MLB Park Factors

Ball Park Rating Factors are definitely something worth noting when drafting and tracking free agent moves, but it is also important not let them change your position too much on certain players. Great hitters will hit anywhere no matter the environment, but the pitchers, to me, are the ones that could have the most variance depending on where they are pitching. For example, pitchers with a big fly ball tendency could perform better in bigger ballparks or parks where the ball does not carry that well (i.e. Dodger Stadium at night).

There will be plenty of arguments as to why Robinson Cano is not worth as much this season since he will playing his home games in Seattle, but I don’t see his new ballpark as the major issue (I’m more concerned with the lineup around him).

The rating factors for both runs and home runs are listed below. They should be noted but not a final determining factor in drafting any particular players.

***To read the above: A mark over 1.00 can be read as a positive percentage for the offense. As an example, a mark of 1.18 means the park played at a rate that was 18 percent better than the league average. A mark of 0.96 would mean the stadium was four percent below the league average. This table reflects ESPN ratings of the ballpark factors for runs scored in each ballpark.

A few things of note: Wrigley was the 2nd highest scoring of any stadium of the big leagues. I would say that is more of a product of bad pitching for the Cubs than anything else. The wind blowing in/out usually has the biggest effect on scoring over the ballpark’s history, but Wrigley was not in the Top 10 in homer category (seen below). If it is a warm summer in Chicago though, you can expect the run totals to really shoot up this coming season. It is also interesting to see that Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City was ranked 8th for runs scored in what is considered a pitcher friendly park in most circles. Kansas City is a bigger ballpark that ranks in the bottom 10 of HRs allowed so it requires quality hitters like Alex Gordon and Billy Butler for teams to produce runs.

Texas was a middle of the road ballpark in the runs department which is proof that quality pitching will work no matter the park. With the likes of Yu Darvish, Derek Holland, and Matt Harrison, the organization has made it a point to bring quality arms in what is considered a hitters park.

While there are a few surprises out there, it should also be noted that the plenty of the usual suspect ballparks rank towards the bottom in runs scored. Places like San Diego, New York, Los Angeles (NL), San Francisco and Oakland all rank as the bottom five in runs scored at their respective parks so pitchers at those spots tend to have some better fantasy numbers.

***To read the above: A mark over 1.00 can be read as a positive percentage for the offense. As an example, a mark of 1.18 means the park played at a rate that was 18 percent better than the league average. A mark of 0.96 would mean the stadium was four percent below the league average.

You will not really find any surprises at the top in the home run category. Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Toronto, Baltimore and Milwaukee make up the top-5 for home run rating factors. The first real surprise that you would probably notice is Citizens Field in New York checks in at #10. The Mets did bring in the fences last year, which helped raise those home run numbers quite a bit, but as noted in the runs scored section it was still at the bottom end of runs scored. Some of the other notable points in the rankings follow.

The Diamondbacks’ home field, which you would expect to check in around the top-10, is down at the 16th spot. Arlington Ballpark in Texas fell to 19th in the rankings, which is probably a good reason why the run scoring was down this past season. The usual suspects of Oakland, Washington, Minnesota and San Francisco rank near the bottom in the home run categories. The biggest thing that stands out is Pittsburgh and Miami are even tougher with considerable disadvantages when it comes to the home run hitters. Any fly ball pitcher will have much more success in these parks vs. pitching in places like Cincinnati and Philadelphia.