Last season, Major League Baseball urged teams to extend the protective netting from behind home plate to the end of each dugout (about 70 extra feet). Some teams obliged, some didn’t. The Phillies extended their netting a little bit – down to the beginning of the dugout – but not all the way down the line. This year, they’re going further.

According to an email sent out by the team’s sales manager to season ticket holders, CBP will be installing expanded netting later this month:

We are writing to make you aware that we are extending the protective netting at our ballpark to the far ends of both the home and visitors’ dugouts for the 2017 season. Fan safety and game day experience are priorities for our organization. The new netting, which will be eight feet high above each dugout, will serve as additional protection from balls and bats that may leave the playing field. While we continue to encourage all fans to remain vigilant, we believe that the netting extension will allow for some reasonable, added protection while simultaneously permitting unobtrusive views of the game… Once the project is complete, we will communicate with season ticket holders who sit in Sections 114-118 and 129-133 and provide an opportunity, for those interested, to visit the ballpark to view the modifications.

Earlier this year, Real Sports did a great segment on foul ball injuries at MLB games. They even visited a pro baseball stadium in Japan which has full-netting and more safety precautions to see the protection taken to its extreme. Major League Baseball isn’t going the full Tokyo Dome route, but it’s taking a step in a safer direction and CBP is joining in.