Throughout the Braves’ first season at SunTrust Park, perception fluctuated; is it a hitter’s paradise?
Perhaps one needs more than one season to make a definitive statement, but Braves players are in unison: SunTrust is fair, but gives hitters a slight edge.
“It’s a shade to a hitter’s park from about the bullpen to the right field foul pole, but I’ve loved it,” said 42-year-old Braves starter R.A. Dickey. “It’s a nice place to play. It’s fair, both teams have to hit here so you can’t complain about that. It’s been great.”
Early on, the Braves wondered if they’d assembled Coors Field East. Twenty-three balls found the seats across the first nine games. The park played especially well for lefties, a good thing for Braves hitters such as Freddie Freeman.
But an organization building its future around pitching dreaded the thought of what it might have built.
"At the beginning of the season, when balls were going from here to planet Mars, I thought, 'Oh my goodness, what have we created?'" Braves Vice Chairman John Schuerholz said.
SunTrust’s right-center is 15 feet shorter than Turner Field’s was, but overall the dimensions don’t differ enough to produce substantially different results. In the end, that was the case.
“It plays pretty fair,” Braves outfielder Lane Adams said. “Obviously it advantages the hitter a little bit. We’ve had some late starts. I feel like later in the evening the ball kind of stops carrying as well. Early in the year when it was cooler, balls were flying. Kind of cooled off a bit since it got hotter. It’s changed throughout the year. Just carrying, days it wasn’t; it plays pretty fair but I’d say the advantage is still with the hitter. I’ll take it.”
SunTrust Park was worth 0.982 runs, good for 16th in baseball, according to ESPN’s park factors. That’s significantly lower than No. 1 Coors Field (1.341), No. 2 Globe Life Park in Arlington (1.216) and No. 3 Chase Field (1.207).
As for homers, SunTrust’s 0.934 entering Sunday was 20th in baseball, resembling Angel Stadium, Tropicana Field and Safeco Field, all considered pitcher parks.
“Early on it was flying a little bit, but you saw later on during the season, the ball was playing fair when guys were getting a hold of it,” Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz said. “But it’s a beautiful ballpark. We’ve got great amenities inside for all them rain delays and extra innings. It’s starting to play fair, but early on it taught us how to pitch a little more and how to keep the ball down. It’s a beautiful ballpark and hopefully I can pitch in it for years to come.”
Julio Teheran was among the Braves who couldn’t keep the ball in the playing field. He gave up 15 homers in a 12-start home stretch from April through August, but has since posted a 2.84 ERA and allowed only two homers over his past four home outings.
“It was a little struggle at the beginning but it’s huge,” Teheran said of the park’s changes. “And that’s something that I want to keep doing next season. We were worried because I wanted to do good, especially in the park that we play in most, and I’m glad that I found a way.”
While the stats don’t suggest it, the players still seem to believe it favors hitters. A.J. Minter, who’s struck out 15 of the last 29 batters he’s faced, said in the end, it’s about the pitcher. This isn’t a situation like Denver; the pitcher should have full control of his fate.
“I haven’t got to play in too many ballparks, but you see the hitters hit during batting practice and it carries a bit here,” Minter said. “It’s like any ballpark, you have to make your pitches, especially when you know you’re in a ballpark like this. You’ve got to attack the knees, work low. But this stadium’s unbelievable. It’s definitely memorable, great for the fans, good atmosphere. It’s fun to play out.”
The Braves entered their final game with a 37-43 home record. It’s the first time since 1988-1990 that the Braves endured consecutive losing home campaigns. With a year under their belts, next season’s task will be establishing a home field advantage.
They’ll get an early opportunity to do so: SunTrust’s first opening day will be March 29, 2018, against the Phillies.
“It’s a beautiful ballpark, top of the line,” Braves rookie starter Lucas Sims said. “It’s really cool to come out, and all the activities going on around it, it’s been pretty cool.”
