Hitting a Petco Park: At a Glance

by MrDanielX on Aug 5, 2011 3:39 PM PDT

I am not a statistician, sabermetrical baseball dork, nor can I say I am even that good at anything above basic math. I all of my accumulated statistical information come from:

1) Getting Wonk'd by Wonko

2) Reading Ducksnorts

3) Reading "Moneyball"

4) Reading "The Extra 2%"

5) Playing a lot of "WhatIfSports" (both Simleagues baseball, and Hardball Dyntasy)

So I see myself as "Slightly Above Average" on the baseball statistics world. I know what a lot of advanced stats measure and what the acronyms mean and try to measure, no idea how they are formulated.

SO! I knowing this I have been curious as to who, in Padres history has had a decent hitting season.

I looked at the following, completely arbitrary things.

1) Only games played AT Petco (Home Splits)

2) At least 150 PA

I measured a "decent" hitting season by using opinion AND the following floors.

1) Must have hit at least .240

2) Must have had an OBP of at least .330

3) If you hit at least 10 HR at Petco, I ignore 1 & 2.

4) Your name IS NOT Adrian Gonzalez (spoiler, he qualifies every year he played for us)

Who are these magical men? Follow me.

2010: avg / obp / slug / ops (WARNING: I transcribed all by hand. If you see an obp + slug = opb error, its probably me)

Yorvit Torrealba: .312 / .394 / .429 / .823

Nick Hundley: .292 / .355 / .526 / .880

Chris Denorfia: .288 / .365 / .432 / .792

2009:

Tony Gwynn Jr: .279 / .371 / .326 / .697 (HA! 2009 was horrible. To say his .697 OPS is "decent" is a stretch)

2008

Brian Giles: 296. / .393 / .423 / .817

Jody Gerut: .295 / .340 / .449 / .789

Scott Hairston: .271 / .333 / .514 / .847

Kevin Kouzmanoff: .226 / .268 / .390 / .658 (11 HR)

2007

Geoff Blum: .297 / .371 / .399 / .770

Kevin Kouzmanoff: .276 / .331 / .412 / .743

Mike Cameron: .229 / .316 / .413 / .729 (10 HR)

Khalil Green: .216 / .258 / .412 / .670 (12 HR)

2006

Dave Roberts: .306 / .364 / .393 / .757

Mike Cameron: .271 / .360 / .498 / .858 (HR 11)

Brian Giles: .263 / .378 / .384 / .762

Mike Piazza: .223 / .307 / .425 / .732 (HR 10)

2005

Mark Loretta: .305 / .382 / .385 / .767

Ramon Hernandez: .302 / .333 / .448 / .781

Sean Burroughs: .276 / .337 / .340 / .677

Brian Giles: .267 / .378 / .417 / .795

Xavier Nady: .255 / .333 / .431 / .765

Ryan Klesko: .250 / .367 / .438 / .804 (HR 10)

2004

Mark Loretta: .295 / .373 / .496 / .870 (HR 11)

Ryan Klesko: .242 / .389 / .420 / .808

Brian Giles: .287 / .376 / .488 / .864 (HR 10)

Sean Burroghs: .281 / .348 / .344 / .693

Phil Nevin: .265 / .364 / .405 / .829 (HR 12)

Khalil Green: .241 / .345 / .338 / .683

Ramon Hernandez: .246 / .313 / .451 / .764 (HR 10)

Ok. What does this all mean? Well, I'll tell you this. Only Chris Denorfia and Chase Headley are looking to qualify for my modest requirements this year, with Bartlett right on the cusp.

I was hoping to find some sort of template for the type of player to go after, but now I don't know if this is really indicitive of anything.

The payroll goes down from the inaugural 2004 season. It "could" be a function of the buildings around the park making what was already a "pitchers" park even more extreme. It could be said that after the 2008 season the team dropped off a cliff, and we just happened to strike gold by bringing in Chris Denorfia and Yorvit Torrealba, and Hundley got lucky in 2010.

I find it sort off crazy how Tony Gwynn Jr could not hit for crap in 2010, but seems to have turned it around average wise (though his: +.058 ave and only +.017 obp lead me to believe that he is sacrificing plate discipline for contact, and getting helped by the ballpark for it)

Overall: I think worrying about the ballpark is sort of a silly thing.

BUT you know days are bad when you would have no problem having 2005 Xavier Nady, 2007 Geoff Blum, 2008 Jody Gerut, 2008 Scott Harriston, 2006 Mike Piazza, 2009 Tony Gwynn, 2004 OR 2005 Sean Burrough's numbers at 2B, SS, or 4th Outfielder positions.

Or you would like to Clone Chris Denorfia's numbers in those positions.

Thoughts? Or Wonkings?

This FanPost was written by a member of the Gaslamp Ball community and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gaslamp Ball managers or SB Nation.

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Comments

I believe Scott Hairston

is one of the best career hitters in Petco Park, for players with enough PAs.

Back from the dead!

by Zach (maestro876) on Aug 5, 2011 3:52 PM PDT reply actions

Yeah, his .514 Slugging % in '08

Was Andre Ethier like at Home.

Anyone who spikes a ball after tagging out a douche like Andres Torres is OK by me.

by MrDanielX on Aug 5, 2011 4:10 PM PDT up reply actions

tony gwynn jr was super unlucky

he was never as bad as his 2010 stats showed. however, he’s really just a .270 hitter.

by iheartyourfart on Aug 5, 2011 4:10 PM PDT reply actions

If he would hit .270 / say... .350... with his SB instincts

I feel like he could lead off for this team right now.

Anyone who spikes a ball after tagging out a douche like Andres Torres is OK by me.

by MrDanielX on Aug 5, 2011 4:11 PM PDT up reply actions

hes cetainly better than eric patterson

cash rules everything around me CREAM get tha money dolla dolla bill yaaaaallll

by staceyaugmon4HOF on Aug 6, 2011 12:36 PM PDT up reply actions

I also conclude from this that... if Hundley can manage to stay healthy

And platoon his position so he will not wear out.

I think he is a keeper at catcher for while.

Anyone who spikes a ball after tagging out a douche like Andres Torres is OK by me.

by MrDanielX on Aug 5, 2011 4:13 PM PDT reply actions

I think 2010 at home was just luck

For whatever reason he just happened to make contact more often for those 156 PA’s. I don’t think it’s anything he could sustain. His K% at Home in 2010 was pretty far out of line with his K% at home or the road for his career.

I think Hundley is what he is and doubt he’ll see much sustained improvement. He’s going to strike out a lot, not walk that much (especially when not hitting 8th), and hit for a little pop.

I like Luis Martinez more than Hundley. I think catcher is one area we should look to improve via free agency in the offseason.

by Antonio Olivares on Aug 6, 2011 3:18 PM PDT up reply actions

I did some similar research a while back

I expected to find that guys that didn’t hit many fly balls would have the most success, but it’s not really the case. The only guy that really fit my idea of a Petco park hitter was Loretta, but him and his high line drive % would really play anywhere. I think having success at Petco is a mental thing more than anything else.

With the way that Petco hurts BABIP I would think a guy that walks a lot is of more value. That’s part of the reason why I love Headley here.

by Antonio Olivares on Aug 6, 2011 3:26 PM PDT reply actions