Left field at OPACY going through a big change

[Aristotelian]

39 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Obviously, this is going to affect every hitter at least to some degree.   The first two that come to mind are Hays and Mountcastle.   Both had significant home/road splits as far as OPS goes.  Hays hit 9 homers and the road and 13 at OPACY.  Mountcastle hit 11 on the road and 22 at OPACY.   SSS alert!

The ones that comes to mind for me are Judge and Stanton. Can't wait to see those deep flies die on the warning track. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

Pic of the construction underway. 

[Can_of_corn]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

Obviously, this is going to affect every hitter at least to some degree.   The first two that come to mind are Hays and Mountcastle.   Both had significant home/road splits as far as OPS goes.  Hays hit 9 homers and the road and 13 at OPACY.  Mountcastle hit 11 on the road and 22 at OPACY.   SSS alert!

I'm not that worried about Mountcastle.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/ryan-mountcastle-663624?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb

 

[Can_of_corn]

2 hours ago, LookinUp said:

Just because you don't see the math doesn't mean it doesn't exist. In the 90's you probably wouldn't have thought that getting guys that can walk would allow the A's to be competitive on a small budget.

The whole point is to be as competitive as possible for each dollar spent. It's why we draft hitters instead of pitchers. The latter are probably more likely to bust. If there's data showing dimensions can make a certain, more affordable, profile of pitcher significantly more effective, I'd bet Sig knows about it and I'd bet that influenced this decision is a very big way.

Why you would assume that this team, led by Elias and Sig, are doing this for seating capacity issues is beyond me. 

I wasn't watching a lot of baseball then so I had no idea what the A's were doing.

What I had done by then was read Weaver On Strategy so I did know how important not making outs was.

As for the "Moneyball" A's.  Giambi was worth 9.2 rWAR alone in 2001.  Jeremy, Hatteberg and Justice combined were worth 5.5 in 2002.  That team won mostly because of Tejada (MVP) and the big three starting pitchers (Zito Cy Young).

Billy was just trying to bring in cheap guys that wouldn't hurt him.

[Frobby]

38 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

I was talking about a switch hitter the other day, and one of the numnuts in the conversation, thought that I was talking about a bi-sexual person, he said, never heard it called switch hitting before.

Im like dude, in the middle of an long conversation about baseball, why would this be anything but a baseball term.?

I will still never forget the time Fred Manfra accidentally referred to “Nick Switcher, the swish-hitter.”    At least, I assume it was accidentally.   

[Ravensfan1996]

19 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Pic of the construction underway. 

Is this your photo? or where did you see it posted?  Just want to follow them for more images.   Also if you just follow where the seats were removed, some part of the Orioles bullpen will need to be redesigned or moved. 

[RZNJ]

43 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

The ones that comes to mind for me are Judge and Stanton. Can't wait to see those deep flies die on the warning track. 

I guess even those guys can hit a cheapie but I think of their homeruns as making it out easy.

[Frobby]

14 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'm not that worried about Mountcastle.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/ryan-mountcastle-663624?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb

 

Oh, I think this will affect him a good deal.   The thing to remember though is that a bigger OF means the LF plays deeper and more hits fall in front of him.   Doubles and triples should be up too.  

[Orioles0615]

Just now, Ravensfan1996 said:

Is this your photo? or where did you see it posted?  Just want to follow them for more images.   Also if you just follow where the seats were removed, some part of the Orioles bullpen will need to be redesigned or moved. 

I don't think where the seats were removed will be all field. That seems extremely overdone, and would give us the furthest left field in baseball I think 

[RZNJ]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Oh, I think this will affect him a good deal.   The thing to remember though is that a bigger OF means the LF plays deeper and more hits fall in front of him.   Doubles and triples should be up too.  

We are talking about his offense.  God forbid that he's out there defensively.

[jabba72]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Oh, I think this will affect him a good deal.   The thing to remember though is that a bigger OF means the LF plays deeper and more hits fall in front of him.   Doubles and triples should be up too.  

Mountcastle shouldnt play LF in this new setup. The dimensions are going to be extreme from one side of the field to RF, which remains a lefthanders paradise. 

[sportsfan8703]

https://deadspin.com/aaron-judge-and-vlad-guerrero-scare-orioles-into-moving-1848348680
 

Deadspin has an article up about their thoughts. They think we did it because the big RH bats in the AL East and to attract FA SP. 

The quote from Means is telling of how much it affects our SP. 

“To put in perspective just how hitter-friendly this ballpark has been, after left-hander John Means threw the team’s first no-hitter since 1991 in 2021, Means said he was glad the game happened in Seattle and not Baltimore. If the game had happened in Baltimore, it’s likely that Kyle Lewis’ eighth-inning fly ball, which was caught at the left-field wall in Seattle would’ve been a home run.”

[Frobby]

12 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

I guess even those guys can hit a cheapie but I think of their homeruns as making it out easy.

Interestingly, Statcast says Stanton hit 37 homers last year but would have hit 39 if he played all his games at OPACY, whereas Judge hit 39 but only would have hit 33 at OPACY.   I think that’s because Judge hits a lot of opposite field homers at Yankee Stadium that wouldn’t be out of OPACY.

[Frobby]

13 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

We are talking about his offense.  God forbid that he's out there defensively.

I’m talking about his offense, and the offense of other RH hitters.   Homers will be down, BA may be up.  

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

https://deadspin.com/aaron-judge-and-vlad-guerrero-scare-orioles-into-moving-1848348680
 

Deadspin has an article up about their thoughts. They think we did it because the big RH bats in the AL East and to attract FA SP. 

The quote from Means is telling of how much it affects our SP. 

“To put in perspective just how hitter-friendly this ballpark has been, after left-hander John Means threw the team’s first no-hitter since 1991 in 2021, Means said he was glad the game happened in Seattle and not Baltimore. If the game had happened in Baltimore, it’s likely that Kyle Lewis’ eighth-inning fly ball, which was caught at the left-field wall in Seattle would’ve been a home run.”

So Means would have pitched a one hitter?