Diagnozing Lars Anderson

Lars Anderson was heralded as one of the premier hitting prospects in the game, but his season has been a disappointment thus far with a batting line of .242/.334/.360.

While his strikeouts and walks are about in line with his past results, his BABIP (.311) is significantly lower than his career mark (.387).

There is also a huge discrepency between his home and road splits. At home this season he his hitting .295/.381/.416 but on the road that becomes a poor .195/.289/.303. This is despite the fact that he his hitting 5.5% more line drives on the road and 7.9% more ground balls at home.

A quick look at the 2008 park factors for Portland's home field indicates that it plays pretty much neutral. The rest of the Eastern league favors pitchers slightly, but not to the extremes that are reflected in Anderson's splits. It could be something as simple as feeling more comfortable playing at home.