So let's go out to the ballgame and take a look at how all 30 parks rank 30. Take Yankee Stadium and double down. Oriole Park at Camden Yards ranks among the five best places for hitters when it comes to recording hits, smacking home runs and crossing home plate, but not even a top-five finish in three categories is enough to crack the overall top 10. Lowest mark is 145.0, less than two standard deviations above average only once. This is a pitcher-friendly park that doesn't require the Giants offense to provide a ton of run support. First, here are the raw home run rates for these types of fly balls for each ballpark from 2019 to 21. to Partial-season park factors, while useful to see how a ballpark is. in "feet per second in a player's fastest one-second velocity and launch angle. Even pitchers duals arent exciting anymore because they usually are the result of bad hitting and not great pitching. And it had to work hard to do so in 2022, as hitters hit the ball harder here than anywhere but Fenway Park, trailing by only a fractional amount. Typically, the Brewers home park is going to finish in the top half of this list. The Rangers opened a new ballpark in 2020, and two parks, Marlins Park and Oracle Park, featured notable renovations. When breaking down Mancini's expected home runs by ballpark in both . The granular nature of the data being utilized tends to smooth things out and yield very reliable results. His fantasy advice for baseball and football has been found at many locations around the internet. A swirling wind lends a hand to fly balls as they near the outfield walls, a wind that would probably result in a bigger offensive explosion were it not blocked by the office building in center field. #8 - Angel Stadium of Anaheim (Angels) - 101.9 Overall Park Factor, 109.3 Fly Ball (8th), 108 Home Run (10th). 24 and going from a pitcher-friendly park to a place that hitters love to play, which is more in line with the general consensus among baseball fans. Marlins Park remains an offensive wasteland, despite the renovations. MLB Advanced Media, LP. Hitter-friendly ballparks The Colorado Rockies' home of Coors Field is a high-altitude haven for hitters. In most ballparks, those tough pitches you battle are foul balls souvenirs in the stands. As lesser pitching staffs make their way into Cincinnati, those park factors will normalize thanks to the deep, powerful lineup that the home team boasts. A ball park that didnt impact actual projection at all would receive a 100 park factor; those that inflated projected production get a higher mark, those that deflated get a lower one. But perhaps more than understanding why were seeing such significant changes at the ballpark level, its first important to acknowledge that some huge differences exist in how the baseball (and potential humidor) is affecting how the ball flies in each environment. In data analyzed by Baseball Savant's Statcast from 2019-21 , the 27-year-old stadium generated 14% more offense, compared to fellow MLB ballparks, including 19% more hits, 16% more home runs, and the second most triples (behind Comerica . I compared the samples of 95109 mph, less-than-30 degree data from 2019 to 21 to evaluate just how pronounced these effects were and found that average exit velocity did not shift by more than 1 mph and that average launch angles did not shift by more than 1 degree. When the spring and summer isnt unusually warm in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, the California parks (where the temps are always balmy) tend to drift upward on this list. But, the home of the 2021 All-Star Game is a reputable offering with notable aesthetics. This is a BETA experience. Less obvious is its propensity to eliminate doubles; it hasnt had an above average doubles park factor in the last decade. While doubles are down and triples are up this season, those two categories will even themselves out as the season progresses, as Comerica remains one of the premier destinations for hitters looking for an edge. (That is why I am comparing 2019 to 21.). Chase has only posted a higher than average homer park factor in one of the last 10 seasons. This park has now been slightly hitter-friendly in 2021-22 after 8 straight pitcher-friendly seasons. A HR park factor of 1.03, for instance, would mean that the park boosts HRs by 3% more than average. Its 2022 homer park factor was the lowest in a decade, so this would be on the lower end of its typical finish. Hector Santiago (2) It hasnt posted a single-season homer park factor greater than 82 over the last decade. as Active Spin. 10 solid years without a sub-100 homer park factor for Minute Maid. Perhaps the most iconic ballpark left in baseball (with Fenway Park providing the only other competition), Wrigley Field doesn't have the inviting short porches that some of the other ballparks on this list do. Not counting openers and ranked by WAR, the White Sox rotation in 2019 (starts): Lucas Giolito (29) While Nationals Park grades out as slightly hitter-friendly when it comes to scoring runs, collecting hits and legging out two-baggers, it only ranks in the top 10 in one of those categoriesdoubles (564)and just makes the cut as a pitcher-friendly venue over the past two years. In fact, San Francisco was home to one of only two ballparks (the other being Marlins Stadium in Miami) that didn't bear witness to at least 200 home runs over the past two seasons. But just as we know that home runs aren't the only thing that matters when a batter steps to the plate, they aren't the only thing that matters when figuring out whether a ballpark is a hitter-friendly venuethough, like it or not, they do play a major role. Both Truist and its predecessor, Turner Field, have been tough home run parks - neither has posted an average or higher homer park factor in the last decade. While symmetrically designed, Kauffman Stadium's expansive power alleys may limit home runs, but they lend themselves to an increase in other extra-base hits, more than making up for the lack of long balls that we normally find in a hitter's park. Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you. I agree that personnel changes are a tough confounder for park analysis to overcome. It also posted a 10-year high liner park factor (111.8) after being well below average in that area the previous three seasons. What they got was a park that, while more hitter-friendly than it had been since its opening in 2009, still plays as one of the most pitcher-friendly venues in baseball. *All non-ESPN Park Factor statistics courtesy of, explained his goals to MLB.com's Corey Brock. 6. Sure, the Green Monster turns fly balls to left field into singlesif an outfielder knows how to play the ball off the wallbut the park's oddly designed outfield, with deep power alleys and walls of various heights, lends itself to routinely high amounts of doubles and triples being hit there. Odrisamer Despaigne (3) Only three other parks in baseballCoors Field, Great American Ballpark and Miller Parkhave been as friendly to power hitters as the bandbox known as Citizens Bank Ballpark. When we think of "hitter-friendly" ballparks, Coors Field and Yankee Stadium are often the first two that come to mind due to the tendency for fly balls to travel beyond the outfield walls and into the hands of a lucky fan. So, it's easy to see how a good tailwind can beat high altitude for home-run hitting any day. Its 2022 #1 overall ranking wouldnt have been possible without an outlier 141.5 grounder park factor. After breaking out in 2021 and earning his first trip to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Jesse Winker experienced the worst statistical season as a member of the Seattle Mariners in 2022. It bumped up a bit higher on this years list due to an outlier line drive park factor of 105.4, the highest in the past decade. With its inviting short porches down the lines and a power alley in left field that makes right-handed sluggers drool (both of Nelson Cruz's home runs in 2014 have come at home). What it gives in homers, it typically takes in singles - its now posted lower than average singles park factors in each of the last 9 seasons, though its 2022 mark was just below at 99. Fenways doubles park factor has been 107 or higher each of the last 10 seasons, and 116+ in 9 of them. Even the crack of the bat oft proves misleading. Marlins Park remains an offensive wasteland, despite the renovations. Though as a frequent viewer of Brewers games, I can attest that Ive seen far more balls that appear to be hit on the screws (or thereabouts) go nowhere this year. Purely on home runs, it has battled Coors Park for the #2 spot behind Great American Ballpark for the top of the park factor chart. In general, curve balls will be a little less snappy, and fastballs will get about an extra six inches of giddy-up due to the decrease in resistance the thinner air provides. In its early days, Globe Life is marking itself as one of those parks that gives up some homers, but compensates by denying runs in other ways (like Yankee Stadium, Minute Maid Park, to name two). by Handedness, Joey Wendle Is Leading the Charge for the White Hot Rays. #13 - Nationals Park (Nationals) - 99.3 Overall Park Factor, 100.5 Fly Ball (15th), 103 Home Run (13th). How hard, in miles per hour, a fielder throws the ball. Its recorded fly ball park factors in the 70s in five of those seasons, and never posted a homer park factor over 89 over that span. Its a zero sum game. As the season wears on, that number figures to fall back in line with its previously established norms. Parks in this family tend to be doubles-deniers; this one has posted doubles park factors of 95 and 90 in 2022 and 2021. Before we get to the ballparks that pitchers (should) love to pitch in, let's take a look at those that they should try and avoid at all costs: That Citizens Bank Park, Coors Field and Great American Ballpark rank among the most hostile venues for pitchers comes as no surprise, but there's a glaring omission from this list that should jump out at you. The 87 homer park factor is also a new low, representing the 9th straight year below 100. While football fields are always 100 yards long and 53 1/3 yards wide, in baseball, you can find the 37-foot-high Green Monster in Boston, or the 420-foot-deep center field in Detroit, or the short porch in right in the Bronx, or just the general everything about Coors Field. Arkansas Razorbacks. All these factors make Globe Life Park equally welcoming to hitters from both sides of the plate. Well, then. While "The House that George Built" grades out as a hitter's park in home runs (1.135), runs scored (1.036) and walks (1.045), it falls well short of the mark elsewhere. Fly-ball pitchers make for more enticing streaming options in these venues. When you suppress both homers (8 straight years below 100 HR park factor) and singles (10 straight years), there simply arent many avenues to behaving as a hitters park. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Though its outfield is spacious, it doesnt yield many doubles (lower than 100 doubles park factor 9 straight years) or triples (10 in a row). And this place thwarted grounder production long before Nolan Arenado arrived - its posted a sub-100 grounder factor in 7 of the last 8 seasons. Cold temperatures during the early part of the season (an open-air baseball stadium in Minnesota still makes me scratch my head) help to stifle offense, while warmer temperatures during the summer months help to promote offensive potency, especially doubles and triples. Whats going on there is straight-up weird. A Batted Ball Event represents any batted ball that Oracle Park (Giants) In addition, the winds that blow in off Lake Michigan, while unpredictable, tend to carry balls over the outstretched gloves of leaping outfielders more often than they hold balls up. A range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a Now, this is no longer the extreme pitchers park it was years back, but it has graduated into the group of parks that yields homers, but not necessarily runs. Unlike many of the parks discussed so far, PNC is ripe for some damage in the air, but more from yielding doubles and triples rather than home runs. A deep center field lends itself to an increase in doubles and triples, as balls that land in the outfield gaps will bounce and rolland continue to rollas the hitter rounds the bases. Do Not Sell My Personal Information, Next Up - FantasyPros Baseball Podcast: Leading Off, Monday, April 17 (2023), 0 K. Are you looking to contact Customer Support about a subscription or account related question? While that 82.2 fly ball park factor marks a low water point, it represented the parks 5th straight year below 100. Surprised? Coors Field before a baseball game Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022, in Denver. The movement of a pitch is defined in inches, both in Year-round warm temperatures, relatively low humidity, short fences and a lack of foul territory have all contributed to make Globe Life Park in Arlington one of baseball's most notoriously hitter-friendly parks since it opened in 1994, when it was known as Ameriquest Field. While offense at Chase Field has been down so far in 2014, that will pick up as the season progresses, once again putting the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks near the top of the list when it comes to hitter-friendly venues in baseball. A Bolt is any run where the Sprint Speed (defined as I also only included fly balls hit in games on or before May 31 to control for weather effects. 2022 marked the 10th straight season that PNC recorded a homer park factor below 100. of his glove and to the base on a stolen base or pickoff Visual contact quality that chased outfielders back toward the warning track the last few years is now resulting in outs caught by stationary fielders. Let's re-rank the stadiums in baseball using this formula in order to see if anything changes: No matter which way you look at it, PNC Park remains the unquestioned king of the pitcher-friendly parks, one of six parks that remain in the top 10 from our official rankings. CINCINNATI, OH - AUGUST 19: General view as the sun sets after a strike out by Trevor Bauer #27 of [+] the Cincinnati Reds in the fifth inning against the San Diego Padres at Great American Ball Park on August 19, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Those park factors are in stark contrast to the three-year marks of 0.919 for runs and 0.772 for homers. While the park grades out as a slightly hitter-friendly venue in 2014, it's been anything but that over the past two years, with a .393 slugging percentage that stands alone as the 12th-lowest among MLB ballparks. Lucas Giolito (11) #10 - loanDepot Park (Marlins) - 101.2 Overall Park Factor, 99.3 Fly Ball (16th), 92 Home Run (21st). It took us until #10 to get to our first park factor above 100. An odd ballpark in many respects. We can only guess which parks now have them, but it is important to keep in mind that the ball is not the only difference. I feel this way about Dodger Stadium, too (and the data! Jump is a Statcast metric that shows which players have You don't currently have any notifications. player has saved over his peers. Play-by-play data prior to 2002 was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted 2021 MLB Draft Guide: Ballpark Factors. #17 - Rogers Centre (Blue Jays) - 98.4 Overall Park Factor, 88.9 Fly Ball (23rd), 104 Home Run (11th). #18 - Minute Maid Park (Astros) - 98.3 Overall Park Factor, 111.9 Fly Ball (6th), 112 Home Run (6th). #16 - American Family Field (Brewers) - 99.0 Overall Park Factor, 109.4 Fly Ball (7th), 114 Home Run (4th). 1 It posted the lowest liner park factor (86.6) in the game this season. Devan Fink is a Contributor at FanGraphs. These are the parks to chase them. Yankee Stadium continues to buck its public image as a big-time hitter's park by posting pitcher-friendly numbers for the third consecutive season. Ivan Nova (34) become a hit. The following parks are listed with the most extreme at the top, with "100" being the league average: PITCHER'S PARKS (Runs Scored, 2019-2021). The park hasnt posted an overall park factor over 100 over the past decade, but has posted a 100+ homer park factor in 5 of those seasons, with 2022 easily the peak. It hasnt posted a higher than average doubles or triples park factor over the last decade. One of baseball's most storied and celebrated ballparks, the subterranean ballpark (fans enter in the middle of the stands, not at ground level) has been home to the sixth-fewest home runs (256) and fifth-lowest slugging percentage (.368) in the game over the past two years. While thats somewhat normal for liners, grounder park factors usually correlate much more closely. Among fly balls hit at or above 95 mph, below 110 mph, and at a launch angle of less than 30 degrees during games played on or before May 31 in each year. That PNC Park, Safeco Field and Citi Field are among the five most pitcher-friendly venues in baseball comes as no surprise to anyone. Its consistently pitcher-friendly, but not as pitcher-friendly as one might think, for some weird reasons. Pay little attention to the team's hitter-friendly TPF in 2014, which has been caused largely by an abnormally high number of triples so far in 2014 (seven in nine games). How quickly, in seconds, a catcher can get the ball out Read on to find out where this world-famous venue landed in our rankings. No, I'm a California resident looking for the California Consumer Privacy Act form. Cestaniort is a website that writes about many topics of interest to you, a blog that shares knowledge and insights useful to everyone in many fields. Take a look at both and let us know which you think is the more effective ranking systemand whyin the comments below. 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