The Arizona Diamondbacks' stadium, Chase Field in downtown Phoenix, has a retractable roof.

But even with that roof, the team's spring training game against the Cleveland Guardians was rained out on Monday night, with the Cactus League game being called after six innings because of the rain.

Wait, a game played in a stadium with a roof was rained out?

How is that possible? Could it happen again? What is being done to prevent it?

Here's a look at what we know about the condition of the Chase Field roof at the MLB ballpark for the Arizona Diamondbacks ahead of MLB Opening Day on Thursday, March 28.

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First time for everything at Chase Field, even a rainout

The Diamondbacks stadium's retractable roof works on a cable system and it worked mainly without a hitch until the start of the 2022 season.

The team discovered a possible issue with the integrity of the cables then, and announced a policy that the roof would have to remain open or remain closed when fans were in attendance as a precautionary safety measure because of the cables.

A broken cable could potentially endanger fans at the ballpark.

The issue has not been fixed, resulting in the rainout on Monday night because the stadium roof was open and could not be closed with fans in attendance.

In 2022, Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall said there was no threat of the roof collapsing.

“It’s almost like a bungee-type rope,” Hall said. “Could it snap and fall and hit a fan? They just don’t know how far it could drop, how far it would go down. They don’t want to take the chance. But it’s not as if the roof could cave in.”

The roof issue has led to the team canceling some of its popular fireworks shows in the past, because the roof was closed due to hot weather and it could not open it after a game with fans in attendance.

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Could we see more rainouts at Chase Field?

The Diamondbacks have guessed right with the weather the past two seasons, having the roof closed or open based on the forecast.

Until Monday night, that is.

There's always the possibility that a sudden monsoon storm could hit the area around the stadium during games in the future.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said on Monday night that the game might have still been played had it been a regular season game, but the teams and umpires wanted to play it safe during the spring training game.

“We got together with the umpires,” Lovullo said, “and I just said, ‘We don't know how to play on this surface that's wet, we never have, nor will we ever.’ I didn't want to put any athletes in harm's way.”

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What could prevent more rainouts at Chase Field?

Fixing the roof would definitely solve the problem, but that isn't going to happen until the off-season, because of time constraints in the process, Hall recently said.

The Diamondbacks have found a way to fix the cable system and will not have to redo the entire roof, Hall said.

One change the team could make that might help this season?

The ballpark is not equipped with a tarp to cover the field because it has a retractable roof, and that led to the infield getting very wet during the brief downpour on Monday night, because the grounds crew was not able to cover it.

Perhaps the team can invest in a tarp for the infield to solve that situation and keep the playing field fit for games, should a storm again come in with the roof open?

“I know we're gonna be the idiots on just about every show and every podcast, or wherever this is going right now, that we got rained out … and we're in a dome,” Lovullo said after Monday's rainout.

Maybe the team should stop treating its stadium like a dome until the retractable roof is fixed.

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Future of Diamondbacks and Chase Field

Chase Field, which opened in 1998, is the fourth-oldest ballpark in the National League. The three that are older — Wrigley Field, Dodger Stadium and Coors Field — have undergone more in the way of renovations than Chase Field.

Last month, Diamondbacks Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick expressed disappointment over his organization’s inability to secure public funding to renovate Chase Field, suggesting that despite a desire to remain in Arizona the club could eventually look to move elsewhere if an agreement cannot be reached.

Kendrick reiterated that his ownership group is willing to spend “hundreds of millions” of its own money to refurbish Chase Field, a project the club estimates will cost somewhere between $400-$500 million.

Kendrick said the club’s ownership group has invested more in Chase Field over the years than the $238 million in taxpayer funds that helped finance its construction in the mid-1990s. The team still has a lease that runs through 2027.

Theo Mackie and Nick Piecoro contributed to this story.

Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Diamondbacks' Chase Field roof and rainouts: What we know