Minor League Park Factors Midseason Update

New parks opened this year in Amarillo, Fayetteville and Las Vegas. All three parks have seen a higher rate of run scoring than the full-season minor league average.

The league-by-league park factor tables below will not only help you determine how each individual park plays in the context of its league, but the percentile (Pctile) column places each park in an overall minor league context. From Double-A Jacksonville (6.40 runs per game) to Triple-A Reno (13.31 R/G), each park is assigned a percentile score on a scale of zero to 100 based on how many runs were scored at that park in the first half. The sample includes only the 120 full-season ballparks.

For example, Amarillo (89th percentile) and Las Vegas (98th) have two of the best offensive environments in the minors. Fayetteville (62nd) sits comfortably above the Carolina League average.

The rest of the data is self-explanatory. The Home and Road columns indicate the per-game rates* for runs scored and allowed by each team at its home park and also at parks the team visits on the road. The park factor (PF) is the index score that results from those two rates, where 100 is average. The multiplier (Mult) halves the impact of the park factor to reflect the reality that players play only half their games at home.

* Actually, the rate per 76 plate appearances is used because that is the per-game average for total batters in most leagues.

Caveat: This data should not be considered complete and is subject to change, perhaps dramatically as teams play the rest of their schedules.

Here are the top 5 ballparks in terms of runs per game at home:

1. Reno (Pacific Coast)
2. Albuquerque (Pacific Coast)
3. Las Vegas (Pacific Coast)
4. Charlotte (International)
5. Lancaster (California)

And the bottom five, from fewest runs to most.

1. Jacksonville (Southern)
2. Wilmington (Carolina)
3. Lakeland (Florida State)
4. Mississippi (Southern)
5. Jupiter (Florida State)

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