Moving the wall back in left field has been a terrible decision for the Orioles.

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, deward said:

No question? If you say so; I have a lot of questions myself. Which pitchers? Kremer? Wells? Cano? And how were they helped out in a way that didn't help out opposing pitchers just as much? Is this the argument that without the security blanket of a giant left field that they all would have mentally melted and never recovered the first time they gave up a cheap home run? The pitching didn't just improve, the bad pitchers from before 2022 were mostly replaced. The only significant holdovers from the 2021 staff are Means (already good), Kremer (a rookie), Wells (a Rule V rookie who pitched pretty well in the pen), Akin (bombing out of the rotation), and Tate (first full year, was so-so). Tate didn't pitch last year, Means barely did, and Akin was terrible, so it's really just Kremer and Wells for last year's team. Wells looks like the same guy to me as he did in 2021, so I guess the argument would be that Kremer doesn't improve from his rookie year without the wall? Everyone else is new since then, so I would argue that the turnover in personnel is the real difference maker, and the wall being moved back at the same time is very much a coincidence.

But most of those new guys had poor track records. 

[oriolediehard]

Ironically the O's have had a winning record since they moved the wall back.  I heard Aaron Judge complain about the O's wall, Camden was his favorite ballpark before the wall change.

[ChuckS]

The metrics are probably out there for someone willing to do a deep dive. 

HRs lost is the easiest one to look up.  Not sure if there is a metric for the doubles/triples added in comparison to the old dimensions. 

How many extra runs do we save by having Hays and Cowser out in LF compared to opposing LFers?

Hard to say with the naked eye if it has benefit us more than it has hurt us.  It has certainly hurt players like Mountcastle, Westburg, and Urias.  It will hurt Coby Mayo, even though he has light tower power. 

Edited April 9 by ChuckS

[deward]

40 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

But most of those new guys had poor track records. 

Who are you referring to? Looking at last year's team, the new guys in the rotation (compared to 2021) were Bradish and Grayson (prospects) and Gibson. Gibson pretty much pitched to his career norms, and was actually a little worse at home than on the road. Cano's whole game is ground balls, so I don't see how it would be crucial for him. Coulombe doesn't seem like someone who needed help. The middle-relief guys? Baumann/Baker/Perez? It certainly didn't help Flaherty or Voth. 

[Daddy-O's]

When they moved the wall back it pissed off the Yankees, so it must have been a good move.

[Sports Guy]

10 minutes ago, deward said:

Who are you referring to? Looking at last year's team, the new guys in the rotation (compared to 2021) were Bradish and Grayson (prospects) and Gibson. Gibson pretty much pitched to his career norms, and was actually a little worse at home than on the road. Cano's whole game is ground balls, so I don't see how it would be crucial for him. Coulombe doesn't seem like someone who needed help. The middle-relief guys? Baumann/Baker/Perez? It certainly didn't help Flaherty or Voth. 

I mean most of the pen. Guys like Kremer..wells is helped out due to the wall and his propensity to give up homers.

The numbers are what they are. These relievers who have thrived since the wall was moved and weren’t that good before coming here are telling imo.

The pitching is, without question, better off because of the wall. Everything tells you that.

We aren’t throwing out there these ultra talented, miss a ton of bats, high end guys. There are a lot of journeymen, out of nowhere type guys.  Even a guy like Jordan Lyles was greatly helped out.

 

[Orioles4Life21]

I would be happy if they moved it maybe halfway between where it is and where it was, and perhaps lower it a bit.

[foxfield]

The wall has helped and it has infuriated Aaron Judge.  What more could you possibly ask for in a park change?

[deward]

1 hour ago, foxfield said:

The wall has helped and it has infuriated Aaron Judge.  What more could you possibly ask for in a park change?

I don't think there's any proof the wall has made any difference to the team's record, and I couldn't care less what Aaron Judge thinks about anything. I'm not a fan of changing parks to create an artificial gimmick, and that's all the wall is.

[KojiSplit]

I’ve always thought they completely overdid pushing back the dimensions and knew one day it would come back to really bite the O’s in the playoffs and today it did when Westburg slugged a drive to left that would of been a HR in nearly every other park in baseball.

[Sanfran327]

I have to think they will split the difference this offseason. They made a dramatic change to overcompensate for horrific pitching, but they didn’t fix it over the 23-24 offseason once they knew what they had. Easy fix without changing the seating bowl: just move the fence forward 10’ and lower the wall, then put a row of flowers between the seats and the wall. Looks nice and normalizes the dimensions. Can’t screw your own RH hitters to no end like this anymore. 

[Frobby]

6 minutes ago, KojiSplit said:

I’ve always thought they completely overdid pushing back the dimensions and knew one day it would come back to really bite the O’s in the playoffs and today it did when Westburg slugged a drive to left that would of been a HR in nearly every other park in baseball.

Perez also hit one that would have been out in most parks, though not quite as far aw Westburg’s.  

[eddie83]

I do think it’s fair to bring this point up. 
 

Playing in October never know what the weather will be. Ball wasn’t carrying today. RH power is an issue playing here. 

[Orioles1954]

Just now, eddie83 said:

I do think it’s fair to bring this point up. 
 

Playing in October never know what the weather will be. Ball wasn’t carrying today. RH power is an issue playing here. 

So before the change no starting pitchers would ever want to come here. Now RH power hitters will definitely take their talents elsewhere.

[eddie83]

Just now, Orioles1954 said:

So before the change no starting pitchers would ever want to come here. Now RH power hitters will definitely take their talents elsewhere.

It’s certainly advantageous to have lefty starters pitch here.  I’ll say that much