Handed Park Factors: Clinton

by Matthew on Apr 30, 2010 7:00 AM PDT in Seattle Mariners Stats

I end off my exposé on Minor League handed park factors with our Single-A team, Clinton. Like with West Tenn, Clinton has a fairly neutral park, though we again see a boost to line drives that has appeared across all parks within the Seattle organization. That is almost certainly a coincidence, but it's a touch interesting given our dearth of home developed position player prospects.

Factor	LH	RH
K	101	102
BB	100	108
HBP	74	89
GB	102	99
FB	91	86
LD	112	130
IF	95	96
1B	98	101
2B	98	105
3B	110	120
HR/BIA	117	102
wOBA	100	102

K, BB, HBP, GB, FB, LD and IF are all factored on a per PA basis since they are all discrete possible results of a PA. 1B, 2 B and 3B are factored on a per batted ball basis. HR is factored by balls in the air (i.e. non-ground-ball batted balls). wOBA is based on what the league average line would have looked like given the above factors.

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Thank you for doing these Matthew.

Has anyone here been to a game in Clinton? Just wondering what the park plays like to the eye. Maybe it is the inflated offense of the California League affecting my perception, but I always assumed the Midwest League was a pitcher’s league.

by Sec 108 on Apr 30, 2010 8:45 AM PDT reply actions

I believe MWL is a big time pitcher's league

but I think it has more to do with the weather and age group than the parks per se. Not a lot of power hitting going on in the mid west.

De Gutibus non disputandum est

by Bearskin Rugburn on Apr 30, 2010 9:17 AM PDT up reply actions

So, via B-R

Last year’s MWL average OPS was .702 and it has hovered around there for a few years at least (I got bored after 07). Compare to the California Leagues average .758, or the Mavericks’ team average .854. The big difference seems to be in power, as the average OBP is not that different between leagues.

De Gutibus non disputandum est

by Bearskin Rugburn on Apr 30, 2010 9:31 AM PDT up reply actions

Thanks!

by Sec 108 on Apr 30, 2010 9:43 AM PDT up reply actions

Glad to see

I’m glad to see that someone else agrees with me that different ballparks have a big effect on HBP stats. I suspect the main causes for these factors are wind conditions caused by different park construction, hitters backdrops and sun glare in day games making it more difficult to pick up the ball out of the pitchers hand and get out of its way, distracting waitresses for expensive seats behind home plate causing pitchers to lose control, and unstudied gravitational anomalies that subtly bend pitches toward one batters box or the other. This last one seems the most likely when there is a big difference between the left and right handed batting factors.

by plunkeveryone on May 3, 2010 12:02 PM PDT reply actions