The spin rate thing is something I paid minimal attention to until last summer when my kid was at the PG Jr. Nationals. He's always thrown a "heavy" fastball. I couldn't help but notice his fastball spin rate at that event maxed out at 1157 rpm. His changeup, by comparison (which actually sucks) was at 1667 rpm and his curve at 1172. These numbers seemed awfully low when comparing him to other pitchers and my first instinct was to research ways I might improve those numbers. However, my research led me to 1) question the validity of such a slow spin rate on an 88mph fastball and 2) decide that, if the numbers were indeed valid, I wouldn't want to mess with them. It might actually explain his extraordinary swing and miss rate at events where a high 80's fastball should be rather hittable.