In an era of expertly manicured fields and shared knowledge among groundskeepers, crews have an unexpected tool in their arsenal: the ban on infield shifts.
Greg Elliott, the forward-thinking head groundskeeper for the San Francisco Giants, flies a drone over the pristine grass at Oracle Park five days a week. The device is equipped with an infrared camera that measures the stress levels and overall health of the turf. In the first two months of this season, Elliott had detected a notable difference from the previous two years.