DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – A home run in Comerica Park maybe more exciting in the 2023 season as the Detroit Tigers are adjusting their walls in the outfield. Being the biggest offseason move by the Tigers to this point of the season, Comerica’s outfield will definitely be in favor of the long ball.
“This has been atop of conversation for quite some time within our organization,” said Tigers President of Baseball Operations Scott Harris. “We’re confident that this plan accomplishes our goals of improving offensive conditions on the hardest hit balls, while maintain Comerica Park’s unique dimensions and style of play. These updates come after a great deal of research and feedback from all stakeholders in and around the organization, including our fans, players, and front office.”
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Here is what will be taking place at Comerica Park:
CENTER FIELD WALL: the symbol of Comerica Park’s deep outfield, will be moved in from 422 to 412 feet, and lowered from 8 12 to 7 feet.
RIGHT CENTER FIELD: the massive wall in right-center field above the out-of-town scoreboard will be lowered from 13 to 7 feet in height.
RIGHT FIELD WALL: this wall will be lowered to the same height, from 8 ½ to 7 feet.
LEFT FIELD: this area will be unchanged, but after research and laser measuring, the left-field corner dimensions have been corrected from 345 to 342 feet.
Harris adds, “This outfield wall changes, combined with the new rules from Major League Baseball in place this season, have the potential to create even more excitement and on field action for years to come.”
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This will be the first change at Comerica Park in 20 years when they brought in the fences adding bullpens in front of the original left-field fence and adding seats where the bullpens originally were behind the right-field wall.
“This process started with conversations with key stakeholders, including players, coaches, fans and the rest of the front office,” says Harris. “Coming out of those conversations, we saw there might be an opportunity to thread the needle, where we are improving the offensive conditions without fundamentally changing the park. Once we saw that opportunity, we started sketching out different options.”
Comerica will still remain a hitter friend ballpark and the centerfield wall will still be 10-feet deeper than the MLB average. It will also be the second deepest in the MLB behind Coors Field’s 415-foot center-field fence.
The walls will also be refitted with extra padding and materials to soften the impact on outfielders crashing into them.
Detroit opens the season on February 25 hosting Philadelphia at 1:05 p.m.
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