Stats: Citi Field is Good for Right-Handed Hitters
Last week, in a notes column for the Boston Globe, Nick Cafardo labeled Citi Field, “a death valley for righthanded hitters?”
However, according to Bill James, in his recently published 2010 Handbook, based on a variety of park indices, it was 10 percent easier for righthanded hitters to hit home runs in Citi Field than in other National League parks.
In fact, right-handed hitters on the Mets hit two more home runs in 81 games in Citi Field than in 81 games on the road… the righthanded hitting opposition hit seven more home runs in Citi Field than they hit on the road.
…the Mets should be using social media and their influence with the mainstream press to start pushing this talking point, i.e., ‘Citi Field is Good for Righthanded Hitters,‘ so to avoid people like cafardo being allowed to frame Citi Field as ‘death valley,’ which could negatively impact their ability to sign a right-handed bat…
By the way, according to James, it was 20 percent easier to hit a triple in Citi Field, but five percent more difficult to hit a double.
In the end, James says, it is five percent more difficult to score runs in Citi Field than in other National League parks… the same as it was in Shea Stadium during the previous three seasons.
…thanks to our old friend, D.J. Short, who sent in the above information… by the way, d.j. now contributes to Circling the Bases, the baseball blog for NBC Sports…
