The Detroit Tigers are making major changes to Comerica Park, including to the outfield walls. These changes are being welcomed with open arms, as seen by Miguel Cabrera and his hilarious take on the matter.
The Tigers are moving in their center field wall, as confirmed by the team. Additionally, Detroit is changing the heights of its right field, right-center field, and center field walls. The Comerica Park upgrades will cost $2.5 million, with the outfield wall changes costing $1 million, per Crain's Detroit.
President of baseball operations Scott Harris spoke with reporters several weeks ago on the matter. He explained the mindset behind the changes after the team's announcement.
“We wanted to strike the right balance,” Harris said Wednesday, “where we were improving the offensive conditions for our hitters without fundamentally changing the profile of the park, and we felt like we could do that with these changes.”
Before these changes, the Tigers' center field wall at Comerica Park was 420 feet from home plate. However, laser measurements have it at 422 feet. This was the deepest center field wall in baseball.
The center field wall will now be 412 feet from home plate. Additionally, the wall height will lower from 8.5 feet to 7 feet. The other walls will also lower to 7 feet from their previous heights.
The Tigers hope these changes bring a positive effect on their hitters. Detroit owned the MLB's worst offense last season as they took a major step back from 2021.
“We feel like too many balls that were barreled to dead center field did not end up being extra-base hits,” Harris said. “It's very dispiriting for a hitter to barrel a ball to dead center and make a 419-foot out.”
“If a few more of those end up being home runs or extra-base hits, we think it will have a positive impact on our hitters' psyche and ultimately a positive impact on our team,” the Tigers executive continued.
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