| 25 February 2010
Okay, Safeco doesn't suck. It actually looks like a very nice stadium, but it wasn't very nice to Adrian Beltre during his four years as a Mariner.
On Safeco being tough on him: “Not on me, on everybody. Safeco can be tough sometimes, it’s true. Especially the first couple of months and the last couple of months. … It was tough for everybody.”
He's not lying, take a look...
Since 2006, Beltre's average was 35 points higher, his OPS was 100 points higher and his slugging % was 70 points higher away from Safeco Field.
But he's not alone.
2B Jose Lopez has been a Mariner his entire career and owns a .254 BA at home, while hittting .287 away from Safeco.
Want some more? The Mariners, as a team, scored 313 runs at home in 2009 - good for 29th place in the league and were 27th in slugging at .395 and 26th in BA at .255. They weren't much better on the road, but their .260 BA and .409 SLG% on the road ranked them in the middle of the pack (15th).
Bottom Line: Many have speculated that swapping 81 games at Safeco for 81 games at Fenway will make Beltre a more productive hitter. I wasn't buying that until I looked at he stats. If you double up his average away stats, he looks like a .286 BA, .476 slg%, .811 OPS player with 20+ HR powr and a good shot at 80+ RBI...
Not too far off from the .293/.478/.828/19/87 line Mike Lowell averaged over the last four years with the Sox... I'm just sayin'.
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