From all indications, the new ballpark the Mets opened on Monday night will be a much better pitcher's park than its predecessor. The New York Times provides a panoramic look at Citi Field from field level as the Mets prepared to meet the San Diego Padres. (Photo by Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY)  Then again, Padres outfielder Jody Gerut did his best to render all the projections useless by hitting a home run to lead off the game. It was one of three homers hit in the surprising Padres' 6-5 win. Adrian Gonzalez also hit one off the foul pole in right for San Diego and David Wright hit the first homer for the Mets.  In an article for ESPN.com, Marc Normandin of Baseball Prospectus analyzes the dimensions of Citi Field and compared them to Shea Stadium. (ESPN Insider access required)  The Times points out that one of the major differences is the height of the fences at Citi Field, which vary throughout the outfield, but reach up to 15 feet in left-center and 18 feet in right-center field.  Down the lines, the distances are 335 feet to left and 330 to right. But it's 379 feet to left-center (8 feet further than at Shea), 408 feet to center (2 feet shorter), 383 feet to right-center (12 feet further).  For Carlos Delgado, who hit 21 of his 38 homers last season at Shea, the extra distance needed to clear the fences probably won't matter much. According to Hit Tracker, Delgado and Wright tied for the most homers at Shea last season with 21, but Delgado's homers averaged 412.5 feet while Wright's averaged 393.9.  That means Wright and also Carlos Beltran (who had five of his 14 Shea Stadium homers last season classified as "just enoughs" by Hit Tracker ) could see some of the balls they hit for home runs a year ago bounce off the walls for doubles this season.  Among Mets starting pitchers, Mike Pelfrey (who gave up both Padres homers in the opener) figures to be affected the least by the extra room since he's the most extreme ground-ball pitcher in the rotation. Fly-ball pitchers Oliver Perez and John Maine figure to benefit most.  YOUR THOUGHTS: Are you downgrading Mets hitters or upgrading Mets pitchers this season because of the Citi Field effect?  To report corrections and clarifications, contact Reader Editor  . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to  . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification.
Citi Field could cut down on Mets' homers - Fantasy Windup: A community for fantasy baseball news and strategy - USATODAY.com