Prep Baseball Report, Vizual Edge expand partnership, enhancing PBR player profiles
November 23, 2021
In March of 2020, Prep Baseball Report and Vizual Edge announced a partnership that made the market leader in vision training the official vision evaluation and training technology of Prep Baseball Report. The COVID-19 pandemic forced our staff to slow the full integration of the Vizual Edge testing and training program during PBRevents, in an effort to limit the physical contact and sharing required to perform the testing accurately in-event.
Now that it has become more safe to run PBR events in a more traditional setting, we’re excited to announce that PBR and Vizual Edge are redefining the partnership, making these visual testing results more accessible to players, parents, and coaches as features contained within their personal PBR player profile.
"This partnership is a great value to all the players coming to Prep Baseball Report events," said Prep Baseball Report President Sean Duncan, when the partnership was originally announced. "The old baseball mantra of 'see ball, hit ball' is easier said than done. Vizual Edge gives players the data they need to see where their vision is and how they can improve it."
VIZUAL EDGE AT PBR SHOWCASES
Players who attended PBR showcases in 2021 may have already experienced the vision testing and eventual results that subsequently allowed them to improve upon their vision and tracking skills, designed to improve the speed, coordination and efficiency of eye movements. Simply put, players who benefit from the Vizual Edge training stand a better chance in the batter’s box.
For the players who completed a Vizual Edge test at a PBR showcase in 2021, and from now on, their visual skills assessment will be made viewable within their own PBR profile, labeled as their Edge Score. The Edge Score is a comprehensive score out of 100 that takes the core-six visual skills into account, providing athletes, parents, coaches and scouts with a benchmark number for assessing an athlete’s overall visual ability. In general the higher the Edge Score, the higher chance of athletic success.
“We’re excited to move to the next level in our relationship with PBR,” said Lukas McKnight, the Director of Baseball at Vizual Edge, and former Assistant Scouting Director of Amateur Scouting for the Chicago Cubs. “They’ve been great partners for us these past two seasons in testing at numerous showcases and events, and we’re excited about the increased visibility of our Edge Score – a metric that MLB teams have relied on for the past 15 drafts – as an integral part of PBR’s player profiles. We think players will increasingly see the value in vision training as a way to improve their pitch recognition and timing all while trying to boost their Edge Scores on their player profile. In an era of increased velocity and nasty breaking balls, vision training is an important part of hitters’ development that will help put more offense back into the modern game.”
2021 SUPER 60 PRO SHOWCASE
We were fortunate enough to host Vizual Edge at the 19th edition of the Super 60 Pro Showcase, the second consecutive year the group conducted their vision testing at this prestigious PBR event. We published Vizual Edge’s findings in the weeks that followed the Super 60, with insight into the purpose of each testing category, supported by detailed explanations into the data collected. We’ll share the analysis once again below.
EDGE SCORE
RANK | NAME | EDGE SCORE | STATE | SCHOOL | POS |
1 | Braden Montgomery | 84.3 | MS | Madison Central | OF/RHP |
2 | Will Rogers | 83.7 | MN | Mounds View | C |
3 | Ian Moller | 83.2 | IA | Dubuque Wahlert | C |
4 | Cameron Butler | 81.8 | CA | Big Valley Christian | OF |
5 | Anthony Migliaccio | 81.4 | MI | Detroit Country Day | C |
The Edge Score is a comprehensive score out of 100 that takes the core-six visual skills into account, providing athletes, parents, coaches and scouts with a benchmark number for assessing an athlete’s overall visual ability. In general the higher the Edge Score, the higher chance of athletic success. Think of the Edge Score as the 'Sixth Metric' in the standard Five-Tools that make up a ball player.
The average Edge Score for the 2020 MLB Draft Class was 79.3 (of hitters who completed a Vizual Edge test). MLB players we've worked typically show stronger scores, with elite hitters scoring consistently above 87.0 on their Edge Score.
TRAINING AT HOME
At the end of the day, good vision alone isn't going to make a player into Major League material, but it does play a critical role in performance. There are many variables that make the entire profile of an athlete, and Vizual Edge believes visual skills are one of them. Regardless of what a player's scores are now, the good news is that visual skills are trainable and something they can do right at home.
Vizual Edge trains each of these visual skills in a simple, online platform called the Edge Trainer. It is designed to improve each of these skills in just 15 minutes, three times a week. To learn more about the Vizual Edge online vision training and evaluation program, please visit vizualedge.com/pbr.
ABOUT VIZUAL EDGE: Vizual Edge is a market leader in visual performance assessment and training using its web-based platform, the Edge Trainer. Over the past 15 years, the Vizual Edge team has designed and implemented visual performance programs for Olympic, Professional, and Collegiate teams, as well as individuals across all levels of athletics. The Edge Trainer was developed to train and enhance an individual’s core six visual skills, which has been proven to give athletes a competitive advantage through heightened overall vision. For more information on Vizual Edge or for the latest news and event announcements, please visit vizualedge.com or find @VizualEdge on Twitter.
ABOUT PREP BASEBALL REPORT: Prep Baseball Report brings together baseball events and digital coverage in a combination unmatched by any other organization. PBR has established itself as a leader in both content and events around amateur baseball, and over the last 15 years has branched out to cover the United States and Canada from coast to coast. PBR employs scouting experts at both the state and national levels, with boots on the ground wherever baseball is played. PBR also conducts more than 1,000 events for youth and high school performance baseball players across the nation, with both showcases and tournaments. For more information visit prepbaseballreport.com, or connect with Prep Baseball Report on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.