New dimensions 'will definitely help' Marlins

MIAMI -- After years of being considered pitcher-friendly, Marlins Park should be more rewarding to hitters, especially those who focus on using the middle of the field, in 2020.

As part of offseason renovations, Marlins Park's fences in center and right-center fields were moved in.

Summer Camp is the first real opportunity the Marlins have been able to test the new dimensions.

“Just from taking batting practice and watching guys hit and seeing live [batting practices], I think it will definitely help,” Marlins first baseman/outfielder Garrett Cooper said on Thursday during a Zoom call. “I don't know how big of an adjustment it will be.”

In theory, the changes should be more rewarding to hitters. But the dimensions alone aren’t the only factors in how the ball will carry.

How the ballpark plays with the roof open or closed also will make a difference. Then there will be times the roof is closed, but the sliding glass wall will be open. That operable wall encases one side of the building, and it’s located beyond the concourse in left and left-center fields.

At Summer Camp, the roof has been mostly closed, but the wall has been open, allowing winds to become a factor.

“We've been hitting with the window open in left-center, so I think the ball has kind of been dying a little bit more than we would have thought,” Cooper said. “It depends on if we play with it open or closed.”

The dimensional changes affect mainly the middle of the ballpark. Center field went from 407 feet to 400 feet, and right-center moved in from 399 feet to 387 feet.

“It's still a pretty good shot out there,” manager Don Mattingly said. “I've seen some guys crush the ball and it won't go. You've got to hit it good.”

Since Marlins Park opened in 2012, the most home runs a Miami team has hit at home is 95, set in '17. That was a historical season for the organization, with Giancarlo Stanton winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award after belting 59 home runs. Marcell Ozuna added 37 homers that year.

In 2019, the Marlins finished last in the Majors in home runs with 146, with 68 at home. Still, that’s the second-highest home run total by a Miami team at the ballpark.

“It's going to play better than what people expect here at Marlins Park,” Cooper said of the changes. “But if you keep the window open in left-center, I don't know how well the ball will travel.”

The fewest number of home runs the Marlins have hit at home is 36 in 2013. That season, Miami had just four straightaway home runs, according to Baseball Savant. All of them were by Stanton.

When the retractable-roof facility opened in 2012, the walls were set from 344 feet down the line in left field to 386 feet in left-center, 418 feet in center, 392 feet in right-center and 335 feet down the right-field line.

Along with being spacious, the height of the walls ranged from 11 1/2 to 13 feet.

The park stayed that way for four seasons. In 2015, the Marlins ranked 28th of 30 teams in home runs at home with 53, with two of those being inside-the-park shots.

After that year, the first dimensional adjustments were made.

In 2016, the walls stayed the same down the lines and in the gaps, but center field was moved to 407 feet, and the height of the walls in most places along the outfield lowered to 7 feet.

The changes made this offseason clearly opens up the middle of the field for the Marlins’ hitters. To the position players, that is a welcome relief.

Per Baseball Savant, last year, the Marlins connected on 13 straightaway home runs. Cooper, Brian Anderson and Jorge Alfaro -- the only players in that group still on the roster -- each had two.

Of their active players, Anderson has the most straightaway home runs at Marlins Park in his career with four.

In an age when players are looking to elevate the baseball, the Marlins' staff is looking for players to simply drive the ball.

“You're trying to hit the ball hard with a game plan,” Mattingly said. “Stick with that. You can't really direct it when it's in the air, like if you hit it 410 or you hit it 425.”