Freddie Freeman is Unsure Why Dodgers Have Struggled on the Road
The Los Angeles Dodgers are very happy to finally be home. After a six-game road trip in Cincinnati and Philadelphia that saw them go 2-4, the Dodgers fell to 37-29 on the year, 3.5 games back of the first place Arizona Diamondbacks.
The struggles on this past road trip were nothing new, though. At the end of May, the Dodgers endured a 4-6 road trip courtesy of the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays. On the year, the Dodgers having a losing record on the road, with 17 wins and 19 losses.
After the team’s most recent 7-3 loss to the Phillies that ended the losing road trip, Freddie Freeman was asked for a reason for the Dodgers’ struggles on the road.
“I don’t have one. We’re just not winning,” Freeman said. “We’re not doing anything different on the road than at home, other than we hit first. I don’t know.”
Bill Plunkett, Orange County Register
In 30 home games this season, the Dodgers are 20-10 with a .823 OPS. In their 36 home games, they’re 17-19 with a .762 OPS.
On the pitching side of things, the Dodgers staff has a 3.13 ERA and has allowed opponents to hit just .219 with an OPS of .648 at home. On the road, though, the Dodgers staff has a 5.70 ERA, and has allowed opponents to hit .271 with an OPS of .792.
Clearly, something’s up, as both the hitting and pitching are much worse at home than on the road. There’s no special reason for any of this, except for the fact that the Dodgers may prefer playing at home in front of their fans than on the road. Maybe they also enjoy sleeping in their own beds the night before.
Unfortunately, baseball is not a sport where you can only play well at home. In the postseason, the best teams are the ones that can steal games on the road, and the Dodgers, at this point in the season, would be in the wild card spot playing a majority of games on the road.
Obviously, we have a long season before we have to think about any postseason implications, but for now, the Dodgers have to figure out how to play well on the road.
Fortunately, they’re home for the next six games as the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants come into town. And then, after a two-game mini “road trip” to Anaheim to play the Angels, they’re right back at Dodger Stadium for three games with the Houston Astros.
That should get them back on track as we head into July.
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