Brewers-Athletics Series in Las Vegas Hints at MLB Stadium Future

Major League Baseball arrived in Las Vegas this week and it has been very hitter-friendly. The Athletics will play three games against the Brewers and three games against the Rockies in Las Vegas this week, and, two games into that six-game stretch, we've seen 17 home runs hit and 41 runs scored. The Brewers won 15-14 in 12 innings on Monday , and the A's won 7-5 on Tuesday .

"The most bizarre game I've ever had in Major League Baseball in 11 years," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after Monday's back-and-forth slugfest. "Never saw anything like it. I mean, so many things happened."

Reigning American League Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz slugged three of those 17 home runs the last two days. He hit two on Monday and another on Tuesday. The A's tied a franchise record with 12 home runs in a two-game span these last two days.

"It's really a battle of who can string together big innings and get more zeros," Kurtz said after Tuesday's game (via MLB.com ). "That's the name of the game this week. You put the ball in the air, there's a good chance it could go. The pitchers have a really hard job this week, so as an offense, we have to pick them up. We've done a good job of that the last two days."

These games are being played at Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the A's Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators. Their future home on the Las Vegas Strip is currently under construction and expected to open in time for the 2028 season. Las Vegas Ballpark is an open-air stadium, and the conditions are very, very hitter-friendly. Here are the Triple-A numbers since the start of 2025:

AVG/OBP/SLG Runs per G HR per G

Las Vegas Ballpark

.290/.376/.487

6.87

1.47

Pacific Coast League average

.269/.360/.439

5.84

1.13

The Pacific Coast League is hitter-friendly in general. The other Triple-A league, the International League, has averaged 4.99 runs per game with a .251/.341/.411 slash line and 1.09 home runs per game since 2025, for reference. The difference between the PCL and the IL is 47 OPS points and 0.85 runs per game. That's a pretty significant gap.

Las Vegas Ballpark is even more hitter-friendly than the rest of the PCL. Rangers star and two-time World Series MVP Corey Seager hit .271/.373/.487 last season. Every Triple-A hitter who stepped to the plate at Las Vegas Ballpark since the start of last season has performed like 2025 Seager. It is a wonderful place to hit (and a terrible place to pitch).

The biggest reason for this is the climate, not the ballpark dimensions. Las Vegas Ballpark is symmetrical: 340 feet down both the right and left field lines, 380 feet into both gaps, and 415 feet to center. It's a big playing field. But it is hot and dry in Las Vegas, and the ball flies in those conditions. Also, Las Vegas is roughly 2,000 feet above sea level. The elevation helps too.

This raises the question: Will the A's new Las Vegas home be a launching pad? Oddly, we don't know the new stadium's dimensions yet, though architectural renderings show a fairly typical outfield wall alignment with no unique nooks or crannies. The building footprint is relatively small, suggesting it won't be a massive playing field. If anything, it might be on the smaller side.

> BIG things happening 👀 pic.twitter.com/TIQ7BTie8P — Athletics (@Athletics) March 6, 2025

The new stadium will certainly be subject to the same environmental factors though. Coors Field (Rockies) in Denver has baseball's highest elevation at 5,280 feet. Second highest is Chase Field ( Diamondbacks ) at 1,100 feet. The A's new stadium will be about 1,000 feet above Chase Field. It won't be Coors Field 2.0, but it's up there. The higher the elevation, the more the ball flies.

The great unknown is the roof. Las Vegas Ballpark is an open-air stadium subject to the elements. The A's new stadium will be fully enclosed and climate-controlled. There's also the humidor, which all 30 MLB teams use and is better and more consistent than what is used in Triple-A. Unlike Double-A and below, Triple-A uses MLB baseballs, though the storage can vary.

How the new stadium will play (hitter-friendly, pitcher-friendly, better for lefties or righties, etc.) is one of those things we just can't possibly know until the place opens in 2028. In theory, it will be subject to the same elevation and environmental factors as Las Vegas Ballpark, but the new stadium's climate control system is the great X-factor. It could mitigate all that.

If you're a fan of offense, these last two games in Las Vegas have been delightful. And if the new stadium ultimately plays the same way as Las Vegas Ballpark, it will make for a lot of entertaining games and a lot of stressed-out pitchers and managers. Most likely, it will not be this  hitter-friendly. It has a chance to be more hitter-friendly than most MLB stadiums, though.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/las-vegas-athletics-stadium-home-runs/)._