D-backs postpone Chase Field humidor installation until next year
Jun 29, 2017, 12:22 PM | Updated: 1:38 pm
Major League Baseball has asked the Arizona Diamondbacks to hold off on their addition of a humidor until next season, reports MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert.
The D-backs had pushed back the use of the humidor and as they were building it were struggling to calibrate it, Gilbert adds.
The Diamondbacks said in April they hoped to have the humidor completed by May.
Arizona had considered installing a humidor for the past several years but committed to installing one before the season. The idea behind it was to add more grip to the baseballs in the MLB stadium with the second-highest elevation and one of the most dry climates.
“We talked to former pitchers, whether it’s J.J. Putz or pitchers who have retired or pitchers we’ve traded, and said ‘what did you like, what didn’t you like?’ They all talk about the grip,” D-backs president Derrick Hall told Doug and Wolf on 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sports Station in April.
“The one thing you don’t really want to do is negatively impact the offense because that’s part of the fun of Chase Field or Coors Field, but I don’t think it really did diminish the offense at Coors Field. We don’t know if it’s going to make much of a difference, but it’s probably a necessity.”
At Coors Field in Denver, the Colorado Rockies are the only team that currently uses a humidor.
