McHenry Preseason I.D.: TrackMan Files
February 3, 2021
On Jan. 31, the PBR Illinois team hosted its first showcase of the new year: the McHenry Preseason I.D. For the past five years, this event has provided our staff with an opportunity to evaluate high school-aged prospects from Northern Illinois, primarily. The McHenry event has historically revealed to us some of the area’s top talent, and this year was no different.
If you missed us in McHenry, check out our showcase page to see when we’re in the neighborhood next.
On Monday, our staff collaborated to highlight the biggest takeaways from Sunday’s showcase, and we published them within this Quick Hits piece. We published our traditional statistics measured on Tuesday, inside of our Statistical Analysis post.
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. Keep an eye out tomorrow, too, when we assess Blast Motion's findings from Sunday.
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)
| Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Exit Velocity (avg) |
| 1 | Ryan Kelly | IL | Huntley | 2022 | C | 91.2 mph |
| 2 | Jacob Filip | IL | Lakes Community | 2022 | C | 91.2 mph |
| 3 | Brayden Bakes | IL | Huntley | 2023 | OF | 90.5 mph |
| 4 | Jacob Buysse | IL | Mundelein | 2022 | 1B | 90.3 mph |
| 5 | Michael Vitellaro | IL | Huntley | 2022 | LHP | 89.9 mph |
| 6 | Ryan Bakes | IL | Huntley | 2023 | C | 88.8 mph |
| 7 | Connor Rodgers | IL | McHenry | 2022 | C | 87.2 mph |
| 8 | Sheppard Graf | IL | Lake Forest | 2023 | 3B | 87.2 mph |
| 9 | Beau McBride | IL | New Trier | 2024 | LHP | 86.6 mph |
| 10 | Rick Powell | IL | McHenry | 2021 | OF | 86.6 mph |
| 11 | Chandler Alderman | IL | North Boone | 2023 | LHP | 86.4 mph |
| 12 | Ryan Kempf | IL | Crystal Lake Central | 2022 | 3B | 86.1 mph |
| 13 | Jake Zitella | IL | St. Charles East | 2023 | 3B | 86.0 mph |
| 14 | Chris Danko | IL | York | 2024 | OF | 86.0 mph |
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 Sunday's showcase, CLICK HERE.