Top Prospect Games: Pitching Data Dive
August 14, 2026
On Wednesday, August 12th, the Prep Baseball Ontario staff hosted it's first Top Prospect Games since 2018, hosted at the Ajax Sportsplex.
This event featured roughly 65 prospects in the 2027 - 2029 classes and featured a slew of high-profile players, as well as a the majority of the event being comprised of Top 100 prospects within their respective classes. The event allows top players within their classes to compete in live game-action, as well as update their profiles during an important recruiting window heading into the fall.
All players ran through a full workout that included batting practice captured on TrackMan and Blast Motion, in-game TrackMan data for pitchers, 60-yard sprints and splits via VALD Performance, vizual testing through Vizual Edge, positional velocities and updated height/weight. Over the next several days we'll be highlighting top performers from the event within our post-event analysis. Stay locked into our social media channels over the next several days as we continue to push out video, leaderboards and more.
Earlier this week, we broke down the top measurable data performers from the event with our Statistical Analysis article. Now, we will take a further in-depth look at the top pitchers with the help of our tech partner, TrackMan, broken down by the categories down below:
For complete event results, click here.
To view Ontario's Class of 2026 Commitment Board, click here.
FASTBALL
MAX VELOCITY (MPH)
Max Fastball Velocity: This metric calculates the speed of the pitch as it’s released from the pitcher’s hand.
SPIN RATE (AVG)
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.”