Prep Baseball Report

San Antonio Summer Open Data Dive: Pitching


PBR Texas Staff

On Tuesday, June 6 the PBR Texas team hosted the San Antonio Summer Open at Cornerstone Christian High School. 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 Nickolas Rodriguez TX Cornerstone Christian 2024 RHP 87.2 mph
2 Samuel Morales TX Cornerstone Christian 2025 SS 87.2 mph
3 Matthew McClenan TX Brandeis 2026 3B 85.0 mph
4 Cole Johnson TX PIEPER 2026 LHP 82.8 mph
5 Julian Ramirez TX Clark 2024 RHP 82.0 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 Julian Ramirez TX Clark 2024 RHP 2123 rpm
2 Timothy Kim TX Vista Ridge 2024 RHP 2091 rpm
3 Cole Johnson TX PIEPER 2026 LHP 2040 rpm
4 Matthew McClenan TX Brandeis 2026 3B 2039 rpm
5 Samuel Morales TX Cornerstone Christian 2025 SS 2023 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 Jacob Abrusley TX Canyon 2027 SS 18.0 in
2 Noah Eckles TX Reagan 2026 OF 16.1 in
3 Cole Johnson TX PIEPER 2026 LHP 16.1 in
4 TJ Byrd TX Brandeis 2026 RHP 16.1 in
5 Alex Abrusley TX Canyon 2027 3B 15.6 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 Matthew McClenan TX Brandeis 2026 3B 16.2
2 Samuel Morales TX Cornerstone Christian 2025 SS 15.5
3 Cole Johnson TX PIEPER 2026 LHP -14.4
4 TJ Byrd TX Brandeis 2026 RHP 11.7
5 Noah Eckles TX Reagan 2026 OF 11.5

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 Cooper Gibson TX Smithson Valley HS 2027 3B 76 %
2 TJ Byrd TX Brandeis 2026 RHP 66 %
3 Jack Richard Vasquez TX San Marcos 2027 LHP 62 %


CURVEBALL

SPIN RATE (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Rate (avg)
1 Timothy Kim TX Vista Ridge 2024 RHP 2731 rpm
2 Matthew McClenan TX Brandeis 2026 3B 2610 rpm
3 Samuel Morales TX Cornerstone Christian 2025 SS 2552 rpm
4 TJ Byrd TX Brandeis 2026 RHP 2175 rpm
5 Jacob Abrusley TX Canyon 2027 SS 2124 rpm

INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos IVB (avg)
1 Timothy Kim TX Vista Ridge 2024 RHP -13.8 in
2 Noah Eckles TX Reagan 2026 OF -11.6 in
3 TJ Byrd TX Brandeis 2026 RHP -8.1 in
4 Jack Richard Vasquez TX San Marcos 2027 LHP -7.5 in
5 Luke Villagomez TX Pieper 2027 C -6.2 in

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Noah Eckles TX Reagan 2026 OF -15.2
2 Luke Villagomez TX Pieper 2027 C -14.8
3 TJ Byrd TX Brandeis 2026 RHP -14.5
4 Samuel Morales TX Cornerstone Christian 2025 SS -13.8
5 Jack Richard Vasquez TX San Marcos 2027 LHP 11.1

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

Rank Name State School Class Pos Zone %
1 Ashton Wilkinson TX Navarro 2027 SS 100 %
2 Samuel Morales TX Cornerstone Christian 2025 SS 66 %
3 Julian Ramirez TX Clark 2024 RHP 50 %


SLIDER

SPIN RATE (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Rate (avg)
1 Matthew McClenan TX Brandeis 2026 3B 2607

INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos IVB (avg)
1 Nickolas Rodriguez TX Cornerstone Christian 2024 RHP -3.5 in

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Matthew McClenan TX Brandeis 2026 3B -12.7
2 Nickolas Rodriguez TX Cornerstone Christian 2024 RHP -6.6


CHANGEUP

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Samuel Morales TX Cornerstone Christian 2025 SS 20.6
2 Cooper Gibson TX Smithson Valley HS 2027 3B 14.8
3 Nickolas Rodriguez TX Cornerstone Christian 2024 RHP 13.3
4 Cole Johnson TX PIEPER 2026 LHP -13.2
5 TJ Byrd TX Brandeis 2026 RHP 11.7

CLICK HERE for a look at the complete statistics from the event.


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