Prep Baseball Report

La Crosse Summer ID: Positional Data Dive


By: Anthony Jablonski
Prep Baseball Wisconsin Staff

On August 25th, the Prep Baseball Wisconsin staff hosted the La Crosse Summer ID at Copeland Park in La Crosse, WI. Nearly 10 players participated in a pro-style workout, gathering unrivaled access to data through our state-of-the-art tech partners, as well as in-depth scouting analysis from our Prep Wisconsin staff.

We've already posted a Statistical Analysis from the event, highlighting more of the traditional statistical categories. Also, we released our Takeaways story, highlighting some of the event's top performers.

Today, we will take a further in-depth look at the top positional players with the help of our tech partnerships, broken down by the categories down below:


VALD

60-YARD

Rank Name State School Class Pos 60-yard
1 Kameron Gruening WI Hudson 2028 SS 7.01
2 Teag Stephenson WI Tomah 2028 SS 7.28
3 Parker Pangier MN Eagan High School 2027 SS 7.32
4 Ryne Sprout MN East Ridge 2028 C 7.42
5 Donny Baures MN Cotter Schools 2027 OF 7.47

MAX VERTICAL JUMP

Rank Name State School Class Pos Jump Height (max)
1 Kameron Gruening WI Hudson 2028 SS 22.5
2 Ryne Sprout MN East Ridge 2028 C 20.8
3 Teag Stephenson WI Tomah 2028 SS 19.8
^ Parker Pangier MN Eagan High School 2027 SS 19.8
4 Donny Baures MN Cotter Schools 2027 OF 19.4
5 Grady Barfknecht WI New Lisbon Junior High/High 2027 C 17.6

The ability to develop force quickly is a requisite ability in most sports. The Reactive Strength Index (RSI) has been developed as a measure of explosive strength and is derived by evaluating jump height divided by ground contact time during the depth jump. Regarding Vertical Jumps and its application to baseball, there have been studies conducted that show a correlation between max jump height for an athlete and their ability to generate power and strength, especially on the mound.


TRACKMAN

We'll continue to roll out the data we gathered from this event, starting with the analytics we have at our disposal from our TrackMan units. Below we'll look at which players had noteworthy batted ball and pitch data.

EXIT VELOCITY (MAX)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Exit Velocity (max)
1 Kameron Gruening WI Hudson 2028 SS 95.5 mph
2 Donny Baures MN Cotter Schools 2027 OF 93.5 mph
3 Ryne Sprout MN East Ridge 2028 C 90.3 mph
4 Parker Pangier MN Eagan High School 2027 SS 90.3 mph
5 Grady Barfknecht WI New Lisbon Junior High/High 2027 C 87.9 mph

EXIT VELOCITY (AVERAGE)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Exit Velocity (avg)
1 Kameron Gruening WI Hudson 2028 SS 88.3 mph
2 Donny Baures MN Cotter Schools 2027 OF 85.1 mph
3 Ryne Sprout MN East Ridge 2028 C 84.9 mph
4 Parker Pangier MN Eagan High School 2027 SS 80.3 mph
5 Grady Barfknecht WI New Lisbon Junior High/High 2027 C 79.5 mph

Exit Velocity: This metric measures the speed of the ball, measured in miles per hour, as it comes off the bat at the moment of contact.

Batted Ball (MAX)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Distance (max)
1 Donny Baures MN Cotter Schools 2027 OF 351 ft
2 Kameron Gruening WI Hudson 2028 SS 350 ft
3 Ryne Sprout MN East Ridge 2028 C 341 ft
4 Parker Pangier MN Eagan High School 2027 SS 324 ft
5 Teag Stephenson WI Tomah 2028 SS 324 ft

Sweet Spot %

Rank Name State School Class Pos Sweet Spot %
1 Ryne Sprout MN East Ridge 2028 C 80 %
2 Drew Thurston WI Brookwood 2028 3B 60 %
^ Grady Barfknecht WI New Lisbon Junior High/High 2027 C 60 %
^ Parker Pangier MN Eagan High School 2027 SS 60 %
3 Kameron Gruening WI Hudson 2028 SS 50 %

Sweet Spot percentage: This metric is determined by how often the player produces a batted ball during the session with a launch angle between 8 to 32 degrees.


BLAST

With the help of our Blast Motion sensors, we're analyzing the swing metrics measured at this open showcase.

HAND SPEED (AVERAGE)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Hand Speed (avg)
1 Kameron Gruening WI Hudson 2028 SS 20.8 mph
2 Parker Pangier MN Eagan High School 2027 SS 20.7 mph
3 Donny Baures MN Cotter Schools 2027 OF 20.5 mph
4 Drew Thurston WI Brookwood 2028 3B 20.1 mph
5 Ryne Sprout MN East Ridge 2028 C 19.8 mph

Hand Speed: The observed speed as measured on the handle of the bat (measured six inches from the knob of the bat). Peak Hand Speed will occur prior to the moment of impact, very close to the commit time in the swing when the wrists unhinge.

BAT SPEED (AVERAGE)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Bat Speed (avg)
1 Kameron Gruening WI Hudson 2028 SS 70.3 mph
2 Donny Baures MN Cotter Schools 2027 OF 69.8 mph
3 Teag Stephenson WI Tomah 2028 SS 67.9 mph
4 Drew Thurston WI Brookwood 2028 3B 65.3 mph
5 Ryne Sprout MN East Ridge 2028 C 64.4 mph

Bat Speed: The observed speed of the sweet spot of the bat at impact. The sweet spot of the bat is measured six inches from the tip of the bat.

ROTATIONAL ACCELERATION (AVERAGE)

Rank Name State School Class Pos Rot. Acc (avg)
1 Kameron Gruening WI Hudson 2028 SS 20.8 g
2 Donny Baures MN Cotter Schools 2027 OF 16.6 g
3 Drew Thurston WI Brookwood 2028 3B 12.3 g
4 Grady Barfknecht WI New Lisbon Junior High/High 2027 C 8.9 g
5 Parker Pangier MN Eagan High School 2027 SS 6.7 g

Body Rotation: A swing that has the appropriate relative contributions of body and bat rotations is an efficient and Powerful swing that maintains proper sequencing. An efficient baseball swing is one in which the body creates the initial movements, which is then transferred to the arms and out to the bat, thereby maximizing Bat Speed through this proximal-to-distal kinematic sequencing movement pattern.

ON-PLANE EFFICIENCY %

Rank Name State School Class Pos On Plane Eff (avg)
1 Drew Thurston WI Brookwood 2028 3B 84 %
2 Grady Barfknecht WI New Lisbon Junior High/High 2027 C 68 %
3 Ryne Sprout MN East Ridge 2028 C 66 %
4 Kameron Gruening WI Hudson 2028 SS 61 %
5 Parker Pangier MN Eagan High School 2027 SS 52 %

On-Plane Efficiency %: measures the percentage of your swing where the bat is on the swing plane. Your Vertical Bat Angle (VBA) at contact establishes the plane for that specific swing. A high % is a great indicator of making consistent contact and barreling balls. Blast recommends an average of 70% or higher, with a range in the 65% to 85%.


VISUAL EDGE

A look at the top Vizual Edge scores from the event.

EDGE SCORE

Rank Name State School Class Pos Edge Score
1 Teag Stephenson WI Tomah 2028 SS 84.67
2 Drew Thurston WI Brookwood 2028 3B 80.84
3 Kameron Gruening WI Hudson 2028 SS 77.95
4 Ryne Sprout MN East Ridge 2028 C 75.89
5 Grady Barfknecht WI New Lisbon Junior High/High 2027 C 70.61

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 with typically show stronger scores, with elite hitters scoring consistently above 87.0 on their Edge Score.

+ CLICK HERE for a look at the complete statistics from the event.

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