Madison Open: Pitcher Data Dive
July 6, 2023
On Tuesday, June 27th, the PBR Wisconsin team hosted the Madison Open at Sun Prairie East High School in Sun Prairie, WI. This open event was for all high school classes (2024-27), and gave our staff a chance to get a look at 20+ uncommitted prospects before the summer gets into full swing.
For a closer look at the showcase details and the technologies we'll have on-site to assist our in-person evaluation for all in attendance, click here. For a complete look at those registered to attend this event, view the most up-to-date version of the roster by clicking here.
Thursday, we published our Quick Hits. Today, we published our Statistical Analysis, where we broke down the stat leaders from the more traditional categories. 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
Luke Hurlebaus
WI
Waunakee
2025
RHP
82.4 mph
2
Benjamin Ketelsen
WI
Sun Prairie West
2024
RHP
82.4 mph
3
Bennett O'Connor
WI
Middleton
2025
RHP
80.3 mph
4
Aidan Kammer
WI
Jefferson
2024
2B
79.0 mph
5
Bentley Wagner
WI
Jefferson
2026
SS
78.6 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
Benjamin Ketelsen
WI
Sun Prairie West
2024
RHP
2434 rpm
2
Luke Hurlebaus
WI
Waunakee
2025
RHP
2245 rpm
3
Jackson Guerrero
WI
Middleton
2026
SS
2092 rpm
4
Aiden Rodriguez
WI
Middelton
2026
OF
1980 rpm
5
Bentley Wagner
WI
Jefferson
2026
SS
1972 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
Ethan Hibicke
WI
Sussex Hamilton
2025
1B
16.0 in
2
Benjamin Ketelsen
WI
Sun Prairie West
2024
RHP
15.6 in
3
Keegan Dahmen
WI
Monroe
2024
RHP
15.1 in
4
Aidan Kammer
WI
Jefferson
2024
2B
14.9 in
5
Jeffrey Freund
WI
Beaver Dam
2025
OF
14.6 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
Devin Schuchart
WI
Cambridge
2024
RHP
13.8
2
Aiden Smith
WI
Johnson Creek
2026
RHP
12.7
3
Jeffrey Freund
WI
Beaver Dam
2025
OF
-12.5
4
Michael Suominen
WI
Madison West
2026
RF
12.5
5
Bennett O'Connor
WI
Middleton
2025
RHP
11.9
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
Jeffrey Freund
WI
Beaver Dam
2025
OF
100 %
2
Keegan Dahmen
WI
Monroe
2024
RHP
85 %
3
Benjamin Ketelsen
WI
Sun Prairie West
2024
RHP
71 %
4
Jackson Guerrero
WI
Middleton
2026
SS
66 %
5
Bennett O'Connor
WI
Middleton
2025
RHP
62 %
Average MLB pitchers throw 62% strikes, and better pitchers throw strikes 65% of the time, or roughly 2:1 strikes to balls.
CURVEBALL
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Spin Rate (avg)
1
Benjamin Ketelsen
WI
Sun Prairie West
2024
RHP
2484 rpm
2
Dane Buelow
WI
New Berlin West
2025
RHP
2337 rpm
3
Aiden Smith
WI
Johnson Creek
2026
RHP
2020 rpm
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
IVB (avg)
1
Dane Buelow
WI
New Berlin West
2025
RHP
-14.8 in
2
Ethan Hibicke
WI
Sussex Hamilton
2025
1B
-12.2 in
3
Seth Austin
WI
Sun Prairie West
2024
RHP
-12.0 in
4
Benjamin Ketelsen
WI
Sun Prairie West
2024
RHP
-11.4 in
5
Aidan Kammer
WI
Jefferson
2024
2B
-9.9 in
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
HM (avg)
1
Aidan Kammer
WI
Jefferson
2024
2B
-17.1
2
Ethan Hibicke
WI
Sussex Hamilton
2025
1B
-14.6
3
Dane Buelow
WI
New Berlin West
2025
RHP
-14.0
4
Jackson Guerrero
WI
Middleton
2026
SS
-13.5
5
Benjamin Ketelsen
WI
Sun Prairie West
2024
RHP
-12.8
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Zone %
1
Benjamin Ketelsen
WI
Sun Prairie West
2024
RHP
80 %
2
Jackson Guerrero
WI
Middleton
2026
SS
60 %
SLIDER
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Spin Rate (avg)
1
Luke Hurlebaus
WI
Waunakee
2025
RHP
2167
2
Austin Adamowski
WI
Sun Prairie West
2024
SS
2050
3
Brady Barman
WI
Waunakee
2025
2B
2004
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
IVB (avg)
1
Austin Adamowski
WI
Sun Prairie West
2024
SS
-8.0 in
2
Jeffrey Freund
WI
Beaver Dam
2025
OF
-4.0 in
3
Hudson Schroeder
WI
Mineral Point
2026
3B
-3.6 in
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
HM (avg)
1
Austin Adamowski
WI
Sun Prairie West
2024
SS
-14.8
2
Michael Suominen
WI
Madison West
2026
RF
-14.1
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Zone %
1
Jeffrey Freund
WI
Beaver Dam
2025
OF
80 %
2
Ethan Hibicke
WI
Sussex Hamilton
2025
1B
50 %
^
Michael Suominen
WI
Madison West
2026
RF
50 %
CHANGEUP
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
HM (avg)
1
Jackson Guerrero
WI
Middleton
2026
SS
15.4
2
Devin Schuchart
WI
Cambridge
2024
RHP
15.1
3
Benjamin Ketelsen
WI
Sun Prairie West
2024
RHP
14.9
4
Bennett O'Connor
WI
Middleton
2025
RHP
14.8
5
Austin Adamowski
WI
Sun Prairie West
2024
SS
12.4
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank
Name
State
School
Class
Pos
Zone %
1
Oliver Dugas
WI
Madison East
2025
SS
100 %
2
Aidan Kammer
WI
Jefferson
2024
2B
80 %
^
Benjamin Ketelsen
WI
Sun Prairie West
2024
RHP
80 %
3
Brady Barman
WI
Waunakee
2025
2B
75 %
4
Luke Hurlebaus
WI
Waunakee
2025
RHP
60 %
+ CLICK HERE for a look at the complete statistics from the event.
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