American Family Field's Unusual Offensive Environment

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American Family Field seating chart 2024

American Family Field seating chart 2024

There are lots of phrases and adjectives fans may use to describe American Family Field, but “pitcher’s park” might be one that should be used more often.

When the Brewers replaced Milwaukee County Stadium with then-Miller Park for the 2001 season there was a widespread belief that the new ballpark would be significantly friendlier for power hitters and would boost run scoring. The former belief has proven true: Statcast’s Park Factors suggest that American Family Field was the eighth-easiest MLB park to hit a home run in for the 2024 season and it’s been the sixth easiest over the last three years. In that latter span there have been about 14% more home runs hit in Milwaukee than in the average MLB park. About 13% of the fly balls hit at American Family Field turn into home runs, meaning about 1 in 50 fly balls hit in Milwaukee is a home run in that facility but would not have gotten out of the average MLB park.

Despite that homer-friendliness, however, American Family Field still grades out significantly below average for run scoring overall. Playing a game at American Family Field has actually depressed run scoring by about 3% over the last three seasons, with the facility ranked 26th in park factor and right around noted difficult places to hit like Oracle Park in San Francisco and Citi Field in New York. In 2024 the Brewers won more games at home (47 to 46) but scored more runs on the road (410 to 367). American Family Field is the only park among the top 12 in home runs that is also a below-average run-scoring environment.

One of the reasons why offenses struggle in Milwaukee might, counterintuitively, also be the reason they hit so many home runs. While a fly ball hit at American Family Field is more likely to be a home run than it is in the average park, the ballpark’s relatively small dimensions and layout (especially in left and right field) also mean balls hit to the outfield are less likely to turn into singles and doubles. AmFam is the third hardest park in MLB to double in and the second most difficult park to single in.

Move Left Field?

There are some things the Brewers could consider doing to tinker with the offensive environment, and they wouldn’t be the first to try: From 2019-21 Camden Yards in Baltimore was the second homer-friendliest park in baseball, and the Orioles responded by moving their left field fences back and heightening the wall. The result was significant. From 2022-24 Camden Yards was 20th in home runs after ranking second in the three years before the change. The “Walltimore” project also ushered in an era of significant change in the run scoring environment, as Camden Yards was the fourth most offense-friendly park in baseball from 2019-21 and 20th from 2022-24. The Orioles, for their part, are changing park dimensions again this winter in an effort to find a “happy medium.” 

It’s not as easy to change the batter’s eye in an already-constructed stadium, but it’s possible that it’s as big or bigger of a factor at American Family Field than the park dimensions. Games at AmFam featured 12% more strikeouts than the league average over the last three seasons and 3% fewer hard hit balls, as measured by Statcast. While the shadows in the facility are often mentioned on broadcasts, it’s worth noting that strikeouts remain at the same unusually high level for both day and night games. That fact lends some credence to Adam Salorio of Pitcher List’s theory that enclosed or retractable roof facilities provide pitchers with “relatively stable environments to pitch in,” thus increasing their effectiveness. It’s worth noting, however, that pitchers also walk more batters in games in Milwaukee than average.

Whatever the reasons for American Family Field’s offensive environment might be, its unusual status as a homer friendly, offense unfriendly facility do create some incentives for the Brewers to pursue very specific types of players for their roster. While lineups full of all-or-nothing sluggers create their own sets of problems and can be frustrating with their streakiness, it’s possible they’re more valuable to the Brewers than they would be to the average team because balls put in play are more likely to be turned to outs at AmFam anyway, but solid contact is more likely to become a home run.

The leaguewide MLB numbers may shift a bit in 2025 as two longtime pitcher-friendly parks are replaced by temporary facilities: The Rays are moving from Tropicana Field to George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa due to hurricane damage and the Athletics left the Oakland Coliseum for Sutter Health Park in Sacramento as part of their efforts to move to Las Vegas. If those facilities are even neutral for offenses it will make American Family Field stand out even more as an unusual place to hit.