Beware of Marlins Park, Fantasy Owners…Beware of Marlins Park

Marlins Park is HUGE! (Credit: Miami Herald)

After watching the opening game (well, in the USA at least) of the 2012 MLB season, I’ve reached one realization: Marlins Park is gigantic. Twice Giancarlo Stanton (more on him later) absolutely smashed a ball that should’ve would’ve been gone in any other ballpark to deep center field, and twice he was out on one of the deepest fly ball outs I’ve ever seen.

I feel terrible for Stanton because he’s going to lose about 5 home runs this year in Marlins Park. Those 40 home runs he could have had will be more like 35 this season. I don’t really know why the Marlins decided to make Marlins Park so big, but Stanton’s going to be affected very much, not unlike David Wright in Citi Field.

In David Wright’s scenario, even though he was never much of a home run hitter, went from a 33 home run season in 2008 to only 10 in 2009, the first year of pitcher-friendly Citi Field after the Mets moved out of tiny Shea Stadium. However, the next year, Wright rebounded, hitting 29 home runs. Also, the Mets moved the home run fence in a bit, making it easier for hitters. I expect the same to eventually happen to the Marlins.

This is terrible for fantasy owners. It’s not like Giancarlo Stanton had a great batting average to begin with (actually, his average was not great, and he hit .262 with 34 home runs and 87 RBIs while fighting injuries), but now, his greatest asset, power, will diminish, which isn’t his fault at all. In 2011, Stanton, one of the most powerful batters in baseball, had an average of 416 feet per home run, which is exactly the length from home plate to center field. The only place longer than center is left-center field, and “The Bermuda Triangle”, 420 feet from home plate.

However, Stanton’s still a great player to have on your fantasy team, so don’t take this unfortunate truth so seriously.