In Some Depth: Taking Advantage of Park Factors

In Some Depth: Taking Advantage of Park Factors

This article is part of our In Some Depth series.

All of a sudden, there is precious little time remaining in the MLB season. The league already released the postseason television broadcast schedule (makes me wish I had cable ... sort of), and we should know those participants in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, I, like you, am scrambling to make a late-season push in several of my leagues. The number of series is dwindling, so I thought it could be informative to see which teams will be playing at the best offensive parks for home runs, and overall offense for the rest of the way out. To do so, I took a look at the park factors over at FanGraphs, and averaged the basic and home run effects for 2012-14.

The top-five parks for each should be surprises to no one.

TOP HOME RUN PARKSTOP OFFENSE PARKS
Coors FieldCoors Field
Great American BallparkGlobe Life Park in Arlington
Miller ParkFenway
U.S. Cellular FieldChase Field
Yankee StadiumMiller Park

Some observations about those parks (and the teams that will visit):

Miller Park is one of two parks to rank on both lists, but the Brewers only play 17 more home games this season. Six of those games will play host to the Reds.

The Cubs close out their season with back-to-back series in Cincinnati and Milwaukee. Presumably they will field a full team in preparation for a postseason berth, so players like Kyle Schwarber, Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant will have a

All of a sudden, there is precious little time remaining in the MLB season. The league already released the postseason television broadcast schedule (makes me wish I had cable ... sort of), and we should know those participants in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, I, like you, am scrambling to make a late-season push in several of my leagues. The number of series is dwindling, so I thought it could be informative to see which teams will be playing at the best offensive parks for home runs, and overall offense for the rest of the way out. To do so, I took a look at the park factors over at FanGraphs, and averaged the basic and home run effects for 2012-14.

The top-five parks for each should be surprises to no one.

TOP HOME RUN PARKSTOP OFFENSE PARKS
Coors FieldCoors Field
Great American BallparkGlobe Life Park in Arlington
Miller ParkFenway
U.S. Cellular FieldChase Field
Yankee StadiumMiller Park

Some observations about those parks (and the teams that will visit):

Miller Park is one of two parks to rank on both lists, but the Brewers only play 17 more home games this season. Six of those games will play host to the Reds.

The Cubs close out their season with back-to-back series in Cincinnati and Milwaukee. Presumably they will field a full team in preparation for a postseason berth, so players like Kyle Schwarber, Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant will have a few additional opportunities to boost their regular-season stats.

Each NL West squad only has one more series remaining at Coors and one series remaining at Chase.

The A's, Astros, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Dodgers, Indians, Mariners, Orioles, Pirates, Royals and Tigers have three favorable road series forthcoming.

TOP-5 HOME RUN PARKS

Coors Field (24 games remaining)

VISITORDATE
NationalsAug. 18-20
MetsAug. 21-23
DiamondbacksAug. 31 - Sept. 2
GiantsSept. 3-6
PadresSept. 18-20
PiratesSept. 21-24
DodgersSept. 25-27

Great America Ballpark
(27 games remaining)

VISITORDATE
Royals Aug. 18-19
Diamondbacks Aug. 20-23
Tigers Aug. 24 (makeup game)
Dodgers Aug. 25-27
Brewers Sept. 4-6
Pirates Sept. 7-9
Cardinals Sept. 10-13
Mets Sept. 24-27
Cubs Sept. 29 - Oct. 1

Miller Park
(17 games remaining)

VISITORDATE
Marlins Aug. 18-19
Reds Aug. 28-30
Pirates Sept. 1-3
Cardinals Sept. 15-17
Reds Sept. 18-20
Cubs Oct. 2 - Oct. 4

U.S. Cellular Field
(23 games remaining)

VISITORDATE
Red Sox Aug. 24-26
Mariners Aug. 27-30
Indians Sept. 7-9
Twins Sept. 11-13
A's Sept. 14 (makeup game)
Royals Sept. 29 - Oct. 1
Tigers Oct. 2- 4

Yankee Stadium
(27 games remaining)

VISITORDATE
Twins Aug. 17-Aug. 19
Indians Aug. 20-23
Astros Aug. 24-26
Rays Sept. 4-6
Orioles Sept. 7-9
Blue Jays Sept. 10-13
White Sox Sept. 24-27
Red Sox Sept. 25 - Oct. 1

BEST OVERALL PARKS
(not already included above)

Globe Life Park in Arlington
(25 games remaining)

VISITORDATE
MarinersAug. 18-19
Blue JaysAug. 25-27
Orioles Aug. 28-30
A'sSept. 11-13
AstrosSept. 14-17
Mariners Sept. 18-20
TigersSept. 28-30
Angels Oct. 1-4

Fenway Park
(22 games remaining)

VISITORDATE
Indians Aug. 18-19
Royals Aug. 20-23
Yankees Aug. 31 - Sept. 2
Phillies Sept. 4-6
Blue Jays Sept. 7-9
Rays Sept. 21-24
Orioles Sept. 25-27

Chase Field
(22 games remaining)

VISITORDATE
Cardinals Aug. 24-27
A's Aug. 28-30
Giants Sept. 7-9
Dodgers Sept. 11-13
Padres Sept. 14-16
Rockies Sept. 29 - Oct. 1
Astros Oct. 2-4
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ryan Eisner
Ryan has been writing for Rotowire since 2007. He currently writes about baseball and covers the White Sox.
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