Having to play 81 of 162 games on the road is looking like a rough responsibility for the Tampa Bay Rays.
The bad news is Monday’s 6-3 against the Baltimore Orioles dropped Tampa Bay to 1-7 away from Tropicana Field. The good news is it’s April. The Rays have 73 more chances to play better on the road, beginning tomorrow at Camden Yards.
Also in the good-news column is how well Tampa Bay’s played at home. The Rays are a toasty 9-4 in the climate-controlled, weather-protected environs of the Trop. Making weather-related excuses is a waste of time, especially considering both teams must play in the same conditions, but it can be a shock to the system playing in New York, Boston and Baltimore in April after spending a full spring in Florida and home games in a dome. Temperatures were in the high-50s Monday against the Orioles and rain threatened throughout the night.
Considering the home-away records, it should come to no surprise that the Rays are putting up much better numbers at the Trop than they have at Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park and Camden Yards. Run differential, one of the most important of all stats, certainly bears that out. Tampa Bay is plus-17 at home (67-50) and minus-14 on the road (29-43).
In eight games not played in St. Petersburg, the Rays are batting .217 with 22 extra-base hits and posting a .289 on-base percentage. In 13 games at the Trop, the Rays have the fourth-best batting average in Major League Baseball (.279), have pounded out 40 extra-base hits and own a .351 OBP.
Pitching stats are predictably consistent with that trend. The Rays’ team earned run average on the road is 4.71 compared to 3.45 at home, and the staff’s walks plus hits per innings pitched rate is 1.62 away and 1.15 in the dome.
Worth noting in all of this, too, is the competition. The current combined record of the Rays’ road opponents – the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Orioles – is 35-20. The combined record of the Rays’ home opponents – the Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros – is 39-35.
The Rays are off to a 10-11 start with a banged-up roster while going against three of the teams playing the best ball in the American League right now and two others both above .500 – and the Blue Jays.
Tampa Bay has two more left in Baltimore before heading to the Rogers Centre in Toronto for three and finishing up with two on the road against the Miami Marlins. The Rays will be back home for a nine-game stand against the Marlins, Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals.
Eric Horchy is a staff writer with OutsidePitchMLB.com. You can follow and interact with him on Twitter: @EricHorchy
The post Struggle is real on the road in April for Tampa Bay Rays appeared first on OutsidePitchMLB.