Southwest Chicago Preseason ID: Pitching Data Dive
February 6, 2024
On Feb. 3rd, the Prep Baseball Illinois staff hosted the Southwest Chicago Preseason ID at Go Pro Sports Dome in Minooka, Ill. Nearly 30 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 Baseball Illinois staff.
Yesterday, we looked at the top measurable data performers from the event, found in our Statistical Analysis, where we broke down the stat leaders from the more traditional categories. Today, we will take a further in-depth look at the top pitchers with the help of our tech partnerships, broken down by the categories down below:
TRACKMAN
FASTBALL
VELOCITY (MAX)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Velocity (max) |
1 | Ronan Owens | IL | Lane Tech | 2026 | RHP | 86.5 mph |
2 | Austin Aldridge | IL | Seneca | 2024 | C | 86.2 mph |
3 | Caden Kendall | IL | Andrew | 2026 | SS | 86.0 mph |
4 | Cole Harris | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | RHP | 85.8 mph |
5 | Shawn Krieps | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | 2B | 82.5 mph |
Max Fastball Velocity: This metric calculates the speed of the pitch as it’s released from the pitcher’s hand.
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Franklin Kirchner | IL | Conant | 2025 | LHP | 2212 rpm |
2 | Ronan Owens | IL | Lane Tech | 2026 | RHP | 2145 rpm |
3 | Cole Harris | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | RHP | 2136 rpm |
4 | Shawn Krieps | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | 2B | 2112 rpm |
5 | Austin Aldridge | IL | Seneca | 2024 | C | 2062 rpm |
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.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Shawn Krieps | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | 2B | 15.7 in |
2 | Tyler Weigand | IL | Northside College Prep | 2025 | SS | 15.6 in |
3 | Cole Harris | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | RHP | 15.5 in |
4 | Austin Aldridge | IL | Seneca | 2024 | C | 15.3 in |
5 | Franklin Kirchner | IL | Conant | 2025 | LHP | 15.0 in |
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.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Josh Glass | IL | Yorkville | 2025 | RHP | 16.7 |
2 | Caden Kendall | IL | Andrew | 2026 | SS | 14.8 |
3 | Cole Harris | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | RHP | 12.9 |
4 | Aiden Wills | IL | Coal City | 2025 | RHP | 11.9 |
5 | Shawn Krieps | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | 2B | 11.5 |
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.”
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Jake Williams | IL | Wheaton North | 2025 | SS | 66 % |
2 | Ronan Owens | IL | Lane Tech | 2026 | RHP | 57 % |
^ | Jameson Rapinchuk | IL | Aurora Christian | 2026 | LHP | 57 % |
Average MLB pitchers throw 62% strikes, and better pitchers throw strikes 65% of the time, or roughly 2:1 strikes to balls.
CURVEBALL
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Austin Aldridge | IL | Seneca | 2024 | C | 2237 rpm |
2 | Ronan Owens | IL | Lane Tech | 2026 | RHP | 2109 rpm |
3 | Cole Harris | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | RHP | 2058 rpm |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Caden Kendall | IL | Andrew | 2026 | SS | -8.7 in |
2 | Cole Harris | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | RHP | -8.0 in |
3 | Jake Williams | IL | Wheaton North | 2025 | SS | -4.5 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Caden Kendall | IL | Andrew | 2026 | SS | -15.8 |
2 | Shawn Krieps | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | 2B | -11.2 |
3 | Ronan Owens | IL | Lane Tech | 2026 | RHP | -8.4 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Josh Glass | IL | Yorkville | 2025 | RHP | 80 % |
2 | Aiden Wills | IL | Coal City | 2025 | RHP | 75 % |
3 | Cole Harris | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | RHP | 66 % |
SLIDER
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Austin Aldridge | IL | Seneca | 2024 | C | 2557 |
2 | Franklin Kirchner | IL | Conant | 2025 | LHP | 2197 |
3 | Ronan Owens | IL | Lane Tech | 2026 | RHP | 2152 |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Cole Harris | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | RHP | 7.5 in |
2 | Jake Williams | IL | Wheaton North | 2025 | SS | 7.4 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Franklin Kirchner | IL | Conant | 2025 | LHP | 9.1 |
2 | Ronan Owens | IL | Lane Tech | 2026 | RHP | -8.6 |
3 | Jake Williams | IL | Wheaton North | 2025 | SS | -8.4 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Jameson Rapinchuk | IL | Aurora Christian | 2026 | LHP | 60 % |
^ | Ronan Owens | IL | Lane Tech | 2026 | RHP | 60 % |
2 | Austin Aldridge | IL | Seneca | 2024 | C | 50 % |
^ | Aiden Wills | IL | Coal City | 2025 | RHP | 50 % |
CHANGEUP
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Franklin Kirchner | IL | Conant | 2025 | LHP | 1849 rpm |
2 | Aiden Wills | IL | Coal City | 2025 | RHP | 1810 rpm |
3 | Jake Williams | IL | Wheaton North | 2025 | SS | 1523 rpm |
4 | Josh Glass | IL | Yorkville | 2025 | RHP | 1503 rpm |
5 | Tyler Weigand | IL | Northside College Prep | 2025 | SS | 1489 rpm |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Shawn Krieps | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | 2B | 13.2 in |
2 | Austin Aldridge | IL | Seneca | 2024 | C | 10.9 in |
3 | Tyler Weigand | IL | Northside College Prep | 2025 | SS | 10.2 in |
4 | Jameson Rapinchuk | IL | Aurora Christian | 2026 | LHP | 9.8 in |
5 | Caden Kendall | IL | Andrew | 2026 | SS | 9.4 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Aiden Wills | IL | Coal City | 2025 | RHP | 16.7 |
2 | Josh Glass | IL | Yorkville | 2025 | RHP | 16.4 |
3 | Franklin Kirchner | IL | Conant | 2025 | LHP | -16.4 |
4 | Jake Williams | IL | Wheaton North | 2025 | SS | 13.7 |
5 | Cole Harris | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | RHP | 12.5 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Score (max) |
1 | Franklin Kirchner | IL | Conant | 2025 | LHP | 28 |
2 | Shawn Krieps | IL | Providence Catholic | 2025 | 2B | 26 |
+ CLICK HERE for a look at the complete statistics from the event.
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