If you've driven by Progressive Field at night recently, you might have noticed that the 23-year-old ballpark has a different glow.

And it has nothing to do with the signing of slugger Edwin Encarnacion. Nor is it because of the Cleveland Indians' captivating World Series run last fall and MLB's selection of Cleveland as the host city of the 2019 All-Star Game.

Progressive Field is adding LED lights as part of a $2.1 million project that will be completed prior to the first pitch of the 2017 season. Light-emitting diodes — long a part of the scoreboard and ribbon boards at ballparks, stadiums and arenas — are becoming an increasingly popular and cost-efficient choice to illuminate the playing fields and surfaces of sports facilities.

The Indians, according to Crain's sources and research, are one of six MLB teams that are adding LED field lights in 2017. The Seattle Mariners became the first big-league club to make the move in 2015, and four teams followed suit in 2016.

Seth Cooper, the Indians' senior director of facility operations, said the project, which is being funded by Cuyahoga County's tax on alcohol and cigarettes, started in December. The Indians and the Gateway Economic Development Corporation, the nonprofit landlord of the ballpark and Quicken Loans Arena, selected Eaton's Ephesus Lighting system for the project.

Progressive Field's 674 light fixtures — all of which have been taken down — used 1,500-watt metal halide bulbs. Once the project, which is about 60% complete, is finished, the ballpark will have 456 1,000-watt LED fixtures, Cooper said.

The new lights will be 20% to 30% brighter, and Cooper said the Indians estimate that the annual energy savings for the field-lighting system will be in the 70% range.

"It should be much brighter, it should provide a much different vibe, a different feel, in the ballpark," Cooper said. "It should be good from a fan (experience) perspective as well."