Its a combination of the humidor and the grass being a lot thicker making balls die faster. The numbers have been trending down in colorado for a while now as every year they try something new to kill offense there.
I wouldn't put a lot of stock into the numbers there so far this year, but I also am not quite as worried about my starters pitching there anymore.
stevethumb wrote:if they would release jose mesa the numbers would be even better
If you take a look at Mesa's numbers, they aren't bad at all. Sunny Kim gave a big ERA to the bullpen early in the year (he's in AAA now).
Some Rockies pitchers seem to be changing speeds more this year (Francis is the big one I've noticed) and really they're just pitching better overall, for whatever reason. I can't even explain it, but I sure am liking it!
Apparently the humidor was installed in 2002, and it looks like MLB allows it because it brings baseballs within specifications. Here's an excerpt I found:
It's interesting that park factors have been decreasing in recent years. Most people attribute this to the humidor that was installed at Coors Field in 2002 to keep the balls at 70 degrees and 50% humidity. There was an great article by Mike Klis of the Denver Post that talks about the humidor. I found the following interesting.
"The Rockies believe the pitching problems at Coors Field could be at least partially corrected if the weight specifications MLB has for its baseballs weren't contradictory to its humidor/ball-shipping specifications. By rule, a baseball can weigh from 5.0 to 5.25 ounces and measure from 9.0 to 9.25 inches in circumference.
This is not an insignificant variance. MLB's own study at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in 2000 found that a well-struck, 5.25-ounce, 9.25- inch ball could travel up to 49.1 feet less than a 5.0-ounce, 9.0- inch ball.
The current humidor settings, however, cannot sufficiently offset altitude's effects to pump the baseballs up to 5.25 ounces. According to Kevin Kahn, the Rockies' chief of ballpark operations, and humidor engineering head Tony Cowell, the balls put in play at Coors Field weigh about 5.12 ounces, on average. "
According to Cowell, prior to the humidor balls were being put into play with weights as low as 4.6 ounces and 8.5 inches.
So usually its the opposing pitchers who complain about Coors Field when they come in, right? Well, in the opening series this year, it was the Dbacks hitters who complained!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that how good Colorado's pitchers are shouldn't have any effect on Coor's park factors. I believe it compares how the team's players do on the road as compared to home, or in some other way contols for the quality of the team. How good a team's players are doesn't come into play, no matter if they are a great offensive team or a great pitching/defensive team. If this is true that means the change is the result of the humidor, small sample size, or both.
Gee I wonder if Helton not being on Roids and having all of 2 homers so far and Larry Walker and Wilson being gone has anything to do with it. The Rox do not havethe power hitters they once had.
None of this seems to have affected Holiday their one legit slugger.
Didn't Vinny Castilla have a field day in Coors last time through this year?
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by Ender » Mon May 15, 2006 4:30 pm 
