Prep Baseball Report

Eau Claire Preseason ID: Pitcher Data Dive


By: Gavin Smith
Wisconsin Scouting Staff

On Feb. 11, the PBR Wisconsin staff hosted the Eau Claire Preseason ID at Valley Sports Academy in Lake Hallie, WI. This event featured 24 prospects, all of whom are Wisconsin natives, and allowed our staff the opportunity to get an in-depth look at the players in attendance.

Tuesday, we published our Quick Hits from the event. Wednesday, we broke down the top measurable data performers from the event with our Statistical Analysis. Today, 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:

TRACKMAN

FASTBALL

VELOCITY (MAX)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Velocity (max)
1 Warren Bowe WI Cadott 2025 LHP 83.9 mph
2 Bennett Stokke WI Altoona 2025 RHP 83.3 mph
3 Chase Watkins WI Eau Claire North 2024 RHP 81.6 mph
4 Sawyer Stein WI Eau Claire Memorial 2024 1B 81.5 mph
5 Aaron Ploszay WI Holmen 2025 LHP 81.3 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 Cage Sorenson WI Menomonie 2025 3B 2061 rpm
2 Chase Watkins WI Eau Claire North 2024 RHP 2017 rpm
3 Warren Bowe WI Cadott 2025 LHP 2000 rpm
4 Bennett Stokke WI Altoona 2025 RHP 1998 rpm
5 Mason Schmidt WI Somerset Wisconsin 2026 RHP 1970 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 Chase Watkins WI Eau Claire North 2024 RHP 19.2 in
2 Mason Schmidt WI Somerset Wisconsin 2026 RHP 19.1 in
3 Cody Fredrick WI Oconomowoc 2023 RHP 17.9 in
4 Warren Bowe WI Cadott 2025 LHP 16.3 in
5 Aaron Ploszay WI Holmen 2025 LHP 14.9 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 efficiencies. 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 vertical approach angle.

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Bennett Stokke WI Altoona 2025 RHP 15.7
2 Jake Bjerke WI Eleva-Strum 2024 3B 12.6
3 Johnny Leaver WI La Crosse Logan 2024 OF -10.6
4 Warren Bowe WI Cadott 2025 LHP -10.5

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 Bennett Stokke WI Altoona 2025 RHP 83 %
2 Cage Sorenson WI Menomonie 2025 3B 75 %
3 Cody Fredrick WI Oconomowoc 2023 RHP 50 %
^ Sawyer Stein WI Eau Claire Memorial 2024 1B 50 %
^ Jake Bjerke WI Eleva-Strum 2024 3B 50 %

 


 

CURVEBALL

SPIN RATE (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Rate (avg)
1 Chase Watkins WI Eau Claire North 2024 RHP 2211 rpm
2 Warren Bowe WI Cadott 2025 LHP 2156 rpm
3 Jake Bjerke WI Eleva-Strum 2024 3B 2144 rpm
4 Cage Sorenson WI Menomonie 2025 3B 2085 rpm

INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos IVB (avg)
1 Chase Watkins WI Eau Claire North 2024 RHP -12.9 in
2 Jake Bjerke WI Eleva-Strum 2024 3B -9.0 in
3 Cage Sorenson WI Menomonie 2025 3B -7.1 in
4 Johnny Leaver WI La Crosse Logan 2024 OF -5.3 in

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Jake Bjerke WI Eleva-Strum 2024 3B -16.4
2 Johnny Leaver WI La Crosse Logan 2024 OF 8.7
3 Cage Sorenson WI Menomonie 2025 3B -8.5
4 Aaron Ploszay WI Holmen 2025 LHP 6.4
5 Chase Watkins WI Eau Claire North 2024 RHP -5.7

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

Rank Name State School Class Pos Zone %
1 Aaron Ploszay WI Holmen 2025 LHP 60 %
2 Warren Bowe WI Cadott 2025 LHP 50 %
^ Cage Sorenson WI Menomonie 2025 3B 50 %
3 Cody Fredrick WI Oconomowoc 2023 RHP 25 %
4 Johnny Leaver WI La Crosse Logan 2024 OF 20 %

 


 

SLIDER

SPIN RATE (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Rate (avg)
1 Cage Sorenson WI Menomonie 2025 3B 2185
2 Jake Bjerke WI Eleva-Strum 2024 3B 2143

INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos IVB (avg)
1 Sawyer Stein WI Eau Claire Memorial 2024 1B 3.4 in
2 Bennett Stokke WI Altoona 2025 RHP 2.5 in
3 Jake Bjerke WI Eleva-Strum 2024 3B 2.3 in

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Bennett Stokke WI Altoona 2025 RHP -11.1
2 Cage Sorenson WI Menomonie 2025 3B -8.8

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

Rank Name State School Class Pos Zone %
1 Mason Schmidt WI Somerset Wisconsin 2026 RHP 60 %
2 Bennett Stokke WI Altoona 2025 RHP 50 %

 


 

CHANGEUP

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Mason Schmidt WI Somerset Wisconsin 2026 RHP 17.6
2 Aaron Ploszay WI Holmen 2025 LHP -12.3
3 Cody Fredrick WI Oconomowoc 2023 RHP 12.3
4 Johnny Leaver WI La Crosse Logan 2024 OF -10.9

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

Rank Name State School Class Pos Zone %
1 Sawyer Stein WI Eau Claire Memorial 2024 1B 80 %
2 Bennett Stokke WI Altoona 2025 RHP 75 %
3 Chase Watkins WI Eau Claire North 2024 RHP 50 %

 


 

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

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