Sutter Health Park, Globe Life Field Among Most Extreme MLB Parks

No matter how one calculates park factors, certain things never change. Coors Field always ranks among the most hitter-friendly and Seattle’s T-Mobile Park and Kansas City’s Kauffman Field rank among the most pitcher-friendly parks.

Most publicly available park factors use a three-year time period – I have found that one-year’s worth of data is quite sufficient when utilizing a batted ball-based method. In fact, around this time of year I use interim data to pick up any emergent trends. Yes, less than two months is needed to get meaningful information. Sure, there’s plenty of weather noise in the mix, but it’s pretty easy explainable.

Run scoring is affected by plenty of other factors beyond ballparks – the composition of the baseball is key, as is the prevailing weather around the country, particularly in areas with variable climates, like the nation’s midsection, the mid-Atlantic and northeast. For instance, I can tell you from firsthand experience what a cold, windy spring this has been in the midwest, and my mom can tell you what a beautiful spring they had in the mid-Atlantic. My interim park factors reflect all of this.

And there is one other huge piece of breaking news – Coors Field doesn’t have much on the Athletics’ Sutter Health Park when it comes to inflating run-scoring. While warm weather parks tend to have high park factors early in the season (this is a zero-sum game, after all, and the colder parks have low ones), the A’s new digs’ numbers are a solid bet to hold up over a full season.

So here are some of the conclusions one can draw based on the interim park factors calculated through games of May 18:

MORE HITTER-FRIENDLY THAN EXPECTED

I can’t say that I didn’t expect the A’s new home to be hitter-friendly, but I certainly didn’t expect this. Sutter Health Park’s 163.8 Fly Ball Park Factor is easily the highest in the game in the early stages of the 2025 season. Thus far, 68.0% of 105+ mph, 30.3% of 100-105 mph, 8.8% of 95-100 mph and 0.9% of 90-95 mph fly balls have been home runs. The A’s new digs outdoes those numbers across the board – 81.8% of 105+ mph, 36.4% of 100-105 mph, 12.5% of 95-100 mph and 2.9% of 90-95 mph fly balls have left the yard. And it’s not just the longball (124 homer park factor, 3rd in MLB), either – its 125 doubles park factor (2nd) matches up almost exactly. At the end of the day, it’s a pretty safe bat that Sutter Health Park will join Coors Field and perhaps Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park (more on it later) in MLB’s most hitter-friendly tier.

The mid-Atlantic parks in Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore have all inflated run-scoring in the early going, with Oriole Park at Camden Yards putting up the most eye-catching numbers. 86 homers had already been hit there through May 18, but park factors are based on a whole lot more than actual numbers. Its 129 homer park factor ranks 1st in the majors, and like Sutter Health, its homer percentage exceeds the league average across all fly ball exit speed buckets, with 78.7% of 105+ mph, 40.7% of 100-105 mph, 12.9% of 95-100 mph and 1.6% of 90-95 mph fly balls leaving the yard. Hitters are batting a lusty .389 AVG-1.144 SLG on fly balls in Baltimore, compared to an MLB average of .309 AVG-.806 SLG. That’s way more than damage than in any MLB park, and is due even more to the inefficacy of O’s pitching as it is to the strength of their hitters. Only in Toronto has the ball been hit harder on average in the air.

The most hitter-friendly third of the interim park factor list is otherwise filled with old standbys (Coors Field, Citizens Bank Park) and warm-weather parks (Dodgers Stadium, Angel Stadium, Chase Field) that will likely drift down the list a bit once the weather warms throughout the rest of the country. The home of the Diamondbacks is notorious for inflating doubles and triples substantially, and is doing so early in 2025, with 133 and 141 park factors for those types of base hits.

MORE PITCHER-FRIENDLY THAN EXPECTED

Globe Life Field, the home of the Texas Rangers, has unexpectedly stepped forward as one of the game’s most pitcher-friendly parks of late. Its 77.9 park factor through May 18 ranks dead last among the 30 MLB parks, its 65.2 fly ball park factor ranks 29th and its 80 homer park factor ranks 27th. While its 68.6% homer rate on 105+ mph fly balls is almost exactly league average, it falls way short on 100-105 mph (18.1%) and 95-100 mph (6.7%) fly balls. And it’s not just the homers – its 73 doubles park factor currently ranks 30th and dead last. Though the temperature is quite variable in spring in the Dallas metro, partially explaining the dearth of run-scoring, Globe Life also sported low 92.9 overall and 90.6 fly ball park factors in 2024. Expect this park to get out of the cellar as the weather warms, but evidence is gathering that this is a pitcher’s park by any measure.

Very little damage is being done in the air on the South Side of Chicago at Guaranteed Rate Field. Hitters are batting only .233 AVG-.637 SLG there on fly balls, though based on exit speeds they SHOULD BE hitting .324 AVG-.848 SLG. Its 54.5 fly ball factor is one of the lowest I’ve ever seen, interim or otherwise, and its 81.8 overall park factor ranks 29th. Cold weather has played a huge role – 59.0% of 105+ mph, 20.4% of 100-105 mph and 5.7% of 95-100 mph flies have left the yard, good for an 80 homer park factor, fractionally ahead of Globe Life in 26th place in MLB. Its matching 80 doubles park factor ranks 27th. Guaranteed Rate has tended to be a fairly neutral park overall, which will give you homers while squeezing hitters in other ways. It too will likely bounce toward the middle of the pack once the weather warms.

Other surprises in the more pitcher-friendly half of the list include Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park and Boston’s Fenway Park. Both have been affected by cold, offense-depressing weather in the early going. The Reds’ home park has battled Coors Field for the title of the most hitter-friendly park in MLB in recent years, as it is a home run shooting gallery. Not when it’s this cold and rainy, though. In 2024, Great American had a 117.6 overall and 125.6 fly ball park factor – thus far in 2025, it stands at 95.9 and 98.8. Fenway inflates doubles like no other MLB park – but the ball hasn’t been hard enough, often enough thus far for the Green Monster to really matter. Fenway had a 106.8 overall and 121.5 fly ball park factor in 2024, but those marks stand at 97.3 and 93.9 thus far in 2025. Look for both of these parks to show their true character as the weather warms.

Overall and fly ball batted ball-based park factors for 2024 and through 5/18/2025 can be found at this link. They are listed in descending order of 2024 fly ball park factor.