Fox River Open: Statistical Analysis
June 17, 2020
On Monday, June 15, the PBR Illinois staff held its annual Fox River Open showcase at Boomers Stadium in Schaumburg, an open event primarily featuring 2021 and 2022 prospects from the north and northwest suburbs of Chicago.
Today, we’re going to begin breaking the event from a statistical perspective, utilizing the measured data we gathered. We’ll share the leaderboards from each of the statistical categories, highlighting the top performers at the Fox River Open, all of whom remain uncommitted.
TOP 60-YARD DASH
From Marian Central Catholic, middle infielder John Ahler (2022) paced this group by nearly two-tenths of a second with a 7.05 mark. You’ll see his name elsewhere within this analysis, too. Ahler performed well across the board on Monday and emerges as a name to keep an eye on inside the state’s ‘22 class as the summer rolls on. Uncommitted members of the 2021 class, James Linn (North Boone) and Micah Johnson (Stillman Valley), each also ran well.
MAX FASTBALL VELOCITY
Lanky Lane Tech right-hander Jace Phelan (2021) is a 6-foot two-way prospect who was up to 80 mph on Monday, leading this small group. Oak Park-River Forest’s Erik Carlson was up to 78 mph, which led the 2022 prospects in attendance.
MAX EXIT VELOCITY
This group revealed some follow bats denoted by their bat strength. St. Charles East’s Erik Mitchell (2021) has obvious physicality in his right-handed bat, and so does Jayden Lobliner (St. Charles North, 2022) – the two were tied atop this leaderboard with 93 mph highs. Lobliner put on a particularly interesting show in batting practice, launching a couple balls over the left field fence with highly aggressive, on-the-barrel swings from the right side. His strong right-handed bat and natural instincts and actions from behind the plate make him a big winner this early in the summer showcase season.
MAX INFIELD VELOCITY
Two of the best infield defenders on the day also happened to take the lead within this category: Ahler and Tony Rath (St. Rita, 2021). Ahler has the makings of becoming a smooth middle infielder and he took a clean and easy round of BP from the right side. Rath is a 6-foot-2 athlete with some bat strength (91 mph off the tee at the exit velo station) who also has the actions to make it on the left side of the diamond.
MAX OUTFIELD VELOCITY
The two arms who recorded two of the day’s firmest fastballs were tied atop this leaderboard with 81 mph highs to home. Phelan has a loose arm with long levers while Carlson is more of a compact 5-foot-7 with some innate strength attached to his game.
MAX CATCHER VELOCITY
Lobliner’s bat helped him break out at this event but it was his traits behind the plate that will keep him as a high-follow through the summer. He showed natural arm strength that topped 80 mph on his throws through the infield, comfortably leading the way in this group. Making his way from Michigan, Travis Zdanowski (Grand Rapids West Catholic, 2021) recorded a 75 mph high to second.
TOP POP TIMES
Naturally, Lobliner’s arm strength and above-average actions overall helped him pace this group, too. He was quick and clean on the transfer while demonstrating some soft hands upon reception. Zdanowski took some solid reps behind the plate, too, and averaged the second-lowest pop time on Monday, behind only Lobliner.