IL Senior Games: Trackman Files

August 13, 2021
Kevin Cronin
Area Scout

On Tuesday, August 10th, the PBR Illinois staff hosted the Illinois Senior Games at Triton College in River Grove. The invite-only event featured 70+ uncommitted 2022 prospects from all across the state in Illinois. Players displayed their talents in both a workout setting and added game play.

Shortly after the event's conclusion our Illinois Scouting Director, Drew Locascio, published a Quick Hits piece, highlighting some of the day's takeaways, which you can find HERE. We also rolled out a quick look at those who topped our statistical leaderboards earlier today, which you can find HERE.

We're now continuing our post-event analysis by examining the data measured by our TrackMan units. The technology is able to capture information that’s difficult to capture by the naked eye, like pitch-by-pitch metrics and batted-ball data. We’ll explain more below:

MAX FASTBALL & PEAK SPIN RATE

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

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.

Average Fastball Horizontal Movement

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.”

Average Slider Spin Rate

Average Curveball Spin Rate

Average Changeup Horizontal Movement

Average Exit Velocity (Hitting)

Exit Speed: Also according to TrackMan’s own website: “The speed of the ball, measured in miles per hour, as it comes off the bat at the moment of contact.”

Peak Exit Velocity (Hitting)

Peak Estimated Batted Distance (Hitting)

For a complete look at each of the statistics measured at this showcase, CLICK HERE.