Ventura Braves Scout Day: Pitcher Data Dive
July 7, 2026
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VENTURA, CALIF. - On Wednesday, June 24th, the Prep Baseball California team hosted the Ventura Braves Scout Day at the De Anza School Field in Ventura, Cal. This was an exclusive event for players within the Ventura Braves program, featuring players from these classes (2026-2031), and gave our staff an ample look at players within the Braves program.
Just under 30 players made their way to the De Anza School Field 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.
To start the day, all position players in attendance ran a 60-yard sprint with all split times being gathered using VALD Technologies' laser timing system. Next up was a pair of jump tests using the VALD system again, where players participated in a max vertical jump to test their power production and a 5-Hop RSI test to measure force production. Upon completion of the athletic testing portion of the day, the players went into offensive evaluations with multiple rounds of batting practice, where Trackman Technologies was in use to gather batted ball 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 the pitching portion of the day with pitchers throwing bullpens from the main mound with Trackman Technologies running to gather pitch data.
Today, we will be looking at some of the top 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 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%
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.)
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
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.
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