Historically (Texas) Rangers Ballpark has been one of the best hitter’s ballparks in the majors. One of the reasons why the ballpark has been such a bam box has been due to the stream of air that flows through home plate, creating more loft in the ball after the ball is hit. After the 2012 season ended the Rangers upgraded sections of their ballpark. Specifically, removing the entrance behind home plate. The reason for this was to leave open area for fans to view the game, but this also allowed the wind blow through. The question for fantasy owners was what, if any, effect would this have on the offensive statistics. Richard Durrett’s article (linked above) suggests the data is mixed in terms of the impact, if any, it would have.

In 2013 the Rangers ranked eighth in the majors in runs scored and in home runs. However, in 2012 they ranked first in runs scored and fifth in home runs; in 2011 they ranked third in runs scored and second in home runs. Obviously the roster in 2013 was completely different than last year (Josh Hamilton is the one big notable loss) so the decrease in offense could be due roster construction. However, let’s look at the performance of the players who played for the Rangers the past three seasons to see what changes, if any, occurred. I looked at the following players: Elvis Andrus, Nelson Cruz, Mitch Moreland, Adrian Beltre, Craig Gentry, Ian Kinsler and David Murphy.

The data looks pretty compelling, but again we’re dealing with a sample size of 1,617 at-bats versus 3,311 at-bats. Also, not every player regressed; Kinsler, Beltre and Gentry all had similar years compared to the two years prior.

According to StatCorner (image below) their home run values decreased by 37 percent and their run values decreased by 10.7 percent. This adds more evidence to suggest that is this effecting the offensive output potential. However, I looked at the fly ball and home run distances for each player and all of them had distances similar to the previous two years (within seven feet).

To conclude, it is too early to tell the impact the adjustments have had on the offense for the Rangers, but this is something I’m going to monitor closely next year especially with the addition of Prince Fielder.

Lastly, you can checkout my opinions on Brett Lawrie and Hanley Ramirez here and here.