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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 positional data performers from the event, found below. For all of the event information, please click here

VALD ATHLETIC TESTING

60-YARD

Traditionally, the 60-yard dash has been the in-event standard to help measure a player's speed tool. We implemented three timing gates at the 10 and 30 yards, to capture athletes’ quickness, explosiveness and reaction time. From there, we will calculate an athlete’s top-end speed in miles per hour. 

MAX RUN SPEED

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TRACKMAN

We'll continue to roll out the data we gathered from this event, starting with the analytics we have at our disposal from our TrackMan units. Below we'll look at which players had noteworthy batted ball and pitch data.

EXIT VELOCITY (MAX)

EXIT VELOCITY (AVERAGE)

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.

Batted Ball (MAX)

Sweet Spot %

Sweet Spot percentage: This metric is determined by how often the player produces a batted ball during the session with a launch angle between 8 to 32 degrees.

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BLAST

With the help of our Blast Motion sensors, we're analyzing the swing metrics measured at this open showcase.

HAND SPEED (AVERAGE)

Hand Speed: The observed speed as measured on the handle of the bat (measured six inches from the knob of the bat). Peak Hand Speed will occur prior to the moment of impact, very close to the commit time in the swing when the wrists unhinge.

BAT SPEED (AVERAGE)

Bat Speed: The observed speed of the sweet spot of the bat at impact. The sweet spot of the bat is measured six inches from the tip of the bat.

ROTATIONAL ACCELERATION (AVERAGE)

Body Rotation: A swing that has the appropriate relative contributions of body and bat rotations is an efficient and Powerful swing that maintains proper sequencing. An efficient baseball swing is one in which the body creates the initial movements, which is then transferred to the arms and out to the bat, thereby maximizing Bat Speed through this proximal-to-distal kinematic sequencing movement pattern.

ON-PLANE EFFICIENCY %

On-Plane Efficiency %: measures the percentage of your swing where the bat is on the swing plane. Your Vertical Bat Angle (VBA) at contact establishes the plane for that specific swing. A high % is a great indicator of making consistent contact and barreling balls. Blast recommends an average of 70% or higher, with a range in the 65% to 85%.

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VISUAL EDGE

A look at the top Vizual Edge scores from the event.

EDGE SCORE

The Edge Score is a comprehensive score out of 100 that takes the core-six visual skills into account, providing athletes, parents, coaches and scouts with a benchmark number for assessing an athlete’s overall visual ability. In general the higher the Edge Score, the higher chance of athletic success. Think of the Edge Score as the 'Sixth Metric' in the standard Five-Tools that make up a ball player.

The average Edge Score for the 2020 MLB Draft Class was 79.3 (of hitters who completed a Vizual Edge test). MLB players we've worked with typically show stronger scores, with elite hitters scoring consistently above 87.0 on their Edge Score.

+ CLICK HERE for a look at the complete statistics from the event.

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