Welcome back to Trackman Traits. In this piece we will be dissecting the numbers the Trackman produces and the effect they can have on a pitcher's approach. Below there will be definitions of each category that we believe to be the most important for a young arm to keep in mind as well as breaking down an arm and giving suggestions on how they can improve their game. Keep in mind, in some categories it is better to be further away from average even if the numbers are wavering on below average. 

FASTBALL VELOCITY

Fastball velocity doesn't go much deeper than just looking at the numbers and comparing them to the graphic below! Fastball velocity complements just about all of the other metrics that are measured. If you throw hard, it makes all your other pitches/metrics even better.

FASTBALL SPIN RATE

Spin rate is a measurement that if you are below average or above average, you can pitch with more room for error. On the other hand, if you are average you should try to throw in the bottom half of the zone with exceptional command. High spin fastballs profile as one that is frequently described as having "late life". Low spin fastballs tend to profile as a fastball that has heavy feel to it. Pitch movement is still dependent on spin direction of the pitch but Trackman does not have that metric displayed on profiles. 

BAUER UNITS

Bauer Units are an easier way of determining how useful the spin numbers are compared to the velocity. We can calculate this metric by taking average spin rate and dividing it by average velocity. Bauer Units are useful because we can have a case of two pitchers with the same spin numbers, ex. 2200 RPM, but one pitcher throws 90 MPH and the other throws 83 MPH. The pitcher throwing 90 MPH with 2200 spin is not as impressive as the pitcher throwing 83 MPH with the same spin. Typically, we would tell the harder throwing pitcher to throw up in the zone purely off his velocity and his high spin, but because his Bauer Units would equate to around 24 that would be only 1 unit off of average (23), therefore he would want to hammer the bottom of the zone. On the other side, the pitcher throwing 83 MPH has a Bauer Unit measurement of 26 which is incredibly impressive. This would allow him to throw up in the zone even though his velocity is not blow away type numbers because he produces above average spin with that slated velocity. 

FASTBALL INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK

As far as deception and importance goes, fast induced vertical break (IVB) may be the most important. Induced vertical break is not what is sounds. IVB simply means the pitch is "breaking" upward from the average level a pitch falls from release to home plate. This is a stat that you want to stay away from being average at. Fortunately, this can be tweaked slightly depending on release height. To put it simply, the higher number =  more "rise" the pitch has compared to average. Lower number = more depth the pitch has to it. 

CURVEBALL SPIN RATE

Spin rate on curveballs is pretty simple: higher spin = nastier stuff. There are some ways to manipulate spin numbers slightly but for the most part spin is spin. At the moment, there are no well known ways to change your spin in a big way. Spin not only dictates how sharp your curveball is, but it can also aid in keeping hitters honest by having similar rotation matching that of your fastball. 

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Billy Morris

Class of 2022 / SS

Rankings  StateRank: 119 / POS: 20

Player Information

• Graduating Class: 2022
• Primary Position: SS
  Secondary Position: RHP
• High School: Lancaster
  State: NY
• Summer Team: Thunderwolves Baseball
• Height: 5-10
  Weight: 172lbs
• Bat/Throw: R/R

2020 Scouting Reports

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9/11/20

Physical: 5-foot-10, 165 pounds; lean, athletic frame. 7.77 runner in the 60.
Offensively: RHH. Old school style stance with narrow feet and very bent knees, tips the barrel toward the pitch with low hands below his shoulder; intriguing stance; moves his foot from open and strides back even, uses small wiggle in the barrel to keep rhythm in the hands. Active lower half, propels himself into the pitch through his already loaded back side with long, twitchy swing that works uphill creating lift. Hit the ball well when he caught it out in front, displayed the ability to hit it all over the field; peak Trackman exit velocity of 87 MPH.
Defensively: Tall stance with feet that work into the position; Takes prep steps to the ball and moves well to it, gets around the right side with constant movement in the feet. Easy hands that funnel effectively to his belt, works a clean transfer; rigid actions in the arm into a 3/4 slot. INF - 79 MPH.
Pitching: Slow pace to the delivery until he gets to peak leg lift and then carries good momentum down the slope, throws off a firm front leg. Arm action is a little more fluid here than from SS, has some looseness and whip to it from a 3/4 slot. FB: Peak velo of 82 MPH, while sitting 79-82 MPH. Filled up the zone with a FB that had good ride through the zone. CB: 68-70 MPH. Displayed a quality curveball that could serve well as a good secondary pitch. SL: 68-69 MPH. Threw a slider that could use some refinement but could evolve into a swing and miss pitch in his repertoire. 

7/06/20

Physical: 5-foot-10, 160 pounds; Lean, athletic build. 7.96 runner in the 60.
Offensively: RHH. Wide open stance sitting into back side with hands relaxed down in front of back shoulder; tow tap stride gaining ground back to even while hands load back and up. aggressive effort into a stiff front side with direct to contact with a 4 degree attack angle and a 52% on plane efficiency; plus bat speed averaging 66 MPH.  Good feel for the barrel with hard line drives to all fields; peak Trackman exit velocity of 89 MPH.
Defensively: walks into ready position; active foot work playing through the ball routinely and ability to range laterally. soft glove work with a clean transfer; short arm action to a 3/4 slot.   INF - 80 MPH.  
Pitching: Fundamental delivery building momentum with a high leg lift before striding in line and accelerating through release. Moderate take away to a high, clean 3/4 release. FB: T 81MPH, 77-80 MPH. Has life and ride through the zone with average spin of 2220 RPM and 19.4 inches of vertical ride.. CB: 67-71 MPH. Advanced sweeping curveball with average vertical drop of 2.7 inches and 17.1 inches of horizontal movement. KN: 65-68 MPH. Commands with good arm speed and tumble into the zone.

2/17/20

Physical: 5-foot-10, 155-pounds. Lean frame with room to add size.
Run: 8.22 runner in the 60.
Hit: RHH. Crouched, open stance with bent knees, wide base, hands start out in front of body level with his back shoulder, uses toe tap and small stride for timing Has pull side tendencies, gets the barrel out in front early, good use of lower half, high two-handed finish.
Power: 82 MPH raw exit velocity. Hard contact to the pull side with power potential.
Defense: Choppy footwork on approach, works from the ground up, soft hands fielding the ball on his arm hands, good lateral movements.
Arm: Short arm swing with a 3/4 slot. INF - 80 MPH. Pitching Delivery: Simple delivery, builds momentum with high leg lift, strides in line as he accelerates through a balanced, repeatable follow though.
Arm Action: Mid arm swing, hand comes back out of the glove to a 3/4 release.
FB: T80, 77-80 MPH. Arm side run with downhill plane.
CB: 67-68 MPH. Sharp break with 11-5 shape.
CH: 70-73 MPH. Maintains hand speed with arm side fade.
KN: 66-68 MPH. Good arm speed, drops though the zone.

Videos

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(9/11/20)

Fastball Breakdown

Velocity: Initially, Billy Morris does not pop as far as fastball velocity goes, but throughout this article we will not be primarily focused in on velocity. Although his max is 82 MPH that still would slot him in between the top 25-50% among all high school fastball velocities.    

Spin Rate: If you take a look at his Trackman numbers, there is no doubt that Morris has the pure ability to spin the baseball whether it's with his heater or his breaking ball. Morris tops the peak of the comparison chart in spin among both high school and college level. If we were to compare him at the pro level for spin he would fall in the top 25%. Morris has elite spin rate among high school arms and one thing with fastball spin is there is usually some left over velocity in the tank when the spin is higher than it would compare with the given velo. So, two things we can take away are: Morris maintains absurd spin that could make the ball appear to be moving quicker than it is and he could see a tick up in velocity in the near future, given that he continues to mature and fill out. 

Bauer Units: Morris caps out at 32 units on the Bauer Unit scale. To put into perspective, league average among big leaguers is typically 22-23. Morris is nearly 10 units above big league average! Morris would certainly see success in the upper half of the zone with his sneaky spin on his fastball. 

Induced Vertical Break: Because IVB is reliant on velocity, Morris has tremendous numbers at the high school level due to his 82 MPH fastball velocity. Although it is not a guarantee, but typically the harder he would throw the harder it becomes to maintain the high IVB numbers. At the end of the day, you don't typically lose that ability to spin the ball so we could assume due to his high spin, if his velo were to go up the IVB would remain the same. 

Curveball Breakdown

Spin Rate: As we already know, Morris has elite spin on everything he throws but even more so on his curveball. The high spin gives him the ability to tunnel this pitch nicely off his fastball. At the high school level you typically see pitchers throw a curveball with lower spin than their fastball, this is not the case here. High spin is beneficial because when approaching the plate, the ball can appear the same to a hitter until obviously a couple feet away from the plate when it falls off the table. At the end of the day, not matter how you spin it (no pun intended), a +3000 RPM curveball is nothing to turn your nose up at, no matter the level of play. 
 

Horizontal/Vertical Break: Quite frankly, his Trackman numbers for HZ/VT Break seem pretty up to par with what the spin would tell us. -16 IVB with -23 HM is an absolute banger of a breaking ball. There is no chart to compare these numbers off of, but trust me when I say that. As you can see in the video Morris owns a banger curveball that quite simply falls off the table. The curveball could be thrown as either a "get me over" pitch early in the count or a swing and miss pitch to put away a hitter. 

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