Photo Credit: Los Angeles Times
On Opening Day, we saw Clayton Kershaw, one of the most dominant pitchers of this generation get shelled for 6 runs off 10 hits. While pitchers have no say in where they face batters, the Coors field effect shouldn’t worry anyone.
This was followed up by a game in which Trevor Bauer seemed to be cruising through 6 innings as he didn’t allow a hit until the start of the 7th inning. That’s when things got crazy, Charlie Blackmon proceeded to hit a two-run home run, then Ryan McMahon hit a two-run home run as well which then took Bauer out of the game. David Price then came into the game and didn’t seem to adjust to being in Coors as he gave up back to back home runs to Dom Nunez and Sam Hillard which made for some interesting history. Trevor Bauer and David Price are the second Dodgers teammates in history to give up multiple home runs at Coors in the same game.
It’s been known that Coors field is a hitters dream for those looking to get their offensive numbers back up, which on the flip side, is a nightmare for pitchers. Due to the high altitude at Coors field, pitchers have to adjust to the weird weather effect that the stadium has on baseballs. The ball jumps farther at Coors field than most other Major League stadiums, so a regular fly ball somewhere else, might mean a ball off the wall or a home run in Colorado. That being said, it’s tough to truly evaluate a pitchers performance in that field, especially if they’re not consistently playing there, which the Dodgers aren’t.
Based on a research article on baseball physics, Coors field sees pitches acquire less break which means pitches like sliders and curveballs are almost meaningless which is what we’re used to seeing from Kershaw. In the artice, it states “An overhand curveball will drop about 4 inches less at Coors. An overhand fastball will drop 4 inches more at Coors. Why “more?” Because the upward Magnus force opposing gravity is less at Coors.” So clearly something is happening to pitchers at Coors field that is inconsistent to what they are actually used to seeing at other fields.
Having that be your home ballpark does have it’s advantages as some pitchers may be used to high altitude and can adjust accordingly. Ubaldo Jimenez is a name that comes to mind as he was probably the most successful Rockies pitcher when it came to pitching at that park. Jimenez led with a 18.9 WAR, ERA of 3.66, and hits per 9 innings with 7.636, which is proficient for a pitcher having to deal with the weird physics that play into Coors field.
Either way, the Dodgers shouldn’t be too concerned with the numbers their pitchers are putting up in Coors field. As long as these pitchers can execute their pitches and locate the best they can, that should be good enough in a tricky ballpark like Coors field. Walker Buehler gets the ball for today’s game and while he’s a dominant pitcher and will try to put up the best game he can, it should come with some forgiveness should he start struggling for no real reason. It’s rough for the Dodgers to be starting their season first season in such a weird ballpark, and pitchers should be thrilled to get out of there once the series ends.
Jacob Cisneros is a writer for Dodgers-LowDown. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram @_JacobCisneros.