Diamondbacks on track to unveil humidor in 2018

Chase Field’s standing as one of baseball’s most hitter-friendly ballparks is subject to change. The Diamondbacks officially will unveil a humidor for 2018, General Manager Mike Hazen said.

The humidor – a climate-controlled chamber in which baseballs are stored – could drastically impact how hard balls are hit and, as a result, how far they travel. It is expected to lead to a decline – perhaps a significant one – in home runs.

The contraption has been a long time coming in Arizona. The club has been kicking around the idea of implementing a humidor off and on since 2010. The team expected to begin using one midway through last season, but those plans were put on hold due to difficulty maintaining calibrations.

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The club has continued to work its way through the testing process throughout this offseason.

The Diamondbacks will become the second team to employ a humidor, following in the footsteps of the division-rival Colorado Rockies, who saw an immediate decline in home runs after beginning to use theirs in 2002.

When a ball is stored in a humidor, it absorbs water, decreasing its “coefficient of restitution,” i.e., its bounciness. The lower a ball’s coefficient of restitution, the lower its exit velocity will be. The humidor is also expected to have a more anecdotal benefit for pitchers, who say dry baseballs are harder to grip.

Hazen said the team would be storing balls “in the range” of 50 percent relative humidity and a temperature of 70 degrees.

University of Illinois physics professor emeritus Alan Nathan estimated last year in a study published online by The Hardball Times that the Diamondbacks’ humidor could make an even bigger impact than at Coors Field, in part because the average relative humidity in Phoenix is far lower than in Denver.

“I am very comfortable saying that, with the humidor running at 50 percent and 70 degrees, there will a reduction in home run production at Chase by 25 to 50 percent,” Nathan concluded. “While it would be nice to come up with a more precise prediction, we should not lose sight of the principal takeaway that the installation of a humidor will reduce the number of home runs substantially.”

According to Park Factor data available at ESPN.com, Chase Field had the third-best run-scoring environment in the majors last season, trailing Coors Field and Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas.

Short hop

Tuesday was report day for Diamondbacks pitchers and catchers, with their first workout scheduled for Wednesday morning at Salt River Fields. Workouts are open to the public and are scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. through Sunday.

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Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or nick.piecoro@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.