Should the Cardinals alter Busch Stadium to boost offense ?

[ramfandan]

It's a bold strategy says this article.

Before giving a knee-jerk simplistic reaction of 'No, the other team will do better too so it's a wash' check out what the adjustment at Kaufaman Stadium has done for the KC Royals.
The Cardinals offensive stats are so much better in road games than in home games. The pitcher friendly Busch has become even more so with the construction of One Cardianls Way building beyond centerfield.
https://redbirdrants.com/should-the-car ... st-offense

One of the stats in the article notes that Busch has a ballpark factor of 70 making it the toughest for home runs in all of baseball in 2026. Also check out the 'splits' between our team's offensive production in road games vs. home games . 'Egrigious' was the word used to describe the stark difference.
Though DeWitt III hasn't put this issue up for discussions, the numbers don't lie. The present Busch Stadium is going to supress offensive production .
For long term , think about this .. If you were a free agent hitter in MLB with good power bat , would you want to play half your games (81 ) of 162 at Busch.
Remember , the Cardinals are 9th in OPS on the road and 28th in OPS at home . IF we could duplicate the home numbers with road, I will take my chances (at 9th ).. the top 8 may be better at Busch than us but there would be 21 other teams that we would outhit at Busch according to this year's stats. Something to think about.

[mattmitchl44]

With their pitching staff still being 27th in MLB in K/9, you might argue that a home park that suppresses HRs does more to help the Cardinals pitching than it does to hurt the offense right now.

[ramfandan]

With their pitching staff still being 27th in MLB in K/9, you might argue that a home park that suppresses HRs does more to help the Cardinals pitching than it does to hurt the offense right now.

That is a valid point for right now . For the long term though, it seems advantageous to for the team to consider altering the park so that the team's offensive stats is more in line with how they play in the road parks . While hardly anyone would advocate going from the extreme park to hit homes (as stats currently show) to one that is a home run derby venue, fans I have talked to seem to lament watching the very low -scoring games at Busch.
From one of the toughest parks to hit home runs, it may be nice to see Busch Stadium more in the middle of the pack. I still remember hearing Brewer play by play announcer on a call with Brewer Yelich hitting a long one to RC field ..Anderson excited voice as ball rockets off the bat only to be caught at the base of the ball wall for the 3rd out of the inning with Anderson comment , ' From the sound of that , I thought for sure it was going out . That was a home run at American Family Field (Milwaukee). ' So even the announcers who call oodles of HR shots can see the difference at Busch vs. their own ballparks.

[scoutyjones2]

No

[JDW]

With their pitching staff still being 27th in MLB in K/9, you might argue that a home park that suppresses HRs does more to help the Cardinals pitching than it does to hurt the offense right now.

Yes, in the present, but moving forward is that going to be the case with the power pitchers the Cards look to be targeting now in the draft?
Regardless, Arenado, Golds, O'Neill and lesser power RH bats have been negatively effected by the home ballpark over the years, possibly forcing them to alter their approach which then negatively affected their offensive trajectories, for ex., becoming more pull happy.
Guess one could also say that with Walker and Baez, with their more extreme power potential gives the adv. back to the Cards, but should such considerations even be a factor in trying to have a more fair ballpark?

[scoutyjones2]

With their pitching staff still being 27th in MLB in K/9, you might argue that a home park that suppresses HRs does more to help the Cardinals pitching than it does to hurt the offense right now.

Yes, in the present, but moving forward is that going to be the case with the power pitchers the Cards look to be targeting now in the draft?
Regardless, Arenado, Golds, O'Neill and lesser power RH bats have been negatively effected by the home ballpark over the years, possibly forcing them to alter their approach which then negatively affected their offensive trajectories, for ex., becoming more pull happy.
Guess one could also say that with Walker and Baez, with their more extreme power potential gives the adv. back to the Cards, but should such considerations even be a factor in trying to have a more fair ballpark?

And yet Gokdy and Nado had their career years as a Cardinal, hitting wise. Also on the backend of their careers too

Nado came from Colorado. Known for boosting hitting.

And O'Neil ? Really?

[NYCardsFan]

Though DeWitt III hasn't put this issue up for discussions, the numbers don't lie. The present Busch Stadium is going to supress offensive production .
For long term , think about this .. If you were a free agent hitter in MLB with good power bat , would you want to play half your games (81 ) of 162 at Busch.
Remember , the Cardinals are 9th in OPS on the road and 28th in OPS at home . IF we could duplicate the home numbers with road, I will take my chances (at 9th ).. the top 8 may be better at Busch than us but there would be 21 other teams that we would outhit at Busch according to this year's stats. Something to think about.

NL Central 3-Yr Rolling Park Factors (Statcast):
Cardinals (Busch Stadium): 97
Cubs (Wrigley Field): 97
Brewers (American Family Field): 97
Pirates (PNC Park): 101
Reds (Great American Ballpark): 102

[Jatalk]

I like a park that favors defense and pitching. Especially this year. I like close games. Also developing pitchers is hard and expensive. From an organizational standpoint it makes sense to keep the park the same.

[JDW]

With their pitching staff still being 27th in MLB in K/9, you might argue that a home park that suppresses HRs does more to help the Cardinals pitching than it does to hurt the offense right now.

Yes, in the present, but moving forward is that going to be the case with the power pitchers the Cards look to be targeting now in the draft?
Regardless, Arenado, Golds, O'Neill and lesser power RH bats have been negatively effected by the home ballpark over the years, possibly forcing them to alter their approach which then negatively affected their offensive trajectories, for ex., becoming more pull happy.
Guess one could also say that with Walker and Baez, with their more extreme power potential gives the adv. back to the Cards, but should such considerations even be a factor in trying to have a more fair ballpark?

And yet Gokdy and Nado had their career years as a Cardinal, hitting wise. Also on the backend of their careers too

Nado came from Colorado. Known for boosting hitting.

And O'Neil ? Really?

Golds OPS while with Arizona was around .930.
Golds OPS while with STL was around .843.
Arenado while with Colorado had a OPS over .890.
Arenado while at STL had an OPS under .778.
As good as O'Neil was in 2021, how much better would it been with a friendlier home ballpark, at which point it would have been nice if they would have cashed in his really good value he had at the time, which eroded from there.

[ramfandan]

With their pitching staff still being 27th in MLB in K/9, you might argue that a home park that suppresses HRs does more to help the Cardinals pitching than it does to hurt the offense right now.

Yes, in the present, but moving forward is that going to be the case with the power pitchers the Cards look to be targeting now in the draft?
Regardless, Arenado, Golds, O'Neill and lesser power RH bats have been negatively effected by the home ballpark over the years, possibly forcing them to alter their approach which then negatively affected their offensive trajectories, for ex., becoming more pull happy.
Guess one could also say that with Walker and Baez, with their more extreme power potential gives the adv. back to the Cards, but should such considerations even be a factor in trying to have a more fair ballpark?

And yet Gokdy and Nado had their career years as a Cardinal, hitting wise. Also on the backend of their careers too

Nado came from Colorado. Known for boosting hitting.

And O'Neil ? Really?

Using Arenado , in Colorado he had HR totals of 42, 41, 37, 38, & 41 then with Cardinals 34, 30, 26, & 16
Looking at Nado's ages 27, 28, & 29 with the Rockies , he had the last three totals above (37, 38, & 41 ) .. then the next 3 years with the Cardinals (ages 30, 31, 32 ..still in prime HR years , he had the 34, 30 & 26 listed above. So clearly his HR numbers declined from 116 HR's his final three years in Colorado compared to 90 HR's his first three years in St. Louis.. 116 vs. 90 By my math that is 26 less homers or nearly 9 HR's less per the 3-year periods.

[scoutyjones2]

With their pitching staff still being 27th in MLB in K/9, you might argue that a home park that suppresses HRs does more to help the Cardinals pitching than it does to hurt the offense right now.

Yes, in the present, but moving forward is that going to be the case with the power pitchers the Cards look to be targeting now in the draft?
Regardless, Arenado, Golds, O'Neill and lesser power RH bats have been negatively effected by the home ballpark over the years, possibly forcing them to alter their approach which then negatively affected their offensive trajectories, for ex., becoming more pull happy.
Guess one could also say that with Walker and Baez, with their more extreme power potential gives the adv. back to the Cards, but should such considerations even be a factor in trying to have a more fair ballpark?

And yet Gokdy and Nado had their career years as a Cardinal, hitting wise. Also on the backend of their careers too

Nado came from Colorado. Known for boosting hitting.

And O'Neil ? Really?

Golds OPS while with Arizona was around .930.
Golds OPS while with STL was around .843.
Arenado while with Colorado had a OPS over .890.
Arenado while at STL had an OPS under .778.
As good as O'Neil was in 2021, how much better would it been with a friendlier home ballpark, at which point it would have been nice if they would have cashed in his really good value he had at the time, which eroded from there.

No. Instead of lowering the bar, let's keep the standard. TON has proven he was a fluke. Baltimore brought their walls in...he still sucks.

2 flashes in his career.

[scoutyjones2]

With their pitching staff still being 27th in MLB in K/9, you might argue that a home park that suppresses HRs does more to help the Cardinals pitching than it does to hurt the offense right now.

Yes, in the present, but moving forward is that going to be the case with the power pitchers the Cards look to be targeting now in the draft?
Regardless, Arenado, Golds, O'Neill and lesser power RH bats have been negatively effected by the home ballpark over the years, possibly forcing them to alter their approach which then negatively affected their offensive trajectories, for ex., becoming more pull happy.
Guess one could also say that with Walker and Baez, with their more extreme power potential gives the adv. back to the Cards, but should such considerations even be a factor in trying to have a more fair ballpark?

And yet Gokdy and Nado had their career years as a Cardinal, hitting wise. Also on the backend of their careers too

Nado came from Colorado. Known for boosting hitting.

And O'Neil ? Really?

Using Arenado , in Colorado he had HR totals of 42, 41, 37, 38, & 41 then with Cardinals 34, 30, 26, & 16
Looking at Nado's ages 27, 28, & 29 with the Rockies , he had the last three totals above (37, 38, & 41 ) .. then the next 3 years with the Cardinals (ages 30, 31, 32 ..still in prime HR years , he had the 34, 30 & 26 listed above. So clearly his HR numbers declined from 116 HR's his final three years in Colorado compared to 90 HR's his first three years in St. Louis.. 116 vs. 90 By my math that is 26 less homers or nearly 9 HR's less per the 3-year periods.

Backend of his career. Nado had 8 HRs at age 29

[Melville]

Better idea.
Alter the manager and coaching staff.

[ramfandan]

With their pitching staff still being 27th in MLB in K/9, you might argue that a home park that suppresses HRs does more to help the Cardinals pitching than it does to hurt the offense right now.

Yes, in the present, but moving forward is that going to be the case with the power pitchers the Cards look to be targeting now in the draft?
Regardless, Arenado, Golds, O'Neill and lesser power RH bats have been negatively effected by the home ballpark over the years, possibly forcing them to alter their approach which then negatively affected their offensive trajectories, for ex., becoming more pull happy.
Guess one could also say that with Walker and Baez, with their more extreme power potential gives the adv. back to the Cards, but should such considerations even be a factor in trying to have a more fair ballpark?

And yet Gokdy and Nado had their career years as a Cardinal, hitting wise. Also on the backend of their careers too

Nado came from Colorado. Known for boosting hitting.

And O'Neil ? Really?

Using Arenado , in Colorado he had HR totals of 42, 41, 37, 38, & 41 then with Cardinals 34, 30, 26, & 16
Looking at Nado's ages 27, 28, & 29 with the Rockies , he had the last three totals above (37, 38, & 41 ) .. then the next 3 years with the Cardinals (ages 30, 31, 32 ..still in prime HR years , he had the 34, 30 & 26 listed above. So clearly his HR numbers declined from 116 HR's his final three years in Colorado compared to 90 HR's his first three years in St. Louis.. 116 vs. 90 By my math that is 26 less homers or nearly 9 HR's less per the 3-year periods.

Backend of his career. Nado had 8 HRs at age 29

Yes, but you failed to mention that at age 29 in Colorado he played in just 48 games that season. Thus 8 in 48 games .. 1 of every 6 games translates to a pace of a 27 HR season.

[scoutyjones2]

With their pitching staff still being 27th in MLB in K/9, you might argue that a home park that suppresses HRs does more to help the Cardinals pitching than it does to hurt the offense right now.

Yes, in the present, but moving forward is that going to be the case with the power pitchers the Cards look to be targeting now in the draft?
Regardless, Arenado, Golds, O'Neill and lesser power RH bats have been negatively effected by the home ballpark over the years, possibly forcing them to alter their approach which then negatively affected their offensive trajectories, for ex., becoming more pull happy.
Guess one could also say that with Walker and Baez, with their more extreme power potential gives the adv. back to the Cards, but should such considerations even be a factor in trying to have a more fair ballpark?

And yet Gokdy and Nado had their career years as a Cardinal, hitting wise. Also on the backend of their careers too

Nado came from Colorado. Known for boosting hitting.

And O'Neil ? Really?

Using Arenado , in Colorado he had HR totals of 42, 41, 37, 38, & 41 then with Cardinals 34, 30, 26, & 16
Looking at Nado's ages 27, 28, & 29 with the Rockies , he had the last three totals above (37, 38, & 41 ) .. then the next 3 years with the Cardinals (ages 30, 31, 32 ..still in prime HR years , he had the 34, 30 & 26 listed above. So clearly his HR numbers declined from 116 HR's his final three years in Colorado compared to 90 HR's his first three years in St. Louis.. 116 vs. 90 By my math that is 26 less homers or nearly 9 HR's less per the 3-year periods.

Backend of his career. Nado had 8 HRs at age 29

Yes, but you failed to mention that at age 29 in Colorado he played in just 48 games that season. Thus 8 in 48 games .. 1 of every 6 games translates to a pace of a 27 HR season.

I believe you posted the following, which wasn't true

"Looking at Nado's ages 27, 28, & 29 with the Rockies , he had the last three totals above (37, 38, & 41 ) "

[rockondlouie]

Read the same article the other day.

Yes, I'd lower the wall & bring in the fences.

Bernie has been on this for some time, checkout these stats from his last week column:

But since May 1, when the Cards offense began showing signs of strain, here’s a snapshot look at their Busch bashing compared to their big-hit road shows.

Cardinals runs per game on the road: 5.43, ranking 3rd in the majors.

Cardinals runs per game at home: 3.67, which ranks 30th in the majors.

Isolated Power: .150 on road and .118 at Busch Stadium.

Slugging percentage: .450 on road, and .350 at Busch.

AB/HR: one home run every 28.8 at-bats for the Cardinals on the road, and a homer every 42 at-bats at Busch.

He goes really in depth w/stats in this column:

https://www.stlsportscentral.com/2026/0 ... ew-7-24-26