Road Woes Haunt the Phillies
The baseball season is a long one. 162 games – 81 of them on the road – can be a grind. Good teams can win at home. But the best teams, the teams that not only contend for a playoff spot but are also serious Word Series threats, find a way to be competitive and win on the road, as well.
>The 2019 Philadelphia Phillies are not one of those teams.
Heading into their series against the Atlanta Braves, the Phils had a record of 44-40. They were 10 games over .500 at home, with a record of 27-17, but struggled away from the confines of Citizens Bank Park, putting up a record of 17-23.
This has led to them losing their lead in the division and slipping to second. The team they’re chasing, those Atlanta Braves? They’re 26-18 on the road, one of the contributing factors that has seen them climb in the standings.
For whatever reason, the Phillies are neither hitting nor pitching well on road trips. Let’s take a look at the offense first.
They’re 12th in the National League in runs scored, with only 182. The only teams worse than them are St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Miami. Two of those teams are last place in their division.
They’ve hit a meager 42 home runs on the road, ahead of only Miami NL-wide. The Phillies are 10th in the NL in average (.242), 10th in on-base percentage (.312), and 12th in slugging (.398).
Conversely, the Braves are in top half of all of those categories, ranking no lower than seventh in any of them.
Then there’s the pitching.
The pitching staff has a 5.07 ERA on the road. 5.07! That’s good – or bad, however, you want to look at it – for 11th in the National League. When playing in South Philly, they have a 4.22 ERA.
Their opponent’s batting average sits at .270, putting them 12th (.262 at home). And maybe the most glaring stat of all, they’ve allowed 71 home runs on the road, which coincidentally, is the same number of dingers they’ve let up at home.
(The amount of home runs this pitching staff has left up this season is another problem entirely).
And Atlanta? They have a 4.09 road ERA, a .243 BAA on the road, and have allowed the third-fewest road home runs, with 48 of them.
If you combine the Phillies poor offense and bad pitching, you get a road run differential of -26. The Braves have a +20 road run differential. It’s no wonder why the Phillies have dropped in the standings.
Now, there is a lot of baseball left, and plenty of time for the Phillies to turn their road woes around.
With the All-Star break quickly approaching, and only one Phillie – J.T. Realmuto – making the roster, the Phillies will have plenty of time to decide what team they want to be: an average team that is decent at home and terrible on the road, or a great team that can beat anyone no matter where they’re playing.
Featured Image: (@seankardon)
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