Birmingham Preseason ID: TrackMan Files

January 7, 2026
Prep Baseball Alabama Staff

BIRMINGHAM, AL - The Birmingham Preseason ID opened the 2026 Preseason Event Tour on Sunday, January 4th at StrongBox Indoor in Birmingham, AL. This open event featured prospects from the 2026-2030 classes and featured a pro-style workout for all players in attendance. Position players participated in batting practice with full data capture through TrackMan, Blast Motion, Vizual Edge testing, and more, while pitchers threw simulated bullpens to generate detailed metrics including velocity, spin rate, and horizontal and vertical movement. Several familiar names continued to build on prior performances, while a number of new prospects emerged, making a strong first impression and firmly putting themselves on our radar.

Continuing our post-event coverage, we dive into the leaders from each TrackMan statistical category captured at the showcase. Be sure to check back throughout the week, as additional leaderboards and individual scouting reports on each participant will be released.

To view the full statistical breakdown from the event, CLICK HERE.

MAX FASTBALL & AVERAGE SPIN RATE

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 INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK

Induced Vertical Break: As far as deception and importance goes, fast induced vertical break (IVB) may be the most important. Induced vertical break is not what is sounds. IVB simply means the pitch is "breaking" upward from the average level a pitch falls from release to home plate. This is a stat that you want to stay away from being average at. Fortunately, this can be tweaked slightly depending on release height. To put it simply, the higher number = more "rise" the pitch has compared to average.

AVERAGE FASTBALL HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT

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 CURVEBALL SPIN RATE

Spin Rate: The metric calculates how fast the ball is spinning as it leaves the pitcher’s hand, reported in the number of times the pitched ball would spin per minute (“revolutions per minute” or “rpm”).

AVERAGE SLIDER SPIN RATE

AVERAGE CHANGEUP HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT

Horizontal Break: This metric measures the distance, 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.

PEAK EXIT VELOCITY (HITTING)

Exit Velocity: This metric measures the speed of the ball, measured in miles per hour, as it comes off the bat at the moment of contact.

TOP AVERAGE EXIT VELOCITY (HITTING)

PEAK ESTIMATED BATTED DISTANCE (HITTING)

Distance: This metric measures the estimated “carry flat” distance, measured in feet, meaning the distance that the ball travels before it lands, or would have landed if it were not caught or obstructed.

UPCOMING EVENTS ⤵️

SHOWCASE	DATE	LOCATION
South AL Preseason All-State (Invite-Only)	January 11th, 2026	Orange Beach Sportsplex (Orange Beach, AL)
North AL Preseason All-State (Invite-Only)	January 17th, 2026	Hartselle High School Indoor (Hartselle, AL)

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