LOS ANGELES — After studying data on foul balls and soliciting opinions from current players, the Dodgers are ready to begin a two-phase plan to heighten and extend the netting at Dodger Stadium.

The first phase will begin as soon as the Dodgers complete their current homestand. By the time they return from a six-game trip to Miami and Atlanta for a home game on Aug. 20, the current netting which extends to the end of each dugout will be heightened by 8 feet.

The second phase will take place during the following trip. When the Dodgers return for a homestand beginning on Sept. 2, the netting will have been extended down both foul lines to the elbow where the stands bend back away from the field. All of the netting will be at the increased height.

“It’s really much more complicated than people appreciate,” Dodgers team president Stan Kasten said Friday, speaking exclusively to the Southern California Newspaper Group about the plan.

“There will be a slight taper and it will have to bend a little to conform to the guide wires. And that’s part of the complexity of it. You can’t just run down to the store and say, ‘Give me a net.’ … We have to move anchors and account for camera angles. We have done all that. And we think this is going to be a real enhancement for fan safety in keeping with changing attitudes of both fans and players.”

Many players throughout MLB have been vocal in calling for extended netting at stadiums after an increasing number of fan injuries over the past two years. The Chicago White Sox extended the netting at their park to the foul poles with several other teams expected to make similar adjustments.

After a woman was injured by a foul ball during a June game against the Colorado Rockies, Kasten acknowledged that plans were underway to extend the netting at Dodger Stadium, though the plan was still in the formative stages at the time.

Because of “Dodger Stadium’s geography,” Kasten said, extending the netting foul pole to foul pole was “not necessary.”

“It makes sense when you really dig into it,” he said, citing studies the team did before drawing up the two-phase plan.

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Dodgers’ Max Muncy: ‘You have to realize that it really isn’t about you’ “We did a lot of studies – and the reason this has taken so long – with current baseball. Let’s face it, I didn’t want old data so we got the latest data we could assemble – every single foul ball that has gone into the stands this year, where they go in, at what height, at what speed. All of that went into making these decisions. We think this is the best decision we could make to enhance safety while also still keeping the stadium as comfortable and accommodating for fans as it has always been.”

Kasten said he spoke with “team leaders” to get their opinions on what needed to be done.

“There is not uniformity of opinion on this. We took all of that into account,” he said. “That was definitely a part of our study as to what to do. And listen – we think this is the best decision we could make, but it’s fluid. If next year it needs to change, we’ll look at it again.”

Of the cost, Kasten said, “I wouldn’t say minimal. I would say irrelevant. That was not a factor.”

The Dodgers also plan a $100 million renovation this offseason which will create numerous changes to the outfield pavilions, including the addition of a two-acre entertainment plaza in center field.