Marlins Park: Logan Morrison’s Personal House of Horrors

Jul 28, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins first baseman Logan Morrison (5) throws his helmet after striking out during the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Marlins Park. Marlins won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Last week Marlins Maniac’s own Ehsan Kassim reported about a meltdown Logan Morrison had on Twitter regarding the length of the fences at Marlins Park.  Always a Twitter All-Star, LoMo practically makes it seem like he is being forced to work in sweat shop in southeast Asia.  Here is some of the venom LoMo was spewing:

Don’t hold back LoMo, tell us how you really feel!

So with all this hate you would expect that Morrison has had trouble hitting at Marlins Park since it opened in 2012, right?  Well actually, that would be an overwhelmingly correct assumption.  He has been downright awful over the past 2 seasons at Marlins Park.  Here are LoMo’s home and away splits:

Year

Venue

G

PA

AVG

OBP

SLG

wOBA

2B

HR

R

RBI

wRC+

2013

Home

42

170

.248

.324

.353

.304

9

1

20

19

89

Away

43

163

.236

.344

.400

.321

4

5

12

17

103

YearVenueGPAAVGOBPSLGwOBA2BHRRRBIwRC+

2012

Home

51

176

.209

.278

.329

.270

7

4

16

15

65

Away

42

158

.254

.342

.478

.350

8

7

14

21

120

He had just 1 home run at home this season, even though, interestingly enough, it was the longest home run hit at Marlins Park.   Maybe some of the 9 doubles he hit at home in 2013 would have been home runs elsewhere.  His home ISO of .105 versus .164 on the road in 2013 and .120 at home versus .224 on the road in 2012 certainly supports his contention that the fences play too big.

While he has not hit well overall in the last 2 seasons, by wRC+ LoMo is at least slightly better than average on the road while being pretty much unplayable at home.  His 2013 wRC+ of 89 ranks 31^st among 1B with at least 150 home at bats and his 2012 wRC+ of 65 ranked 39^th.  Remember, there are only 30 teams!

Based on the numbers and LoMo’s Twitter meltdown, the Marlins might seriously start considering whether Marlins Park has him spooked to the point that he will never be confident playing there.  Taking into account that he is arbitration eligible, it may be in the best interest of the team to accommodate a change of scenery for him and look for a replacement in the low end free agent market.  Names like James Loney or Corey Hart might bring an upgrade to the position at just a little higher cost.   Or if they want to secure the position for multiple years, they can consider Kendrys Morales.

What do you think?  Can LoMo recover and be a productive player or does he need to be moved ASAP?