PELHAM, AL – The 2026 Summer ID Tour continued on Tuesday, June 30th, as Prep Baseball Alabama traveled to Pelham High School for the Birmingham Summer ID and Birmingham Rising Stars ID. Featuring prospects from the 2027-2032 classes, the event brought together players from across Central Alabama for a full day of evaluations in front of the Prep Baseball Alabama staff.

Attendees participated in a pro-style workout that included laser-timed 60-yard dashes using VALD Performance gates, batting practice with TrackMan technology, and defensive evaluations with arm strength metrics recorded at each position. The event served as an early summer opportunity for players to update their profiles, collect verified data, and showcase their tools heading into a busy summer schedule. In addition to collecting valuable data, players were also evaluated for some of Prep Baseball's premier national events, including the Senior Future Games (2027s), Future Games (2028s), Southeast Super Sophomore Games (2029s), and Junior Future Games (2030-2031s).

In this Quick Hits article, we spotlight several standout performers from the event, providing brief scouting notes and observations from their workouts while highlighting some of the metrics that helped separate them on Tuesday.

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Birmingham Summer ID

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.

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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. 

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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.”

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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”).

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AVERAGE SLIDER 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”).

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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.

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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.

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TOP AVERAGE EXIT VELOCITY (HITTING)

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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.

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Birmingham Rising Stars ID

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.

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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. 

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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.”

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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”).

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AVERAGE SLIDER 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”).

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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.

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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.

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TOP AVERAGE EXIT VELOCITY (HITTING)

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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.

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UPCOMING EVENTS ⤵️

SHOWCASE	DATE	LOCATION
Tuscaloosa Summer ID	July 7, 2026	Northridge High School
Tuscaloosa Rising Stars ID	July 7, 2026	Northridge High School
Wiregrass Summer ID	July 14, 2026	Enterprise High School
Wiregrass Rising Stars ID	July 14, 2026	Enterprise High School

 

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