The Cincinnati Reds have struggled on the road this season

While the Cincinnati Reds’ season may be deemed as unsuccessful, they’ve at least been competitive at home. Not so much on the road.

The Cincinnati Reds will close out their season away from Great American Ball Park today when they wrap up their 4-game series at Marlins Park. The Reds have had a down season all-around, but their record away from home has not been good at all.

The Reds are 30-50 (.375) on the road this year. There is only one team in the entire National League with a worse record on the road, and that the team they’re playing today. The Miami Marlins have the worst road record in the NL at 24-50 (.324).

At home, this season, while not over .500, Cincinnati has still played well. The Reds are 36-40 (.473) at Great American Ball Park and with a 5-game homestand to finish the season, Cincinnati has an opportunity to finish above .500 at home for the season if they win out.

While winning on the road is never easy, especially in the rowdy stadiums of the NL Central, it’s imperative if you wish to be competitive. The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies are the only National League teams who have a .500 record or above overall but a sub-.500 on the road.

If we take a peek over to the American League, we’ll see a similar trend. Only the Tampa Bay Rays are playing above-.500 baseball with a sub-.500 record on the road.

Being dominant away from your home ballpark is not a prerequisite to being competitive. In fact, the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals are the only teams in the National League who have a better record on the road than they do at home. Atlanta, who just qualified for the postseason yesterday is 45-30 on the road and 42-38 at SunLife Stadium.

Taking a look at the home and away splits for the Reds isn’t very revealing. Cincinnati ranks No. 4 in hitting at home, batting .258 in the friendly confines of Great American Ball Park. However, the Reds drop down to No. 6 on the road.

Oddly enough, the Reds pitching performances are eerily similar on the road as they are at home. In fact, the Reds have given up more runs in fewer games at home this season. Of course, that’s to be expected with the Reds playing in the hitter’s park that is GABP.

There’s really not much difference statistically in the Reds’ home versus away performances. However, if the Cincinnati Reds hope to be competitive heading into 2019, they’ll need to figure out how to be successful away from home. They get one last shot at that today against the Marlins.