2 Orioles who'll benefit most from left field wall change at Camden Yards

On Friday afternoon, the Orioles announced that they have plans to once again adjust the outfield dimensions at Camden Yards. Back in 2022, the O's moved the left field wall back significantly, and in turn that change was a major detriment to right handed hitters.

Mike Elias said that the previous changes were an overcorrection to the bandbox style park that Camden had been in the past, and they want to shift the park factor back closer to neutral. The wall will come in as much as 24 feet in places, and will be significantly shorter as well.

As a result of the upcoming changes, some Orioles hitters will be better poised to make an offensive impact in 2025 and beyond. Who are they? Let's take a look.

Which Orioles hitters will benefit the most from the new left field wall changes?

It may seem obvious but the player who could have the most to gain from these upcoming changes is first baseman Ryan Mountcastle. In 2021, Mountcastle's first full season in the majors, he hit a career-high 33 home runs. 19 of those homers went to either left or left-center. Between 2022-2024, he hit just 22 homers to left field combined.

In 2024, Mountcastle hit 13 homers, but the Statcast data suggests he should have hit just 11 while playing his home games in Baltimore. His expected HR output, had he played in Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark, would have been 25. Baltimore used to be atop the league with Cincinnati in terms of HR expectancy prior to the previous dimension change, so you can see what a massive difference that new wall is.

Bringing the left field wall in should be a major boost to Mountcastle, who has both struggled to hit for power and also stay on the field the last two seasons. He has just two years remaining before free agency, so this change could help him get back on track and become a much more intriguing trade candidate for the Orioles this summer.

Likewise, infielder Jordan Westburg should reap significant benefits from the new wall. The first-time All Star hit 18 homers in 2024 while working around a broken hand and significant missed time. Per Statcast, Westburg had 6 balls hit to left field that fell in for singles, but would have been homers in the old Camden Yards.

The combination of a fully healthy 2025, along with a more hitter-friendly left field wall, should allow Westburg to surpass the 25 homer mark this coming year.

One other player who has been talked about as a potential breakout guy with the new wall is Coby Mayo. According to Mayo's minor league batted ball profile, the new wall should theoretically be great news for the top prospect. However, Mayo's hit tool looked so bad during his time in Baltimore last year that there's a lot more that'll need to go into it for him to be successful.

If Mayo continues to strike out at a near 50% clip, you'd have to put him in a little league park for the outfield wall distance to matter. Hopefully he can break out of the skid and come into 2025 on a heater.