ATS Sports Blog

Most bettors know that the Arizona Diamondbacks play at Chase Field, which has a retractable roof that allows officials to decide whether to play each home game with the roof open or closed.

In other similar parks such as Houston’s Minute Maid Field, the average number of runs scored goes up quite steadily when the roof is open. Chase Field is certainly not an exception to this rule; in fact Chase Field is proving the rule better than any other park ever has.

Quite simply, Chase Field is proving to be an absolute launching pad when the roof of the stadium is open. Overall Chase Field is a very friendly ballpark to hitters in general, and with the roof open it is next to impossible for pitchers.

Most bettors would be surprised to know that Chase Field finished out 2008 as the second friendliest ballpark to hitters in all of baseball. The high altitude above sea level sure doesn’t hurt, but the days when the roof is open give it a major boost.

This year, Chase Field is battling Yankee Stadium for the most home runs hit, falling only slightly behind.  A thorough study was done a couple of years ago which measured the average total when the roof was open versus when the roof was closed in Arizona.

The results are staggering – over 700 games when the roof was closed the average total score was 9.27 runs, while the average jumped to 10.44 with the retractable roof open.

You don’t need us to tell you that numbers like that are extremely significant.  What’s the best advice for totals bettors looking at Chase Field?

Chase Field has a roof info web page and hotline that is updated about two hours prior to the first pitch, with information on whether the roof will be open or closed for the game.  Keep a close eye on this and consider the over a decent play if the total is set at a reasonable amount with the roof open!

Remember to stay tuned to ATS for all the latest MLB lines.

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