Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, is one of the most pitcher-friendly ballparks in the National League because of the deep outfield. Now, the Giants front office is considering making some changes to the park, including moving in the fences in right-center field and moving the bullpens from foul territory to behind the wall, The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly and Eno Sarris report.
The deep right field corner (421 feet) of Oracle Park has been called "Triples' Alley" because it's very difficult to hit a home run to this spot, and a batted ball towards this corner usually results in a triple.
Giants president Farhan Zaidi told The Athletic that any decisions about the stadium's design will take at least a few years, including building a team suitable for the new configuration. Here's the full excerpt:
Do not expect the bricks to come tumbling down next week. Any change the Giants make to the dimensions, major or minor, would receive a full workup from their analytics team, an architectural study or three and input from all levels of the organization.
"We're a long way from having real traction and momentum on this issue, so there would be a lot more we have to do," Zaidi said in a phone interview last week. "Objectively, how would it impact the type of game played in our park? We'd want to look at how it would affect us organizationally now and going forward. But at this point, for practical issues like the bullpens or broader long-range philosophical or strategic issues about where the game is going, I think we're at least opening up the discussion on it.
"I've always felt that having some idiosyncrasies to your home ballpark should play to your benefit because you have the opportunity to build your roster to take advantage of it. You have the ability to draft and develop players in a way that their style of play is conducive to winning in that environment.
And here's long-time Giants manager Bruce Bochy -- who is set to retire after this season -- acknowledging that it could be time to explore moving the bullpens:
"It's worth it, I think, for all of us to sit down and talk about it and do what we think is the best thing for our team," Giants manager Bruce Bochy told The Athletic. "(Triples Alley) would be a great place to put the bullpens. There's room out there. Personally, I feel if you hit a ball 400 feet, it should be a home run. So yeah, I think we should all be open minded to making a change."
Since the ballpark opened in 2000, The Athletic notes that the Giants have hit fewer home runs at their home field than any other MLB team.
The Giants begin a three-game series (part of an eight-game road trip) against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park Tuesday night. The game can be streamed regionally via fuboTV (Try for free). For more on what channel each game is on, click here. The team will return to Oracle Park on Friday, April 26 to square off against the New York Yankees.
