MLB Ballpark Factors

Handicapping MLB Stadiums: Ballpark Factors
by Adam of Rotopicks.com

When playing fantasy baseball of all shapes and sizes, you need a toolbox. Inside, you've got your site with stats, your magazines, your knowledge of sabermetrics, personal biases, etc. One monumental tool everyone needs in that toolbox, useful in every fantasy game is knowledge of the current Major League Baseball ballpark factors.

Every baseball stadium plays differently. Some favor the hitters, some favor the pitchers, and some are neutral. Some favor left handed hitters, some favor right handed hitters. You get the point.

When determining which ballpark favors hitters, the common notion is to look at runs scored in the stadium in question. This is a faulty method. The numbers will be skewed based on the talent of the home ball club. Theoretically, you can have the most runs scored during the year in the worst hitter's park, if there is an offensive juggernaut who calls that ballpark home. They simply score a ton of runs regardless of where they play. Luckily, mathematicians and baseball enthusiasts devised a number called MLB ballbark factors to answer which ballpark is the best and worst for hitters or pitchers.

Park Factor compares the rate of stats at home vs. the rate of stats on the road. A rate higher than 1.000 favors the hitter. Below 1.000 favors the pitcher. The calculation is as follows.

1. Runs scored at home PLUS Runs allowed at home DIVIDED by home games.

2. Runs scored on the road PLUS runs allowed on the road DIVIDED by road games.

3. Divide #1 by #2.

Let's break this down as it is a very easy calculation. All you are doing is dividing total runs in your stadium by total runs away from your stadium. That is why over 1.000 favors the hitter. It means more runs are scored at the home stadium by the home team and visiting team.

The same calculation can be used for any statistic to see where that stat is most prevalent.

To give you an idea of the range of ballpark factors, here is the complete list as of early September of the 2012 Major League Baseball season:

1. Coors Field (Denver, Colorado) -- 1.597
2. Chase Field (Phoenix, Arizona) -- 1.298
3. Fenway Park (Boston, Massachusetts) -- 1.295
4. U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago, Illinois) -- 1.286
5. Miller Park (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) -- 1.188
6. Oriole Park at Camden Yards (Baltimore, Maryland) -- 1.157
7. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (Arlington, Texas) -- 1.148
8. Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati, Ohio) -- 1.116
9. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, Missouri) -- 1.084
10. Target Field (Minneapolis, Minnesota) -- 1.047
11. Turner Field (Atlanta, Georgia) -- 1.039
12. Rogers Centre (Toronto, Ontario) -- 1.037
13. Marlins Park (Miami, FL) -- 1.034
14. Comerica Park (Detroit, Michigan) -- 1.033
15. Wrigley Field (Chicago, Illinois) -- 1.022
16. Nationals Park (Washington, D.C.) -- 1.020
17. Yankee Stadium (New York, NY) -- 0.984
18. Busch Stadium (St. Louis, Missouri) -- 0.974
19. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) -- 0.967
20. Minute Maid Park (Houston, Texas) -- 0.933
21. O.co Coliseum (Oakland, California) -- 0.882
22. Progressive Field (Cleveland, Ohio) -- 0.873
23. Citi Field (New York, NY) -- 0.845
24. Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg, Florida) -- 0.840
25. Angel Stadium of Anaheim (Anaheim, California) -- 0.837
26. Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles, California) -- 0.832
27. Petco Park (San Diego, California) -- 0.787
28. PNC Park (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) -- 0.777
29. AT&T Park (San Francisco, California) -- 0.717
30. Safeco Field (Seattle, Washington) -- 0.663

So, Coors, Chase, and Fenway are all great hitter's parks. PNC, AT&T, and Safeco are all pitchers' best friends and a hitter's worst nightmare.

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Ballpark factors are a great tool, but I urge you not to place too much stock into them at all times. They are best used when you have a choice between two seemingly equal options. The deciding factor could be which ballpark those players are playing in.

One other point to note is there are other nuances of certain ballparks that may not be reflected in the ballpark factors. Yankee Stadium has a notoriously short porch in RF, which frequently gets taken advantage of by left handed hitters. Hitters also remark that when the wind is blowing out at Wrigley, it can play better for hitters than any ballpark in the league. Lastly, if a season is just beginning, be sure to note if any fields have changed (i.e. fences moved in, new stadium, etc.) before relying on ballpark factors. A perfect example of this would be Safeco field which moved the fences in for the 2013 season.

Good luck and as always, thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this article, you may also like an article that I wrote on Picking a Closer in Daily Fantasy Baseball Leagues.

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