The Rogers Centre, home field of the Blue Jays, is catching a lot of heat this season from visiting teams. Words like slow, thick, cushy and lumpy have been throw around when describing the artificial surface.
And after Orioles infielder Jimmy Paredes took a bad hop to the face during batting practice prior to Tuesday’s matchup in Toronto, the rest of the Orioles considered boycotting the game, according to the Baltimore Sun.
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Not an excuse for sweep, but #Orioles left #Toronto thinking new Rogers Centre turf is major problem. Too spongy, slow & lots of untrue hops
— Eduardo A. Encina (@EddieInTheYard) April 24, 2015In fact, there was consideration by #Orioles of not playing Tues night, especially after Paredes was hurt on bad hop. O's have contacted MLB
— Eduardo A. Encina (@EddieInTheYard) April 24, 2015The new, thicker artificial surface was installed before the season and AstroTurf officials expect the surface to settle and speed up throughout the season, according to the National Post.
For what it's worth, numbers show (in a very small sample size, of course) no real change in how the turf is impacting balls put in play.
Blue Jays' new turf is a non-issue, according to the stats. -- by @ohwatson http://t.co/OZLzRG9AYc pic.twitter.com/12PmV8vHS0
— FanGraphs Baseball (@fangraphs) April 24, 2015