Reds sign Willy Taveras to 2 year deal....

[mth123]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeRedleg

Great post, membengal!

I posed this question before and never got an answer, but does anyone know if the grass (or height of it) at GABP still plays a role in neutralizing the "hitter's park" label that the park has been given?

We know balls fly out at a higher rate than most parks, but I thought that ground balls were lost in the thick furry stuff.

If the grass still plays a role in weakening grounders, I would think that Willy could benefit from playing 81 games at GABP.

I'm searching for anything positive here.

Just saw this. Small ball teams usually were successful on turf with concrete IF, high bounces and fast rollers that get into the OF. The slow track approach can work until its adjusted to. Guys like Taveras don't hit the ball hard enough to deter teams from taking the slow roller away by simply playing in closer. The fast track, OTOH, does not allow the team to play deeper, because the speedy player will beat the longer throw. If they want to take advantage of this style, low grass and a hard surface is the way to go.

That means the team needs a stellar IF defense to prevent the opposition from beating them at their own game. The Reds have no such defense.