete, and Vizual Edge believes visual skills are one of them. Regardless of what a player's scores are now, the good news is that visual skills are trainable and something they can do right at home.

Vizual Edge trains each of these visual skills in a simple, online platform called the Edge Trainer. It is designed to improve each of these skills in just 15 minutes, three times a week. To learn more about the Vizual Edge online vision training and evaluation program, please visit vizualedge.com/pbr.

RELATED CONTENT

Premium Content Area

This article is only available to PBRPlus Subscribers. If you wish to continue reading this article:

Login to the Subscriptions Website.
To purchase a NEW SUBSCRIPTION, please click here to go to our subscription products page.