Report: MLB monitoring irregular bounces on Rogers Centre turf
Major League Baseball is "actively monitoring" the turf at the Toronto Blue Jays' Rogers Centre due to irregular bounces over the team's first two home games, reports Fox Sports' Jon Morosi.
The Rogers Centre turf was switched from AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D to AstroTurf 3D Xtreme prior to opening day, reports Sportsnet.. The new turf uses only rubber particles, while other surfaces use a mixture of sand and rubber particles.
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Jose Bautista believes the true nature of the field won’t be known until the pellets are “spread out a bit,” and, yes, he wonders how the new surface will absorb or reflect heat once the roof is open. The old surface turned into a super-heated pool table top in the summer sun.
MLB has not reached any conclusions or resolutions, reports Morosi.
Players and coaches have said the surface is playing much slower than expected. Tampa Bay Rays catcher Rene Rivera made a play on Monday on a swinging bunt by Blue Jays second baseman Devon Travis, recording an out at first because the ball simply died on the plastic grass.
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"I don't know if any of us have seen a ball do what that one did," Rays third-base coach Tom Foley said after the game.
The turf first became a known issue when Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey flipped a ball from between the dugout and the pitcher's mound. The ball barely made it to the mound. Sportsnet reports that was also a problem experienced by line drives in batting practice.
