MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins will extend and raise their safety netting down both foul lines for the 2020 season in a continued effort to enhance fan safety at Target Field, the club announced on Thursday.

The new netting will extend 275 feet from home plate down the left-field line and 255 feet down the right-field line, representing an extension of 85 feet in left and 65 feet in right from previous measures. It will now protect fans in the "Diamond Box" seating areas down both lines and increase in height to 16 feet at the dugouts, 22 feet in left field and 21 feet in right.

Fans seated around the infield area at Target Field will now be protected between Section 125 in left field and Section 103 in right field.

“When considering ways to improve the Target Field experience, enhancing fan safety is always a high priority," Twins president CEO Dave St. Peter said in a statement. "Understanding every ballpark is unique in its geometry, we believe the new netting configuration is the right approach for Target Field."

The extended netting was designed to be unobtrusive to the fan experience, both before and during games. The thin, knotless nets will be colored in a combination of green hues to blend with the playing field and enhance visibility of the game, while the new sections of netting will also detach at the base and roll up to preserve fans' ability to interact with players down the foul lines during batting practice.

Thursday's announcement marked Minnesota's third expansion of safety netting beyond MLB guidelines after additions leading into the 2016 and '18 seasons. Two of the Twins' division opponents, the White Sox and Royals, also announced further extensions to their netting during the 2019 season, with the White Sox becoming the first team in the Major Leagues to employ safety nets from foul pole to foul pole.