On Feb. 19, the PBR Illinois staff traveled to the Pullman Community Center in Chicago to host the Chicago Preseason ID. This event provided us an ample opportunity to check-in on some of the area’s top high school prospects and identify several new names to know as we prepare for the IHSA season, as well as future invite-only events on the PBR Illinois calendar.

Yesterday, we took a closer look at some of the immediate standouts who caught our attention with our Quick Hits. Now, we will take a further in-depth look at the top pitchers with the help of our tech partnerships, broken down by the categories down below: 

Below you'll find which players popped on the numerical side at Chicago’s Pullman Center over the weekend.

TRACKMAN

FASTBALL

VELOCITY (MAX)

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Velocity (max)
1	Henry Rouch	IL	Evanston Township	2024	RHP	89.9 mph
2	Luke Mejdrich	IL	Hampshire	2024	RHP	85.1 mph
3	Matthew Richert	IL	St. Ignatius	2024	RHP	84.8 mph
4	Kenneth Jackson	IL	Simeon	2023	RHP	84.7 mph
5	Andrew (AJ) Payton	IL	Burlington Central	2024	RHP	84.2 mph

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

SPIN RATE (AVG.)

Rank	Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Spin Rate (avg)
1	Henry Rouch	IL	Evanston Township	2024	RHP	2238 rpm
2	Kenneth Jackson	IL	Simeon	2023	RHP	2200 rpm
3	William Nazha	IL	Barrington	2024	2B	2137 rpm
4	Matthew Richert	IL	St. Ignatius	2024	RHP	2126 rpm
5	Nathan Cera	IL	Maine South	2026	OF	2117 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.)

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 efficiency. 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%

 

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CURVEBALL

SPIN RATE (AVG.)

INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

 

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SLIDER

SPIN RATE (AVG.)

INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

 

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CHANGEUP

HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)

STRIKE ZONE RATE%

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

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