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Don’t Move Home!

By Andrew Beaton on October 8, 2009 at 6:19 am  

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There has been chatter lately sparked by a piece in the NY Times by Joe Ward about whether or not the Mets should do anything to correct the home run starved atmosphere at Citi Field.  As Ward explains in the piece, the logical solution is not moving the outfield walls in, rather moving home plate outwards.  The former solution is much more expensive because it requires tearing down the wall, moving seats, etc. while moving home forward is rather simple. 

No thank you to all of the above. 

A newsflash to those who don’t know: the Mets had a record of 41-40 this year! In typical circumstances, a record like that is the epitome of pedestrian; in a season where the team ends up 22 games below .500, it is notable to point out that the team still managed to be above .500 at home.  (Such tricksters those Mets are, winning games at home to give fans the illusion of success, only to go on the road and have a road record of 29-52, good for fourth worst in baseball.)

Beyond the actual wins and losses, which according to the Elias Sports Bureau is how playoff teams are determined, the Mets had better batting splits at home as compared to the road.  That’s right, despite the spacious confines and the drought of home runs, the Mets hit better at home.   

Below are some fundamental hitting categories with the Mets home and road splits:

            Home          Road

BA:     .274     -     .266
OBP:   .341     -     .330
SLG:    .408    -     .381
HRs:     49       -       46
RBI:    327     -       304    

Yes, it is natural for a team to have some sort of bump in their home compared to road statistics, but the fact that the Mets managed to play .500 ball at home despite everything that happened this year? Don’t mess with that mojo.  Maybe one that can be pulled from 2009 is that the Mets do have a home field advantage; ruining it would inane.   

Sure, the Mets hit only 95 home runs, which was good (aka bad) enough for fewest in the majors and the fewest since only popping 93 homers in 1992, but is that really a problem? Yes it can get boring as a fan, but it’s not as if Citi Field is causing this major hitting problem for the team, after all they hit better at home.  Add this to having a healthy middle of the order, and the hitting at home isn’t looking half bad, plus with a healthy lineup those home run totals will go up.   

One argument I’ve heard a few too many times is: ’Oh, but playing in Citi Field everyday changes the way the batters swing, i.e. they hit less home runs on the road too.’ I don’t have some statistical revelation to prove this wrong, it is just a generally specious argument that, if true, is a larger indictment on the miscalculations of the coaching staff rather than the actual ball park dimensions.   

One final point of note, is that moving home plate forward is not completely beneficial for the offense.  Sure, it’s good for hitters in that there will be more home runs, but at the same time this creates more foul space behind home plate, and the dearth of foul space behind home at Citi has certainly saved many hitters at the dish this season. 

Now, if you want to talk to me about not moving anything just lowering some of the really high fences. . . that’s something I could be interested in.

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  • Jeff
    I would love to move the visitors bullpen into the well in front of the Mo Zone, with a low Fenway like bullpen wall. It would add a few more homeruns, and the possibility of some great catches in friont of the fence. It would put the visitors in a more visible location and give the possibility of adding a few more seats over the existing visitor bullpen location.
  • cuborican
    I would not mind seeing the fences lower to where there is the potential to steal a homerun. If we are going to build a team on speed, then give Beltran, Francour, Pagan, and any future OF a chance to take a homerun away.
  • Joe
    Their lack of run production on the road could still be cause by Citi Field indirectly. The way I come to this conclusion is looking at what type of team the mets were in 2009. No power, but lots of extra base hits. Extra base hits came from hitting in the gaps, which are large in Citi, and smaller in other parks. So where in Citi a less than well hit ball into the gap would be a double or triple, in a park like Citizens Bank Park the same ball has a higher chance of being caught for an out.

    I'm not sure bringing the plates in will yield a better result on the road, but perhaps a different game plan as far as hitting is concerned? For example, what I liked about Francouer when he came to New York is that when a pitcher made a mistake, like hanging a breaking ball, he would make the pitcher pay for it. In the same situation, David Wright would swing and foul it off.
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