Minnesota - There has been an unmistakable rise in velocity across the major leagues over the past several seasons, and Minnesota’s amateur pipeline is clearly tracking in the same direction.

Prep Baseball Minnesota now has more than six years of TrackMan data from showcase events, and the trend lines from the junior class are getting harder to ignore. The junior season remains the most critical year in the recruiting process. College coaches can initiate direct contact, rosters begin to take shape, and players have usually logged enough development time to show meaningful physical and performance gains. If velocity is coming, this is often when it shows up.

In the 2025 calendar year, the class of 2026 raised the bar in a way that separated it from every group before it. Fourteen arms reached 90 mph or higher, with nine touching at least 91. That alone would be enough to spark conversation across the state.

But the broader data paints an even clearer picture. While the overall average velocity among all arms has risen modestly year over year, the separation is happening at the top. The top 50 arms in the 2026 class averaged 88.48 mph, nearly a full tick higher than the 2025 group and more than three mph higher than the 2021 class. The median velocity among those top performers tells the same story, climbing from 84.1 mph in 2021 to just over 88 mph in 2026. The number of power arms is no longer inching upward. It is accelerating.

The story could end there and still stand as a widely shared datapoint within Minnesota baseball circles. After all, the local ecosystem has played a major role in producing this expanded firepower.

“There are simply more high-level training facilities in the area now, and that competition raises the standard,” comments Brandon Peterson.

Peterson, a 2010 Burnsville graduate, came up in an era when many of today’s development opportunities did not yet exist. He played junior college baseball before moving on to Wichita State, then was drafted by the Twins and spent five seasons in affiliated ball. During that time, many of the methods that are now commonplace were not fully embraced. Peterson now owns The Shed Athletics training facility in Jordan and runs Peterson’s Premier Athletes, a college recruiting service.

“Pitchers aren’t afraid to be big anymore,” Peterson says. “Big arms, big shoulders, stronger, more physical bodies are becoming the norm, and that plays directly into the velocity gains we’re seeing.”

The infrastructure to support that physical development is now firmly in place. From the southwest metro alone, there are multiple training facilities within a short drive, with more opening across the Twin Cities every year. Access is part of the equation, but education may be the bigger factor. Pitching development in Minnesota has matured rapidly, fueled by coaches with collegiate and professional backgrounds and others who have trained under national leaders in the space.

As Peterson notes, many instructors in the state have either coached at high levels or gained experience through organizations like Driveline and Tread Athletics. One of those coaches is Kevin Walsh, now a pitching instructor at Northstar Training after time in the Phillies organization and a college coaching stint at the University of Mary.

“Honestly, I think coaching has gotten better in certain areas, especially in how we approach development,” says Walsh. “The weight room has become a major factor. It’s a dual process now, combining pitching-specific work with a structured, well-prepared strength program. That combination has led to year-over-year gains for a lot of guys.”

That process helps explain why the jump in 90-plus arms has been so dramatic. From just two in the 2021 class to fourteen in 2026, the growth is not limited to one or two outliers. Even the number of pitchers sitting in the high 80s has more than quadrupled over that same span, a strong indicator of depth rather than top-heavy velocity.

Walsh points to Hayden Vucinovich as an example of what sustained investment in development can produce. The Bloomington Jefferson product, who was drafted by the Brewers in the eighth round last summer, spent roughly one hundred days in a ten-month program between his junior and senior seasons. As a junior, his fastball topped out at 87.6 mph, ranking 23rd in his class and slightly below his peak from the previous year. The work paid off. By the following February, Vucinovich was up to 95.5 mph at the Upper Midwest ProCase and firmly on the professional radar.

Top 10 𝙀𝙇𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙍𝙄𝘾 Moments in 2025 ⚡

From DII commit to professional baseball player in less than a year. Hayden Vucinovich's mid-90s procase performance lands at No. 3 on our list.

🗞️ » https://t.co/HvsrpaxhU3 | @prepbaseball pic.twitter.com/GoWAw3yYSk

— Prep Baseball Minnesota (@PrepBaseballMN) December 18, 2025

Velocity gains are also coming from across the state, not just the metro. Mitch Brown, a Rochester Century alum and former Cleveland Indians draft pick, has become a key figure in southeastern Minnesota. In the 2026 class, three of the top ten velocities came from that region through players like Hudson Ohm, Elias Walch, and Brayden Kottschade. Other hard throwers, including Ethan Mrnak and Ryan Hjellming, have also trained under Brown at the Yard Training center.

“There’s more of a push to prioritize velocity, and players are investing more into it,” Walsh says. “It’s no longer just pitching a couple days a week. Now it’s two or three days of pitching paired with two or three days of lifting and performance work. That commitment is a big reason we’re seeing the jump in velocity.”

This might not be a trend that is slowing anytime soon. Six pitchers from the class of 2027 have already reached 90, with another dozen sitting right on the doorstep. What felt like an outlier number a few years ago is starting to look like the new baseline, and it is not hard to project a future where 20 or more arms in a single Minnesota class are touching 90.

“When you look at the 2027 class coming in, the physicality really stands out," Peterson remarks. "These are bigger, stronger athletes. We even have 2028s who are already 6-foot-3, 215 pounds and they’re sophomores.”

The data suggests Minnesota has reached a tipping point. With improved coaching, better access to facilities, and a generation of players fully bought into physical development, velocity is no longer the exception. It is becoming part of the baseline expectation, and the next wave may already be on its way.

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UPCOMING MINNESOTA EVENTS

EVENT	DATE	LOCATION
Preseason ID-Central Minnesota	02/28	St. John's University
Rising Stars ID-Central Minnesota (2030s only)	02/28	St. John's University
Preseason ID-Mankato	03/07	Bethany Lutheran College
Rising Stars ID-Mankato (2030s only)	03/07	Bethany Lutheran College
Preseason ID-Twin Cities	03/08	Mash Campus
Rising Stars ID-Twin Cities S1 (2030s only)	03/08	Mash Campus
Preseason All-State (Invite Only)	03/14-3/15	Mash Campus
Rising Stars ID-Twin Cities S2 (2030s only)	03/14	Mash Campus
Rising Stars ID-Twin Cities S3 (2030s only)	03/15	Mash Campus