2026 Future Games Tryout: Malibu - Pitcher Data Dive
June 6, 2026
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MALIBU, CALIF. - This past Saturday, May 30th, the Prep Baseball California team hosted the Malibu Future Games Tryout at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Cal. This was an invite-only event for 2028 graduates and provided our staff with an extensive look at the area's top players.
Nearly 50 players made their way to Malibu and participated in a pro-style workout, gathering unrivaled access to data through our state-of-the-art tech partners, as well as in-depth scouting analysis from our Prep Baseball California staff. 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.
To start the day, all position players in attendance were electronically measured for height, weighed in, and recorded grip strength readings while taking their Vizual Edge testing. From there, they ran a 60-yard sprint with all split times being gathered using VALD Technologies' laser timing system. Upon completion of the athletic and body testing portion of the day, the players went into offensive evaluations with multiple rounds of batting practice, where Trackman Technologies and Blast Motion swing trackers were in use to gather batted ball and swing data on players in attendance. Which was then followed by defensive evaluations at their primary and secondary position (OF, C, SS, 1B) with arm strength being measured via a Stalker Radar gun and skill evaluations by our staff on hand. Once the batting practice portion of the event was completed, we shifted into a twelve-inning simulated game with pitchers facing five hitters per inning. During the simulated game portion of the day, Trackman Technologies were in use to gather all pitch data for the arms throwing during the simulated game.
Today, we will be looking at some of the top pitching data performers from the event, found below. For all of the event information, please click here
FASTBALL
VELOCITY (MAX)
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 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.)
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%
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.)
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
SLIDER
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
CHANGEUP
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
+ CLICK HERE for a look at the complete statistics from the event.