Prince Fielder has a new team, a new league, and most importantly, a new stadium in which he'll try to hit baseballs very far. Comerica, home of the Detroit Tigers, is less hitter-friendly for power hitters than Fielder's old mashing grounds of Miller Park in Milwaukee. While both parks are mostly neutral overall, Miller boosts homers for left-handers about the same that Comerica hurts the lefty long ball. The question of the day: Just how much will Fielder's prodigious pop be affected?
Prince Fielder And His New Home
Prince Fielder is moving from a hitter-friendly park to one that favors pitchers, but will the switch harm his power?
In short, maybe not as much as you (and I) first thought. Park factors are great for analysis, as they give you insight into how run scoring or specifics like homers will be affected, but, as with anything involving averages, there are exceptions. Some players just have the power to hit anywhere. Adrian Gonzalez was hurt by Petco Park back when he was on the Padres, but by far less than fellow lefties like WIll Venable, as well as most opponents. Comerica is no Petco, and Prince Fielder has his own ridiculous power.
The average home run at Miller Park in 2011 traveled 398 feet. The dimensions of the park are fairly equal, but there’s a somewhat shorter porch in right field that comes in just under 350 feet and gives left-handed hitters an advantage. Left field is almost identical for these two stadiums, but from center to right, they’re vastly different:
| Miller | Comerica | |
| Left | 344 ft. | 345 ft. |
| Left-Center | 370 ft. | 370 ft. |
| Center | 400 ft. | 420 ft. |
| Right-Center | 374 ft. | 365 ft. |
| Right | 345 ft. | 330 ft. |
Miller is deeper to right-center by nine feet, and its short porch has nothing on Comerica’s, yet it’s the easier place for lefties to go deep. Fence height has something to do with this, as Miller Park is uniform all around with eight foot high fencing, while Comerica, depending on which fence you’re talking about, is six-, eight-, or 14-feet high. According to Greg Rybarczyk of Hit Tracker, one foot of fence height equals 0.8 feet, meaning all those 14-foot high fences are the equivalent of five feet further back than their listed distance when it comes to going yard.
That’s not a huge amount, but it’s something. That, and the 420 feet to center, help explain some of the difference in home run output of the two parks:
You can count the balls that cleared the center field wall at Comerica on one hand, and still have a digit left ready for the next homer. Miller’s lower walls and shorter center field fencing meant fewer balls dying deep in an outfielder’s glove, and more souvenirs.
Fielder will have to contend with that center field wall, but it's not as much of a problem for him as it might be for lesser sluggers. Take Miguel Cabrera for example -- who do you think hit most of those balls to center in Comerica? Cabrera averaged 398 feet on his 30 homers, 16 of which were classified as "Just Enough" by Hit Tracker. "Just Enough" homers clear the fence by less than 10 feet, or less than one fence height -- considering the effort it takes to go deep at Comerica, it's not surprising that Cabrera tallied up the just-made-its.
Fielder averaged 11 feet more on average for his 38 homers than Cabrera did for his 30. With an average of 409 feet, good for fourth-best in the majors, Fielder would be able to clear everywhere but center at Comerica with just his regular blasts. Nearly one-third of his homers traveled further than 420 feet, though, with his longest coming at 486, so it’s not as if center is an automatic out for him even in Comerica.
Let’s not pretend that Miller Park didn’t help Fielder out, though. His career Isolated Power at home is .280, whereas on the road it’s .236. He went deep every 14 at-bats at home, whereas on the road it was closer to every 17 at-bats. In 2011 alone, 25 of his 38 homers came at Miller. But they weren’t all cheap shots caused by the ballpark. One other thing Hit Tracker logs is the number of parks each homer would have made it out of. The “average” number of parks his homers would made it out of is 25, so these weren’t unique to Miller. That’s not scientific by any means, but it gives you an idea that a significant number of his homers would have left the non-Yellowstone parks in the country.
Fielder will see a loss of production with his move to Comerica, but that’s only because his previous park boosted his numbers over the years. The loss might not be as great as expected, as Fielder has the kind of power that works everywhere -- Comerica, like any other park, won’t be able to stand in his way.*
*Offer not valid in San Diego
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