Royals' Latest Decision Might Dramatically Affect Games In Kansas City
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A lot of changes are coming to the Kansas City Royals in 2026.
The week after the Royals terminated their contract with their old television partner, fans also learned that wherever they tune in to games this season, the action at Kauffman Stadium will look a bit different than they were accustomed to seeing.
According to a Tuesday report from ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Royals have decided to move in the fence dimensions at Kauffman by 10 feet in several places and shorten the entire wall from 10 feet to 8 1/2 feet. A seemingly minor change could have major impacts on the outcomes of games from time to time.
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How Royals' ballpark will be different
As Passan explained in the report, the Royals didn't make the decision solely based on batted ball data, but they also believe moving the fences in will help their hitters between the ears.
"Kauffman has played as a slightly above-average offensive park because the size of the outfield -- which was second only to Coors Field -- promoted more doubles and triples," wrote Passan.
"The distinct suppression of home runs, however, left the Royals concerned that hitters were changing their approaches on the road, consciously or subconsciously, and that altering the dimensions for the 81 games played at Kauffman without turning it into a bandbox would aid in Kansas City's efforts to build a perennial playoff contender."
Kauffman ranked sixth out of 28 stadiums in overall park factor this year, though it only played one point above the standardized average of 100. It was 25th in home runs, however, while ranking fifth for doubles and third for triples.
If you're a Royals fan, you love to see the team pulling out all the stops in its efforts to ramp up the win total from year to year. It's a little bit wonky that teams can alter their ballparks freely if they think it will help, but every park has different dimensions to start with, so there's no basis for asking them not to make alterations.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org
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