This is just something that I thought would be interesting to pass along, in case you hadn’t come across it before. Baseball Think Factory calculates park factors for all of the minor league levels except rookie ball, both for 2007 and then a 3 year number as well, which is more accurate because of a larger sample. Park factors in general aren’t 100% reliable because of a number of factors, but they can give you a general idea in terms of which parks are very hitter friendly and which parks favor pitchers. The info can be found here.

So where do the Phillies affiliates stand? The numbers are given for Runs, Hits, 2B, HR, BB, and K. The numbers that I think are meaningful are hits, 2B, and HR, moreso the last two, as they give an indication as to whether the park plays up for hitters or if the conditions favor pitchers. A number of 1.00 is neutral, anything below favors pitchers, anything above favors hitters. The first number I’ll give is the hits factor, the second is the doubles factor, and the final number is the home run factor. These are the three year numbers, which factor in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Williamsport: 0.99 — 1.02 — 1.04

So it appears Williamsport is right around average in terms of hits given up, but the park does enhance doubles and home runs. Of the 14 teams in the NYPL, Williamsport was tied for the 6th toughest in terms of hits, with Brooklyn being the toughest and Tri City being the easiest. In terms of doubles, Williamsport was tied for 8th, the toughest park on doubles was Jamestown, and the park that inflated doubles the most was Batavia, the old Phillies NYPL affiliate. Williamsport was the 10th toughest park in terms of home runs, with Oneonta the toughest and Tri City the easiest by a large margin, with a rate of 1.50.

Lakewood: 0.99 — 1.08 — 0.81

Lakewood, as you can see, inflates doubles by about 8%, but suppresses home runs by almost 20%. In terms of all parks in the SAL, Lakewood’s doubles inflation is tops, while they are the third toughest out of 16 parks in terms of home runs, behind only Augusta and Charleston. This would kind of explain Phillies prospects putting up very low home run rates at Lakewood and then seeing their numbers jump up when they hit Clearwater, most recently a guy like Carlos Carrasco.

Clearwater: 0.99 — 1.04 — 1.06

Clearwater generally favors hitters, inflating both doubles and home runs. Out of 12 FSL parks, it ranks 3rd easiest in terms of doubles behind only St Lucie and Sarasota, and 4th easiest in terms of home runs behind Daytona, Dunedin, and Vero Beach. As I mentioned with the Lakewood numbers, this is the test for pitchers being promoted, as Lakewood is very favorable to pitchers, while Clearwater is just the opposite. The FSL in general is not really hitter or pitcher friendly, but certain parks play differently. Vero Beach, now the home of the (Devil) Rays, has a HR factor of 1.34, the highest in the league. So that makes the accomplishments of Wade Davis and Jake McGee, two of their three best pitching prospects, all the more impressive.

Reading: 0.99 — 0.95 — 1.19

Reading, unlike the other Phillies affiliates, depresses doubles a bit, but compensates by inflating home runs by 19%. Of the 12 parks in the Eastern League, Reading is the second toughest on doubles, behind only Harrisburg who comes in at 0.92. In terms of home runs, Reading is the easiest park in the Eastern League, with Harrisburg being the second easiest at 1.12. So you’re basically looking at power numbers being inflated for Reading players, especially the home runs. If you look at a 2007 example, Mike Costanzo’s home slugging % was .538, compared to his .432 mark on the road. He hit 17 HR in 251 home at bats to only 9 HR in 241 road at bats.

Since the Phillies are moving to Allentown this year, the Ottawa numbers aren’t all that important. However, I thought it would be interesting to see how Ottawa and Scranton compare

Ottawa: 0.99 — 0.96 — 0.93
Scranton: 1.00 — 1.01 — 0.95

Both parks played somewhat tough on hitters, especially Ottawa. Scranton deflates home runs by 5%, Ottawa by 7%. The Ottawa team in 2007 wasn’t exactly overflowing with prospects anyway, but their complete lack of power can at least be partly attributed to a tough hitting environment. It will be interesting to see how the new park in Allentown plays.