MLB Park Factors that will affect your fantasy baseball pitchers in 2025

Yahoo

20-02-2025

Park Factors can dramatically influence a player's fantasy baseball value.
Left-handed batters have seen a 42% increase in home runs when hitting in Cincinnati over the last three seasons, but they've experienced a 23% decrease in San Francisco.
Parks can also affect strikeouts and walks — not just power. And many other factors outside of just dimensions go into whether a venue benefits hitters or pitchers, including mound height, climate, wind and even umpire accuracy due to visibility.
Getting ahead of changes for 2025 — whether they be in park structure or players changing teams — will help win your fantasy league.
We'll now examine the best pitching parks for the season. Go here for a full breakdown of the best hitters parks.
Most stats are courtesy of Savant, using a three-year sample.
The following parks are listed with the most extreme at the top, with +/- % being the difference compared to league average:
Seattle was baseball's most extreme park last season, as T-Mobile decreased run scoring (-21%) as much as Coors Field increased it. Visibility looks like one issue, as no park boosts Whiff Rate more. Temperature and wind are also among many contributing factors to Seattle being an extreme pitcher's park. Andrés Muñoz had the third-biggest home/road split of any pitcher since World War II last season.
Here are Seattle's starting pitchers' eye-opening home/road splits from last year
Logan Gilbert (2.49 vs. 3.94)
Luis Castillo (3.15 vs. 4.25)
George Kirby (3.06 vs. 3.89)
Bryce Miller (1.96 vs. 4.07!)
Bryan Woo (2.47 vs. 3.29)
Mariners' pitchers will continue to get a huge boost from their home park, but it's a hurdle for Julio Rodríguez.
Tropicana Field has also decreased walks by 5% and increased strikeouts by 8% over the last three seasons, so the Rays' move to a new home with Yankee Stadium's dimensions will have major fantasy ramifications.
Petco Park has actually boosted homers (+4%) over the last three seasons, but it remains a tough place to hit overall. Nick Pivetta's propensity to give up home runs should remain an issue with his move from Fenway Park (-2%); Pivetta allowed 20 of his 28 homers on the road last year. Still, Pivetta moves from the second-best hitter's park to the third-best pitcher's park according to Park Factors. Pivetta has the fifth-best K-BB% since 2023, so he looks like a top-40 fantasy SP after his dramatic change in scenery.
Cleveland suddenly became incredibly HR-friendly for left-handed batters last year after Progressive Field removed some shipping containers and created a 'wind tunnel.' Progressive Field had suppressed HR for LHB by 15% over 2022-23, but it boosted them by 16% last season. Progressive Field had decreased HR (both sides of the plate) an MLB-high 23% over 2022-23, but it was more favorable for homers than Coors Field in 2024. It's best to use three-year samples in Park Factors, but the physical changes could continue to lead to a much different hitting environment in Cleveland.
San Francisco remains an extreme pitcher's park even after moving in its outfield fences in 2020. That's likely because climate is the biggest culprit, as Oracle Park is cold and filled with dense air right next to the ocean. Balls simply don't travel as far there (h/t Barry Bonds the GOAT).
Willy Adames gets a downgrade moving to the Giants. Milwaukee has increased HR for RHB by 11% over the last three seasons, whereas San Francisco has decreased them by 21%. Graphics may show all of Adames' 150 career home runs theoretically leaving Oracle Park, but the main issue in San Francisco is air density, not park dimensions. Those fly balls simply won't travel as far in the Bay Area. The Giants haven't had a 30-homer hitter since 2004 for a reason; every other team has at least one since 2019. Adames also never had more than eight steals in a season before last year, and he now joins a San Francisco organization that was the least likely to attempt a stolen base last season.
Michael Conforto gets a major fantasy boost leaving the Giants. San Francisco has been a bottom-three park for left-handed power (-23%) over the last three seasons, but Dodger Stadium has been the sixth-best (+16%).
Kyle Tucker might lose a few homers with his move from Houston to Chicago. Minute Maid Park has boosted HR for LHB by 10% over the last three seasons, but Wrigley Field has suppressed them by 10%. But it's only a slight downgrade overall, and the Cubs ran more than the Astros last season. Still, Tucker will be dealing with the windiest conditions in baseball now.
Meanwhile, pull-happy Isaac Paredes should see a bump moving from Wrigley Field (and Tropicana) to Houston's short left-field porch. Paredes had twice as many expected homers (26) at Minute Maid Park last season compared to Wrigley Field (13).