The bullpen mounds hugging the left-field line at Oracle Park got the Dodgers talking Friday night.
They’ve been a topic of conversation and concern for the Giants, too.
A day after Los Angeles was frustrated, as an inning and game turned on a flyball that dropped because Chris Taylor tripped over the mound, Giants manager Bruce Bochy admitted the team is discussing moving the warmup locales.
“It’s going to be a pretty good adjustment to find a place to move the bullpens,” Bochy said before Saturday’s home game against the Dodgers. “And that’s what [the Giants are] working on.”
Taylor, who would be OK, Clayton Kershaw and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts all groused about the placement of the sudden change in elevation and ground, Kershaw even calling out Farhan Zaidi to “clean it up.” After the flyball fell harmlessly foul in the sixth inning, Brandon Belt worked a walk that kick-started a two-run Giants rally in a 2-1 win.
Giants players likely would not protest the change. Last season, Mac Williamson was concussed tumbling over a mound. It was Steven Duggar with a scare this year, missing a couple games as a result of his fall in April.
“It’s been a topic [of conversation],” Bochy said. “And I get it, we’ve had some players go down. We saw what happened with our players.
“… It’s being discussed. We’ll see what happens.”
Wrigley Field was the last to rearrange its mounds, moving them from the field to beyond the fences for the 2017 season.
“It’s already shown how dangerous it can be,” Bochy said, before cautioning, “Fans like it. They enjoy being right there where they can watch the pitcher warm up.”
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