What is the Trackman B1?
The portable Trackman B1 captures batted ball data during batting practice. It's part of the Premium and Prospect levels of MLBU BASE for both baseball and softball players. The unit sits behind home plate and tracks the pitch coming in and the ball going out. Players don't wear anything. The operator selects the player's name, starts the unit, and the player hits.
Why measure batted ball data?
Batted ball data puts real numbers on a BP session. It shows:
How hard a player is hitting the ball
Where the ball is going on the field
Whether the ball is on the ground, on a line, or in the air
How far a ball hit in the cage would have traveled on a field
Together, this helps a hitter decide whether their approach should lean toward line drives or fly balls, and gives them a baseline to track over time.
Why Trackman?
Trackman is the gold standard for ball flight tracking in professional and college baseball, for both pitching and hitting.
What do the batted ball metrics mean?
Trackman captures a lot of batted ball data. Here are three metrics worth understanding first:
Metric | What it measures |
90th Percentile Exit Velo | The exit velocity that 90% of a player's batted balls fall below. Only the top 10% are hit harder. It shows how often a player hits the ball hard. |
Direction | Where batted balls go on the field, from pull side to opposite field. |
Launch Zone | Based on launch angle. Shows the mix of ground balls, line drives, and fly balls. |
Why 90th percentile exit velo instead of max exit velo?
It's not how hard you hit it, it's how often you hit it hard. Max exit velo is one swing. 90th percentile exit velo reflects a player's hardest contact across the whole session.
For example, two hitters can tie at 105 mph max exit velo. If one hitter's top five batted balls are 105, 99, 97, 97, and 96 mph and the other's are 105, 99, 91, 90, and 90 mph, the first hitter has the higher 90th percentile exit velo because they hit the ball hard more consistently.
How do I read my batted ball results in Stacks?
In Stacks, go to Player Metrics and select Trackman Hitting. There are two views:
Raw Metrics: your best scores for Max Exit Velo, Avg Exit Velo, 90th Percentile Exit Velo, Avg Launch Angle, Max Distance, Barrel Count, and Barrel Rate.
Percentiles: how your last session ranks for Max Exit Velo, Avg Exit Velo, Avg Launch Angle, and Max Distance.
Percentiles help athletes see where they stand out, where they're average, and where their training time will make the biggest difference. They're a guide for what to work on next, not a grade.
How does batted ball data connect to power?
Hitting the ball hard and far comes from several pieces working together: lower-body explosiveness, how fast the bat moves, and how consistently a hitter makes hard contact. Learn more about jump power and bat speed.
How should batted ball data be used over time?
Batted ball data is most useful when it's captured regularly. Coaches and instructors with access to a Trackman B1 should use it whenever they can. Over time, players can:
90th Percentile Exit Velo: chase new personal records.
Launch Zone: see whether they're hitting more line drives.
Direction: see whether they're using the whole field or driving the ball the other way more often.
Exit velo is also one of the easiest metrics for players to understand, and seeing how hard they hit the ball keeps young players engaged in their development.
View your batted ball results
Log in to Stacks to see your batted ball stats and percentiles.
Want to learn more?
Read the full breakdown from Team 1845: BASE: Measuring Batted Ball Data with Trackman