Prep Baseball Report

Class of 2023 Showcase: Blast Motion Board


Kevin Cronin
Tech Scout / Area Scout

On Sunday, October 10, the PBR Illinois staff returned to The MAX Sports Complex to host the Class of 2023 Showcase. This annual event serves as an opportunity for prospects in the state’s current junior class to display their talents in front of our scouting staff prior to the start of the off-season. There were more than 60+ prospects that made the trip to The MAX on Sunday and participated in a pro-style workout in front of our evaluators.

Earlier today we published a Statistical Analysis, bringing you a quick statistical analysis of those that participated in the event, as well as a quick nugget on which players stood out. We then started to dive deeper into the data, looking at the pitch metrics and batted ball numbers from this event inside our TrackMan Files piece.

Now we'll continue to roll out the data we gathered from this event by taking a look at the swing metrics collected during batting practice thanks to our Blast Motion sensors. Below we'll highlight which players from this event stood out amongst their peers from a swing metrics standpoint. 

Hand Speed (Peak & Average)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hand Speed (max)
1 Jayden Malone IL Metea Valley 2023 OF 27.7 mph
2 Mario Recio IL UIC College Prep 2023 SS 25.7 mph
3 Easton Steck IL Galesburg 2023 SS 24.8 mph
^ Graham Mastros IL New Trier 2023 3B 24.8 mph
4 Brandon Brokowski IL Evanston 2023 C 24.3 mph
5 Ben Flerlage IL Latin School of Chicago 2023 OF 23.8 mph
^ Jason Sullivan IL Sandburg 2023 OF 23.8 mph

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hand Speed (avg)
1 Jayden Malone IL Metea Valley 2023 OF 26.3 mph
2 Easton Steck IL Galesburg 2023 SS 24.4 mph
3 Mario Recio IL UIC College Prep 2023 SS 23.8 mph
4 Brandon Brokowski IL Evanston 2023 C 23.7 mph
5 Blake Binkowski IL Lincoln-Way East 2023 1B 22.7 mph

Peak Hand Speed: The observed maximum speed as measured on the handle of the bat (measured six inches from the knob of the bat). Peak Hand Speed will occur prior to the moment of impact, very close to the commit time in the swing when the wrists unhinge.

Bat Speed (Average)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Bat Speed (avg)
1 Luke Stulga IL St. Laurence 2023 OF 73.5 mph
2 Jayden Malone IL Metea Valley 2023 OF 73.0 mph
3 Blake Binkowski IL Lincoln-Way East 2023 1B 73.0 mph
4 NJ Gott IL Glenbrook North 2023 1B 72.7 mph
5 Easton Steck IL Galesburg 2023 SS 71.7 mph
6 Mario Recio IL UIC College Prep 2023 SS 71.6 mph

Bat Speed: The observed speed of the sweet spot of the bat at impact. The sweet spot of the bat is measured six inches from the tip of the bat.

Rotational Acceleration (Peak & Average)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Rot. Acc (max)
1 Jayden Malone IL Metea Valley 2023 OF 37.9 g
2 Ben Flerlage IL Latin School of Chicago 2023 OF 31.8 g
3 Matt Spell IL Brother Rice 2023 3B 29.5 g
4 Luke Stulga IL St. Laurence 2023 OF 24.4 g
5 Kevin Hall Jr IN Munster 2023 UTILITY 23.7 g

Rank Name State School Class Pos Rot. Acc (avg)
1 Jayden Malone IL Metea Valley 2023 OF 32.3 g
2 Matt Spell IL Brother Rice 2023 3B 24.9 g
3 Ben Flerlage IL Latin School of Chicago 2023 OF 22.4 g

Body Rotation: A swing that has the appropriate relative contributions of body and bat rotations is an efficient and Powerful swing that maintains proper sequencing. An efficient baseball swing is one in which the body creates the initial movements, which is then transferred to the arms and out to the bat, thereby maximizing Bat Speed through this proximal-to-distal kinematic sequencing movement pattern.

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

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