TrackMan at PG events

Thanks for sharing the article.  Son made top 20 for velocity.  Great stuff.

Very cool, 9and7dad!  Congrats to you and your son.

 

Sorry to kelp posting on this topic (can you tell I am excited about it?), but I thought I would share this presentation TrackMan did on how they think it can be used.  Quick read, very interesting.

When Im recruiting a pitcher, some Old farts like me still want to know if he can get guys out.
But having some measurements will prbably be interesting to study.

This is fascinating to me. Will it be used at the PG Pitcher/Catcher showcase in February?

We hope to have Trackman at that event.  We will know for sure by next week.

Actually I just found out we will be using Trackman at the indoor showcase.

PGStaff,

Will there be a specific TrackMan grade?  Similar to all the measurements that's posted.

I doubt there will be a Trackman grade, but the Trackman data could influence the overall PG grade.  Also, we should develop Trackman averages over a short period of time by age/class and we will know what MLB averages are. So if MLB average 60 yd time is 6.9-7.0, trackman MLB average exit velocity might be something in the 90+ range. Maybe the high level of high school in the 80+ range. Maybe even higher.

" I have friends coaching that make less per year than what 2 of those units cost"

 

So what approximately does a system installed on a field cost?  What approx. does a portable system cost? 

Is there a way to search a player's Trackman data by their name?  I just went through game by game and got hit speed and distance for my son but it was somewhat tedious the way I did it.  I would love to compare his data from last year to this year.  Is there another level of membership that gives more information?

Carolina Girl,

 

I believe you should check with TrackMan to see what they might offer on an individual basis.

 

DRoberts,

 

I only know they are very expensive, but not sure of the cost.  TrackMan partners with PG in order to compile statistics for MLB organizations.

Earlier in this thread EveryDay Dad said he thought some of this data might hurt his son but I think it more likely will help a kid than hurt him. 

 

Sorry to use my kid as an example but Trackman is the first tangible data I have ever seen to support my son's results when the radar gun certainly does not.  Son is RHP and just gets kids out and is committed to school that finished in top 20 this year but tops at around 85 or 86.  

 

Two weeks ago he pitched at Lakepoint drawing a small crowd as he struck out 8 in 5 2/3 against a top team touching 84 a couple of times. One of my buddies joked what are they doing watching the thumber.  I never thought to look at Trackman. 

 

Fast forward to tonight and pitched an inning at PG WS.  I'm home so had Trackman up and he threw 10 pitches.  Most fastballs were 82 with spin rate of 2200 and both sliders were 2660.  If you look them up slider spin rate is off the chart and fastball is elite college conference pitcheR spin rate. 

 

Guess my point is this is one more way for a kid to get a legitimate shot when they don't light up the radar gun and explains why some kids may just get outs. Pretty interesting stuff for sure. 

Does anyone know if they are recording the warm-up pitches, or just those in game, to get things like max velocity and spin rates?  I could see how it might be beneficial to tell pitchers to really throw at the bull in pre-inning warm-up without worrying about falling behind a hitter in a game situation...

It didn't appear that any warmup pitches showed up on the scoreboard so I can only surmise that they aren't measuring those.

Sometimes they might get warmup pitches, but usually it is just in game pitches. It does take an operator to control everything.  Not that anyone's asking, but it is very costly.

 

I do know that this TM data is very important to MLB clubs.  They pay TM a lot to have access to the data compiled at PG events. Next year, that model will include college programs, but only the biggest programs will be able to afford it.

 

I think everyone in baseball is starting to understand the importance of all this new technology.  No doubt it is helping some players that previously might have been overlooked. We have learned a lot with our partnerships with TrackMan, Zepp, and others. Years ago we used the standard numbers associated with the 5 tools.  Now we sometimes have 10 times those numbers to look at. We now understand spin rates and how certain spin rates create results.  Why the slower velocity guy might be harder to hit than the higher velocity guy.  We used to rely on eyesight to evaluate things like movement of pitches and speed of the bat.  Now there is equipment that does it more accurately.

Thanks, PG.

 

One more question that I searched for but don't see an answer...

 

Are there radar guns recording velocities at all the remote fields, so pitchers that play away from Lake Point get this info put into the database?

Yes, we have a radar gun at every game and we have a scout taking notes on every player at every game.  We do not have TrackMan available at every game.

That's what I figured.  Thanks

       
       
PG, there are some fascinating articles out there on spin rate and useful spin.  I know Dr. Alan Nathan is delving into this.  And ii believe is partnering with trackman in some way.  This information is amazing and now we as coahes (and parents) need to figure out how to teach to it.  Spin rates and spin angles is an absolute revelation for pitchers and pitching coaches.  Average rpm's spell death for the kid with average or even a little above average velocity.  But out of the norm spin rates - higher ir lower - confuse the batter because the pitch d I es not look materially different to the eye coming in but simply is not where.the batter expects it to be.  Leading to swing and miss pop ups or ground balls.  I for one am ecstatic about this cutting edge technology you are bringing.  And I am begging my organization to send us to lake point next spring.  Can you pay for your son's data?  Is there another way to get your son's data other than going to lake point?

Originally Posted by PIS:

…Measuring athleticism and spin rates and exit speeds is really cool.  But I don't think you can measure baseball players like that.  Will some top players measure high?  Absolutely. Will some bad players measure high?  I bet they will.  

 

I don’t think you’re getting the real value in measuring such things. First of all, not many BAD players show up at PG events. But even if that’s what category they’d fall into, if the measurements show something different, chances are they were categorized improperly in the 1^st place.