Lockport Preseason I.D.: TrackMan Files

February 19, 2021
By Andy Sroka
Illinois and Wisconsin Assistant Director

On Feb. 15, the PBR Illinois team hosted the Lockport Preseason I.D. The event featured over 160 uncommitted prospects from across Illinois, and a few neighboring states.

If you missed us in Lockport, check out our showcase page to see when we’re in the neighborhood next.

On Wednesday, our staff collaborated to highlight the biggest takeaways and highlights from Monday's showcase, and we published them in our Quick Hits piece. Thursday, we published the leaderboards featuring the traditional statistics we measured at Lockport's event. Today, our TrackMan unit is helping us take a magnifying glass to the day's most noteworthy performances, from both the mound and the batter's box.

MAX FASTBALL VELOCITY & 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 Monday's showcase, CLICK HERE.