What's New at Buffalo's Sahlen Field
On Opening Day 2020, the Toronto Blue Jays were homeless, but 60 games later they somehow posted one of the best 'home' records in baseball. Buffalo's Sahlen field was a big reason why.
Two games over .500 and in the middle of a busy playoff picture, the Blue Jays will return to Buffalo for at least the next month. With a little more notice, and an opportunity for legitimate renovations, the Blue Jays made some changes to their Triple-A ballpark and the organization is excited to return to Western New York home.
"As a team, we loved playing at Sahlen Field last year," infielder Joe Panik said. "I don't know what it was, but we played really good ball there."
Sahlen in 2020:
Last year, the Blue Jays posted a 17-9 record at home. Toronto had the third best home OPS in the American League, had the ninth most runs at home in baseball despite playing only 26 home games. The lineup thrived in Buffalo and the Sahlen success lifted them to their first postseason appearance since 2016.
Lefties Cavan Biggio and Rowdy Tellez experienced massive success at Sahlen Field, posting OPSs over 100 points better in Buffalo than on the road. The now officially broken out Vlad Guerrero Jr. smashed five home runs and hit .323 at Sahlen and even the glove-first Santiago Espinal hit .391 with five RBI in 10 games at home.
But, the Buffalo big league setup was very much temporary — spare bullpen arms sat in the outfield bleachers and the weight rooms were located on the infield concourse. Though the Blue Jays had success there, and the operations staff received rave reviews for their temporary measures, other teams complained about Sahlen playing like a bandbox, moaned over poor lighting, and Buffalo was still no sustainable MLB home.
What's New for 2021:
This season, the Blue Jays knew they would be playing home games in Buffalo at some point this year and prepared accordingly. Toronto converted many of the temporary measures into permanent Sahlen fixtures, added new lighting, made significant renovations, and blew the expectations of management and players away.
“Everything around with the clubhouse, the cages, and the weight room is incredible," catcher Danny Jansen said. "They did an astounding job.”
Main upgrades include a complete player facility renovation with a new home clubhouse, weight rooms, player lounges, and recovery rooms. Permanent batting cages were built in a new structure at the south end of the stadium and new LED light were added to all existing light poles.
The most obvious structural changes that fans and viewers will see are the relocated bullpens, which are no longer in foul territory but instead stacked in right field, new outfield grass, fresh wall padding, and a new warning track.
The biggest change from 2020 Sahlen to 2021 will be its inhabitants. Sahlen will have 35% crowd capacity for the first five home games before expanding to 45%. The fan sections will have fully vaccinated seating as well as non-vaccinated socially distanced seating. Against the Marlins tonight, expect 6,600 fans in attendance and perhaps the first pro-Blue Jays crowd of the season.
"There's a hope that Toronto Blue Jays baseball is being embraced," President Mark Shapiro said. "And we're gonna feel that home field advantage for maybe the first time this year."
The Blue Jays shared behind the scenes photos of the new stadium structures and features:
Image courtesy of the Toronto Blue Jays
Image courtesy of the Toronto Blue Jays
Image courtesy of the Toronto Blue Jays
Image courtesy of the Toronto Blue Jays
Image courtesy of the Toronto Blue Jays
Image courtesy of the Toronto Blue Jays
Image courtesy of the Toronto Blue Jays
How Does Sahlen Compare?
Though Sahlen is still very much a minor league stadium, the new and now permanent renovations will make it as close to Major League caliber as Triple-A homes come.
Without the gulf coast wind and with slightly taller stadium seating, the environmental elements that plagued Toronto's defense in Dunedin should become less of a factor. Sahlen played as an offensive park last year, allowing almost 10% more runs than average according to ESPN, but it doesn't project to be the sardine can that TD Ballpark has been for the first weeks of 2021. The lazy fly balls that turned into wall scraping homers in Dunedin should stay in the park in Buffalo, which will lead to some offensive regression for Toronto's lineup but will be welcomed by the pitching staff.
While Toronto may play in Buffalo for a month or the rest of the season at most, the real winner here is the Blue Jays farm system. The major league caliber locker rooms, weight rooms, and amenities will not travel back to Canada with the Blue Jays and will propel Sahlen Field to one of the best home stadiums in the International League.
“I think it’ll be one of the better, if not the best AAA facilities,” Jansen said.
Further Reading
Prospect Logan Warmoth Drawing MLB Attention After 17 Months Away
Watch: Aaron Judge says Manoah has 'Bright Future'
Watch: Shapiro Says Talks to Return to Toronto have been "More Positive" Recently
Mitch Bannon is a baseball reporter for Sports Illustrated covering the Toronto Blue Jays and their minor league affiliates.Twitter: @MitchBannon