Brady
Backes

RHP Brady Backes (La Salle-Peru) provided an intriguing look over his two innings of work. A strong 6-foot-4, 210-pounds, Backes flashed the ability to throw all of his offerings for strikes. His fastball was firm at 84-87 mph (T88) with arm-side run to pair. He complimented his fastball with an 11/5 curveball sitting 71-72 mph that had depth with over 2200 rpm on average, paired with a sharp slider at 74-77 mph that had over 2400 rpm on average. Backes finished with two punchouts over two hitless innings.

Positional Profile: RHP/3B
Body: 6-4, 210.5-pounds.
Delivery: Minimal leg lift, quick worker, long extension down the mound with an in-line stride, gains momentum and leads with front hip.
Arm Action: RH. Compact, quick arm action, high 3/4 slot. Struck out two and walked two against no hits or runs in two innings of work.
FB: T88, 85-87 mph. Firm with slight run, thrown mostly arm-side, strikes. T2140, 1895 average rpm. CB: 71-73 mph. 11/5 shape, shorter shape. T2340, 2278 average rpm.
SL: 75-77 mph. Firm slider with sharp break, 10/4 shape. T2445, 2403 average rpm.
CH: 79-82 mph. Similar movement to fastball, mimics FB out of the hand. T2139, 2040 average rpm.
CUT: 78-81 mph. Thrown glove side, comes in similar to a fastball, short wrinkle.

RHP Brady Backes (LaSalle-Peru, 2025) is an athletically built 6-foot-3, 194-pound right-hander that flashed some intrigue on the bump. Out of a simple and repeatable delivery, Backes ran his four-seam fastball up to 88.2 mph that played mostly straight through the zone. His two-seamer, which was slightly slower, featured some heavy sinking action to his arm-side, maxing at nearly 16” of horizontal movement. He also featured a cut fastball in the 78-82 mph range that played particularly well off of his other fastballs as it flashed cutting action through the zone. As for his off-speeds, he spun in both a curveball and slider; the curveball featured some depth off an 11/5 plane and was also spun at over 2,300 RPM on average. His slider was thrown at arm-speed and sat in the mid-to-upper-70s with short lateral action through the zone. Rounding out his repertoire was a low-80s changeup with some fade and depth which he killed spin on.

Positional Profile: RHP/3B
Body: 6-3, 194-pounds. Muscular build with present lower-half strength.
Delivery: Controlled leg-lift into tall and fall, closed stride, simple.
Arm Action: RH. Shorter arm path, some looseness out front. 3/4 release.
FB: T88, 82-87 mph. 4S: Mostly straight, clean out of hand, some life. 2S: Heavy fading action. T2292, 2046 average rpm.
CB: 69-72 mph. Depth off of an 11/5 plane. T2413, 2335 average rpm.
SL: 75-77 mph. Short lateral cut, some feel for the zone. T2272, 2229 average rpm.
CH: 80-80 mph. Fade and depth, some feel for the zone. T1791, 1741 average rpm.
CUT: 78-82 mph. Short cutting action.

The 6-foot-4, 195-pound Backes pitched in the low-80s, touching 85 mph with his fastball, and showed a 75-78 mph cutter too, to go along with a CB/SL/CH mix.

Positional Profile: RHP/3B
Body: 6-4, 195-pounds.
Delivery: Tall/fall delivery, tight leg lift tuck, open stride with an in-line front foot at landing.
Arm Action: RH. Short arm path, 3/4 slot.
FB: T85, 80-83 mph. Low spin, plays straight. T1883, 1642 average rpm.
CB: 68-69 mph. 11/5 shape, gradual action. T2203, 2108 average rpm.
SL: 72-72 mph. Similar shape to cutter at a lesser velocity band. T2282, 2282 average rpm.
CH: 76-76 mph. Used sparingly. T1754, 1754 average rpm.
CUT: 74-78 mph. Tight spin.

RHP Brady Backes (LaSalle-Peru, 2025) is a 6-foot-1, 183-pounds incoming junior that works with a hybrid, side-step delivery but showed more comfort working from the stretch. The arm works short, with acceleration out front from a high ¾ slot. Backes currently works with a five-pitch mix consisting of a fastball, curveball, slider, changeup, and cutter. The fastball sat 84-85 mph, topping at 85.6 mph with ride while the changeup was the best of the off-speed offering playing with some feel at the bottom of the zone. The curveball was the better of the breaking balls, displaying sharp 12/6 action.