Toronto Blue Jays Hitting Trends Show Offense is Built to Thrive at Home
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It is a dog fight for first place when one look at the American League East standings. Four teams have 40 wins and most are bunched with just a few games of first place, including the Toronto Blue Jays.
The difference between the Jays and the two teams ahead of them are their road records.
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Entering Sunday's action the New York Yankees lead the division and were 21-16 on the road. The Tampa Bay Rays were second and were 16-12 on the road.
The Blue Jays however were 16-20 away from Rogers Center, but a robust 25-15 at home, which is keeping them in the hunt for the division title.
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The top batters this year for the Jays are Alejandro Kirk, George Springer, Bo Bichette, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Their hitting statistics show that their ability to generate offense and score runs is significantly better at home than on the road.
Most professional sports teams will play better at home. The difference for contenders and non-contenders is the ability to perform on the road and have a chance to win.
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With the exception of Springer, the Blue Jays' top hitters are performing exceptionally better at home than on the road. Bichette is struggling the most when he leaves Rogers Center, as his OPS goes from .936 down to .566.
Kirk, Springer, Bichette, and Guerrero make up for a total of 151 RBIs. Only 59 of those have come on the road. Guerrero has only driven in 10 runs away from home, but has 29 RBI back home.
Toronto has consistently gotten better as the season has progressed. The Blue Jays are right where they need to be to have a chance at their division title. But these hitting issues have to be addressed in order to close the gap on these teams who are over .500 when they leave their home field.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.