Prep Baseball Report

North Texas Upperclass Uncommitted Games: Pitcher Data Dive


By: Tyler Defibaugh
Prep Baseball Texas Staff

On Wednesday, July 29th, the PB Texas staff traveled to Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX, to host the North Texas Upperclass Uncommitted Games, an invite-only event for the classes of 2027 & 2028.

More than 20 players made their way to Tarleton State 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 Texas staff.

We have already released a Statistical Analysis from the event, highlighting more of the traditional statistical categories, as well as a Quick Hits, highlighting some of the events top performers. We also highlighted some of the top positional players within this Data Dive story.

Today, we will be looking at the top measurable data performers from the event, found below.


Trackman

FASTBALL

VELOCITY (MAX)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Velocity (max)
1 Kalum Garner TX Decatur 2027 RHP 87.7 mph
2 Cody Bowman TX Grapevine Faith Christian School 2027 RHP 84.8 mph
3 Jonathan Bland TX Rockwall-Heath 2027 LHP 84.8 mph
4 Gibson Palombo TX Pieper 2027 LHP 84.5 mph
5 Cade Park TX Burnet 2027 SS 82.7 mph

SPIN RATE (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Rate (avg)
1 Kalum Garner TX Decatur 2027 RHP 2232 rpm
2 Michael Ray TX Seminole H S 2027 LHP 2101 rpm
3 Cody Bowman TX Grapevine Faith Christian School 2027 RHP 2060 rpm
4 Pate Cody TX Henrietta H S 2027 OF 2012 rpm
5 Jonathan Bland TX Rockwall-Heath 2027 LHP 1995 rpm

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.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos IVB (avg)
1 Pate Cody TX Henrietta H S 2027 OF 18.2 in
2 Hudson Hall TX Denton Guyer 2027 RHP 17.1 in
3 Kalum Garner TX Decatur 2027 RHP 16.3 in
4 Gibson Palombo TX Pieper 2027 LHP 15.7 in
5 Jonathan Bland TX Rockwall-Heath 2027 LHP 11.6 in

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 vertical approach angle.

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Will Spaulding TX McKinney North 2028 1B 16.1
2 Cody Bowman TX Grapevine Faith Christian School 2027 RHP 13.8
3 Cade Park TX Burnet 2027 SS 12.4
4 Michael Ray TX Seminole H S 2027 LHP -9.5
5 Gibson Palombo TX Pieper 2027 LHP -9.4

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%

Rank Name State School Class Pos Zone %
1 Cade Park TX Burnet 2027 SS 70 %
2 Kalum Garner TX Decatur 2027 RHP 53 %
3 Cody Bowman TX Grapevine Faith Christian School 2027 RHP 52 %
4 Hudson Hall TX Denton Guyer 2027 RHP 50 %

Average MLB pitchers throw 62% strikes, and better pitchers throw strikes 65% of the time, or roughly 2:1 strikes to balls.


CURVEBALL

INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos IVB (avg)
1 Jonathan Bland TX Rockwall-Heath 2027 LHP 5.9 in
2 Will Spaulding TX McKinney North 2028 1B 3.3 in
3 Cody Bowman TX Grapevine Faith Christian School 2027 RHP 2.8 in
4 Michael Ray TX Seminole H S 2027 LHP -2.0 in
5 Hudson Hall TX Denton Guyer 2027 RHP 1.4 in

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Pate Cody TX Henrietta H S 2027 OF 7.7
2 Michael Ray TX Seminole H S 2027 LHP 6.1
3 Hudson Hall TX Denton Guyer 2027 RHP -5.0
4 Cody Bowman TX Grapevine Faith Christian School 2027 RHP 3.4
5 Jonathan Bland TX Rockwall-Heath 2027 LHP 1.1

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

Rank Name State School Class Pos Zone %
1 Pate Cody TX Henrietta H S 2027 OF 60 %
2 Michael Ray TX Seminole H S 2027 LHP 50 %


SLIDER

SPIN RATE (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Spin Rate (avg)
1 Kalum Garner TX Decatur 2027 RHP 2258
2 Gibson Palombo TX Pieper 2027 LHP 2115
3 Cody Bowman TX Grapevine Faith Christian School 2027 RHP 2107

INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos IVB (avg)
1 Gibson Palombo TX Pieper 2027 LHP 6.0 in
2 Will Spaulding TX McKinney North 2028 1B 4.0 in
3 Cade Park TX Burnet 2027 SS 3.1 in
4 Cody Bowman TX Grapevine Faith Christian School 2027 RHP 2.6 in
5 Kalum Garner TX Decatur 2027 RHP -1.6 in

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Gibson Palombo TX Pieper 2027 LHP 14.3
2 Kalum Garner TX Decatur 2027 RHP -9.4
3 Cade Park TX Burnet 2027 SS -4.5
4 Will Spaulding TX McKinney North 2028 1B -0.9
5 Cody Bowman TX Grapevine Faith Christian School 2027 RHP 0.3

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

Rank Name State School Class Pos Zone %
1 Kalum Garner TX Decatur 2027 RHP 50 %


CHANGEUP

INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos IVB (avg)
1 Gibson Palombo TX Pieper 2027 LHP 11.0 in
2 Hudson Hall TX Denton Guyer 2027 RHP 9.2 in
3 Pate Cody TX Henrietta H S 2027 OF 7.9 in
4 Jonathan Bland TX Rockwall-Heath 2027 LHP 7.7 in
5 Kalum Garner TX Decatur 2027 RHP 6.6 in

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

Rank Name State School Class Pos HM (avg)
1 Cade Park TX Burnet 2027 SS 12.6
2 Gibson Palombo TX Pieper 2027 LHP -11.7
3 Jonathan Bland TX Rockwall-Heath 2027 LHP -11.5
4 Pate Cody TX Henrietta H S 2027 OF -11.4
5 Kalum Garner TX Decatur 2027 RHP 8.9

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

Rank Name State School Class Pos Zone %
1 Jonathan Bland TX Rockwall-Heath 2027 LHP 100 %
2 Kalum Garner TX Decatur 2027 RHP 50 %
^ Pate Cody TX Henrietta H S 2027 OF 50 %

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


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