Crews work on replacing turf at Isotopes Park

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — There’s a lot of hard work going on in the offseason at Isotopes Park. Soon, they will have a newly-turfed playing field.

John Traub, the Isotopes’ general manager, said the last time the field was replaced was a decade ago. The update will upgrade the field to MLB compliance standards, but also to their own standards.

“Our field has gone backwards a little bit over the last few years,” Traub said. “Not up to our standards or the MLB or the Rockies, and we’ve always held ourselves to higher standards.”

Traub said the last few years have been especially tough on the turf.

“It’s not just the wear and tear from playing two sports on the soccer field,” Traub said. “It prevents the grounds crew from being able to work on the field when the team is on the road.”

Since they are working with real grass, he said they are facing a time crunch with the weather.

“It’s not prime growing season, so they really have to bust their tails to get this project done,” Traub said.

The project started last month. Officials are hoping to have it completed by the end of the year.