Last week, the Prep Baseball Arizona staff hosted it's second of three Top Prospect events with the 2027 Top Prospect Games hosted at American Family Fields of Phoenix.

This event featured over 30 prospects from the 2027 class and served as a valuable opportunity for these rising upperclassmen to showcase their tools in both a workout and live game setting. Not only did players get the chance to perform in front of our staff and attending college scouts, but they also received verified stats and video footage that was added to their player profiles—giving them a solid boost in exposure as they head into a key stage of their high school careers.

All players went through a full workout that included batting practice tracked by TrackMan, a 60-yard dash (with splits) recorded by VALD Performance, and defensive evaluations with positional velocities. After the workout, players competed in a live game. Pitchers threw in-game with TrackMan running, providing a deeper look into their metrics and pitch shapes in a live setting.

Over the next few days, we'll be rolling out post-event coverage highlighting top performers, stat leaders, and more. Stay locked in on our social channels for video highlights, leaderboards, and continued content from the event.

Today we'll take a look at some of the top pitching metrics and performances within this Pitching Data Dive story as we provide leaderboards via TrackMan.

For complete event results, click here.
To view Arizona's Class of 2025 Commitment Board, click here.

To request an invite to the Underclass Top Prospect Games (June 17), click here.

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FASTBALL

MAX VELOCITY (MPH)

Max Fastball Velocity: This metric calculates the speed of the pitch as it’s released from the pitcher’s hand.

SPIN RATE (AVG)

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.)

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.)

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%

CURVEBALL

SPIN RATE (AVG.)

INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

SLIDER

SPIN RATE (AVG.)

INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

CHANGEUP

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

Upcoming Events

Showcase	State	Date	Location
Senior Future Games (Class of 2026)	NATIONAL	07/22	LakePoint Sports
Future Games (Class of 2027)	NATIONAL	07/23	LakePoint Sports
Junior Future Games (Class of 2029/30)	NATIONAL	07/24	LakePoint Sports

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