The Kansas City Royals will take care of their home stadium, Koffman Stadium.
“ESPN” reported on the 14th (Korea Standard Time) that the Kansas City club plans to advance the Copman Stadium fence by about 10 feet (about 3.048 meters).
If you advance the fence, the number of home runs will increase that much. ESPN said the Royals expect the move to raise the notorious stadium environment, which is famous for its poor home runs, to the league average.
The media said the Royals front office has been discussing the issue for years, introducing the decision as a few months after the club’s analysis department conducted research to find an appropriate balance point between the dead zone of the fly ball and other stadiums with extreme home runs.
Coffman Stadium is the second-largest outfield stadium after Coors Field, the home of the Colorado Rockies.
There are many doubles and triples, but it is a stadium notorious for not having home runs. According to Baseball Servant, the home run park factor has not exceeded 95 since 2004. If the park factor is less than 100, it means a pitcher-friendly stadium.
ESPN explained that the length of the center fence of the stadium will remain 410 feet and 330 feet away from the foul pole, but in the meantime, the left and right fences will be advanced. The ‘Power Alley’, which means the deepest point in the middle of the right, will be reduced from 389 feet to 379 feet, and the height of the fence will also be reduced from 10 feet to 8 1/2 feet.
Royals general manager J.J. Piccolo told ESPN, “We want a neutral stadium where a well-hit ball becomes a home run. Batters will change their swings if they don’t cross the fence even if they hit the ball well. I’ve seen this over the years, and I think now is the time to solve this problem and see if what we’ve been feeling for years is correct,” he said, explaining the move.
He drew the line saying it was “not meant to boost the offense,” and then added, “The more neutral the home game is, the more overall success we think we can achieve.”
[KIM JAE HO, MK Sports Reporter]
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.mk.co.kr ’
