Blue Jays fans now extremely close to visitors' bullpens. What could go wrong?

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In his days of managing high-stakes post-season games in stadiums jammed with emotional fans, Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch has a good idea of how energy level can ratchet up from friendly fandom to something else.

And with that in mind, Hinch offered a “heads up” to what opposing relievers can expect from Rogers Centre fans crowding around the new raised visitors bullpen that is one of the centrepieces of the off-season renovations.

“I think the interaction with the fans is going to be really interesting to follow,” Hinch said prior to Wednesday’s game against the Jays. “As the summer gets warmer and rivals come in, I imagine there are going to be quite a few interactions between opposing teams and the patrons that come to the game.

“Heads up on that one.”

The potentially combative configuration was a focal point of the redesign, an opportunity for fans to be right on top of the opposing relievers — almost within arms reach at some point.

A report surfaced that a beer was thrown into the Tigers bullpen on Tuesday night.

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With that proximity comes the possibility for conflict, of course, which was Hinch’s point.

He stressed that his relievers had no issues with the Toronto fans in Tuesday’s series opener. It was mostly fun and games and friendly trash talk, though there were reports of the odd beverage slipping over the railings. Rogers Centre officials have security throughout the overhanging areas that is one of the social gathering/bar areas in the redesign.

“Our players had fun with the fans, but they’re pretty close,” Hinch said. “They love the ’pen. This is one of the best pens in baseball when it comes to where the players can see (the field) and the training facility underneath. That’s rare to have that on the visiting side. That was awesome.”

Hinch has plenty of experience in seeing some of the most intense enemy territories in baseball from his days managing the Houston Astros to a World Series title in 2017 and plenty of playoff rounds.

While he wasn’t predicting trouble, he noted that the mix of warm summer nights and ice-cold beverages can occasionally lead to lines being crossed.

As for the playing side of the outfield, Hinch watched the Jays bang out five home runs on Tuesday and sees the possibility of the odd cheapie exiting in right-centre field.

“(The stadium) plays small against that lineup when you don’t make good pitches,” Hinch said. “To me, it comes down to making good pitches. It doesn’t matter if you play in the Grand Canyon, if you make bad pitches to guys like that, they hit it out of the ball park.”