Utah Preseason ID (Session I): Pitching Data Dive
February 6, 2024
On Saturday, February 3rd, the PBR Utah staff hosted the Utah Preseason ID (Session I) at The Hive - Juab High School Fieldhouse in Nephi, Utah. This event featured roughly 36 prospects from the 2024 - 2028 classes and allowed our staff an opportunity to get an in-depth look at the players in attendance ahead of the high school season.
Today we'll start our deep dive into the data collected at this event within this Pitching Data Dive article. Over the next couple of days we’ll be diving deeper into all of the data we collected, rolling out even more coverage from our signature summer event.
For complete event results, click here.
To view upcoming event schedule, click here.
FASTBALL
MAX VELOCITY (MPH)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Velocity (max) |
1 | Luke Christensen | UT | Lone Peak | 2025 | OF | 84.5 mph |
2 | Madex Vonhatten | UT | Tooele | 2025 | OF | 81.8 mph |
3 | Dalton Fay | UT | Mountain Ridge High | 2027 | 3B | 81.0 mph |
4 | Trig Richards | UT | Salem Hills High | 2027 | OF | 80.8 mph |
5 | Parker Van Buren | UT | Orem | 2025 | 1B | 80.8 mph |
6 | Paxton Healy | UT | Woods Cross High | 2027 | OF | 80.8 mph |
7 | Grady Slesk | UT | Lone Peak High | 2026 | RHP | 80.6 mph |
8 | Daniel Strope | UT | Jordan | 2026 | RHP | 80.1 mph |
9 | Alexander Allen | UT | Logan | 2024 | C | 79.5 mph |
10 | Boston Swain | UT | Mountain Ridge | 2026 | RHP | 78.3 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 | Luke Christensen | UT | Lone Peak | 2025 | OF | 2219 rpm |
2 | Daniel Strope | UT | Jordan | 2026 | RHP | 2183 rpm |
3 | Dalton Fay | UT | Mountain Ridge High | 2027 | 3B | 2124 rpm |
4 | Boston Swain | UT | Mountain Ridge | 2026 | RHP | 2106 rpm |
5 | Trig Richards | UT | Salem Hills High | 2027 | OF | 2092 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 | Dax Bradford | UT | Bingham | 2026 | LHP | 15.9 in |
2 | Boston Swain | UT | Mountain Ridge | 2026 | RHP | 15.5 in |
3 | Grady Slesk | UT | Lone Peak High | 2026 | RHP | 15.1 in |
4 | Luke Christensen | UT | Lone Peak | 2025 | OF | 13.3 in |
5 | Paxton Healy | UT | Woods Cross High | 2027 | OF | 13.3 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 | Boston Swain | UT | Mountain Ridge | 2026 | RHP | 11.6 |
2 | Luke Christensen | UT | Lone Peak | 2025 | OF | 9.6 |
3 | Paxton Healy | UT | Woods Cross High | 2027 | OF | -9.2 |
4 | Dax Bradford | UT | Bingham | 2026 | LHP | -9.0 |
5 | Luis Fernando Rendon | UT | Summit Academy | 2024 | RHP | 8.5 |
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 | Daniel Strope | UT | Jordan | 2026 | RHP | 62 % |
2 | Beckham Lindsey | UT | Bingham | 2026 | RHP | 55 % |
^ | Trig Richards | UT | Salem Hills High | 2027 | OF | 55 % |
^ | Parker Van Buren | UT | Orem | 2025 | 1B | 55 % |
3 | Dalton Fay | UT | Mountain Ridge High | 2027 | 3B | 50 % |
CURVEBALL
SPIN RATE (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Spin Rate (avg) |
1 | Trig Richards | UT | Salem Hills High | 2027 | OF | 2407 rpm |
2 | Luke Christensen | UT | Lone Peak | 2025 | OF | 2258 rpm |
3 | Daniel Strope | UT | Jordan | 2026 | RHP | 2057 rpm |
4 | Boston Swain | UT | Mountain Ridge | 2026 | RHP | 2014 rpm |
5 | Alexander Allen | UT | Logan | 2024 | C | 1980 rpm |
INDUCED VERTICAL BREAK (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | IVB (avg) |
1 | Trig Richards | UT | Salem Hills High | 2027 | OF | -10.4 in |
2 | Daniel Strope | UT | Jordan | 2026 | RHP | -8.8 in |
3 | Grady Slesk | UT | Lone Peak High | 2026 | RHP | -5.5 in |
4 | Madex Vonhatten | UT | Tooele | 2025 | OF | -3.9 in |
5 | Beckham Lindsey | UT | Bingham | 2026 | RHP | -2.5 in |
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Trig Richards | UT | Salem Hills High | 2027 | OF | 13.9 |
2 | Daniel Strope | UT | Jordan | 2026 | RHP | -11.8 |
3 | Grady Slesk | UT | Lone Peak High | 2026 | RHP | -7.5 |
4 | Dalton Fay | UT | Mountain Ridge High | 2027 | 3B | -6.4 |
5 | Beckham Lindsey | UT | Bingham | 2026 | RHP | -4.5 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Daniel Strope | UT | Jordan | 2026 | RHP | 62 % |
2 | Beckham Lindsey | UT | Bingham | 2026 | RHP | 55 % |
^ | Trig Richards | UT | Salem Hills High | 2027 | OF | 55 % |
^ | Parker Van Buren | UT | Orem | 2025 | 1B | 55 % |
3 | Dalton Fay | UT | Mountain Ridge High | 2027 | 3B | 50 % |
CHANGEUP
HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT (AVG.)
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | HM (avg) |
1 | Ledger Holmes | UT | Salem Hills High | 2027 | SS | 14.0 |
2 | Boston Swain | UT | Mountain Ridge | 2026 | RHP | 11.3 |
3 | Trig Richards | UT | Salem Hills High | 2027 | OF | -11.2 |
4 | Grady Slesk | UT | Lone Peak High | 2026 | RHP | 11.2 |
5 | Luke Christensen | UT | Lone Peak | 2025 | OF | 7.9 |
STRIKE ZONE RATE%
Rank | Name | State | School | Class | Pos | Zone % |
1 | Madex Vonhatten | UT | Tooele | 2025 | OF | 100 % |
2 | Beckham Lindsey | UT | Bingham | 2026 | RHP | 50 % |
^ | Dax Bradford | UT | Bingham | 2026 | LHP | 50 % |
^ | Dalton Fay | UT | Mountain Ridge High | 2027 | 3B | 50 % |
^ | Grady Slesk | UT | Lone Peak High | 2026 | RHP | 50 % |
^ | Kye Sivo | UT | Park City | 2026 | RHP | 50 % |
^ | Luke Christensen | UT | Lone Peak | 2025 | OF | 50 % |
UPCOMING EVENTS
SHOWCASE | STATE | DATE | LOCATION |
Utah Preseason ID - Session 2 | UT | 02/10 | The Hive (Juab HS Fieldhouse) - Nephi, UT |
2024 Preseason All-State (Invite-Only) | UT | 02/24 | Pine View High School |
2024 PBR Scout Day: Canes West Utah | UT | 06/08 | St. George, Utah (Location TBD) |
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