Home-Field Advantage?

I never fully believed home-field advantage played a crucial role in baseball. Then….behold, I look at the 2014 split statistics of many of the Colorado Rockies players. Now, we all know that Coors Field has been long considered the most hitter-friendly park in the game, but does playing in Coors Field truly alter player statistics? If so, how much of an advantage does playing in Colorado give hitters? What type of hitters are they truly? Well, numbers never lie.

HOME

AWAY

As you can see, the power numbers across the board are much lower on the road for every Rockies starter who had significant playing time last season. In an offseason where the Rockies are reportedly willing to part ways with Tulowitzki and Gonzalez for the right price, what exactly is the right price? Are these two simply products of their environment, or are they the real deal?

Let’s take a look at Tulowitzki and Gonzalez’s numbers for the past few seasons to get a better picture if they really are elite level hitters, or if Coors Field heavily skews their stats. I’ll show only the seasons in which Tulowitzki and Gonzalez played a reasonable amount of games.

HOME

AWAY

Both players’ numbers are substantially better at home than on the road. While Tulowitzki’s numbers are much better at home, his numbers on the road are still very good. He has a wRC+ of 124 or greater in each of these seasons, both on the road and at home. Tulowitzki would still be a valuable contributor to any lineup, it just helps that he’s been playing in Colorado which has boosted his stats. Any team willing to trade for Tulowitzki, should feel comfortable giving up a significant package for him.

Gonzalez on the other hand, is a different story. 2013 was his best year on the road since going to the Rockies, but other than that, his numbers on the road are average at best. In the last five seasons, he’s only had one season where he put up similar numbers on the road as he did at home. The Rockies have a plethora of outfielders who put up numbers very similar to Cargo’s numbers at home. If Charlie Blackmon, Corey Dickerson, and Drew Stubbs are only going to hit well at home and not on the road, it makes Cargo even more dispensable for the Rockies. His split stats are very detrimental to his value. Teams should strongly consider his struggles outside of Colorado before making a move for Cargo.