Only two parks in the major league include the dirt strip between home plate and the pitcher mound — the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Chase Field and the Detroit Tigers’ Comerica Park. This was done to replicate old stadiums (namely the Tigers’ former Briggs Stadium, later known as Tiger Stadium), but its reappearance does raise a few questions:

What benefit does it provide for the pitcher in fielding bunts or running to cover home plate following a passed ball? Similarly, does it make it easier for a batter to rush the mound after an errant pitch?

What are the general trends of pitchers’ field-play in the two parks? There is one in each league, and it’d be interesting to know if there is a defined increase or decrease in pitcher defensive play (as measured by fielding statistics) that can exhibit the benefits or hindrances to both offense and defense.

Also, is there an home-field advantage component? Do visiting ball-clubs mistake the dirt strip to the mound as the first-base path, only to find themselves in the middle of the infield? Is there a statistic for this?