The Phillies’ struggles this year on the road were on full display after losing their series to the Padres over the weekend.
With a series against the then-NL-worst Padres, the Phillies were hoping to gain some ground in a tight NL East race. Instead, they ended their West Coast road trip 2-4 and in a tie for first place in the division. A series that could have ended in a sweep turned out to be a disappointing loss.
Philadelphia has struggled on the road all year, and this weekend was no exception. They were shut out Friday night by Jacob Nix, who was making his MLB debut. They picked up a win Saturday thanks to enough offense and another great outing by Aaron Nola. Of course, the series ended with a simply horrendous loss to another rookie that featured miscues in every facet of the game.
As a whole this year, Philadelphia’s record on the road is 27-34. It is the fifth-worst road record in the NL and the worst among all winning teams. Their success overall this year stems largely from their 38-18 home record, best in the NL and third-best in MLB.
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When on the road, the team’s offense is even worse than usual. They rank 23rd in runs scored, 24th in home runs and OPS, and 22nd in wRC+. Meanwhile, while at home, they rank 13th in runs scored, 11th in home runs, 13th in OPS, and 16th in wRC+. Of course, this is somewhat affected by the fact that Citizens Bank Park is a hitters’ ballpark, but the gap still exists in park-corrected measures like wRC+.
While the club’s pitching has been strong all-around this year, it is still better at home than on the road. At home, they rank sixth in ERA, third in fielding-independent pitching, and fifth in WHIP and strikeout-to-walk ratio. On the other hand, they are 13th in ERA, eighth in FIP, and 12th in WHIP and strikeout-to-walk ratio.
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As a whole, the team has performed worse on both sides of the ball when they are on the road, leading to an awful road record. 20 of their 45 remaining games are on the road with a road series against every team in the division remaining. Their poor road record could hurt them badly at a crucial time in the division race.
As it stands now, the Phils would host the Brewers in the wild-card game. They would have the advantage of hosting the play-in game, but from then on would play a majority of their playoff games on the road. Considering how poorly they have performed away from home, they need as many home games as they can get in the playoffs.
Road struggles have plagued this team all season, and it doesn’t appear it will stop anytime soon.