O’s Have Best Road Offense, Worst Home Offense in MLB – Why?

Here’s an interesting tidbit:

Our beloved Baltimore Orioles have Major League Baseball’s best on base percentage on the road this season (.358). However, those same beloved Birds have the worst on base percentage at home (.267).

Home crowds at Camden Yards have watched the O’s offense average just 2.54 runs per game in their first 11 matchups. The Birds are averaging 6.15 runs per game in their first 13 games on the road.

After noticing this wild split, I decided to take a look at the starting pitchers the Orioles have faced at home and on the road. Here’s how it breaks down over the first 24 games of the 2014 season, to the right of each player’s name is his FIP for the season as of Monday April 28.

Starting Pitchers Faced At OPACY

1. Jon Lester (BOS) – 2.52 FIP*
2. John Lackey (BOS) – 3.65 FIP
3. Felix Doubront (BOS) – 4.87 FIP
4. Dustin McGowan (TOR) – 5.61 FIP
5. Drew Hutchison (TOR) – 3.20 FIP*
6. Mark Buehrle (TOR) – 3.23 FIP*
7. Chris Archer (TB) – 2.37 FIP*
8. Jake Odorizzi (TB) – 4.39 FIP
9. Yordano Ventura (KC) – 2.64 FIP*
10. Jeremy Guthrie (KC) – 5.08 FIP
11. James Shields (KC) – 3.23 FIP*

Starting Pitchers Faced On The Road

1. Anibal Sanchez (DET) – 2.43 FIP*
2. Rick Porcello (DET) – 3.32 FIP*
3. Justin Verlander (DET) – 2.93 FIP*
4. Hiroki Kuroda (NYY) – 4.26 FIP
5. Ivan Nova (NYY) – 6.86 FIP
6. Masahiro Tanaka (NYY) – 2.91 FIP*
7. John Lackey (BOS) – 3.65 FIP
8. Felix Doubront (BOS) – 4.87 FIP
9. Jake Peavy (BOS) – 4.65 FIP
10. Clay Buchholz (BOS) – 4.45 FIP
11. R.A. Dickey (TOR) – 4.27 FIP
12. Dustin McGowan (TOR) – 5.61 FIP
13. Drew Hutchison (TOR) – 3.20 FIP*

Six of the 11 starters the Orioles have faced at Camden Yards have a FIP below 3.42 (the 50th best FIP for a starter this season). So 55% of the starters the O’s have faced at home have a FIP in the top 50 among starters in 2014.

Read more about the road/home discrepancy at Baltimore Sports Report…