KenWo's Corner- Road Warriors

by KenWo4LiFe on Aug 13, 2011 5:12 AM CDT in Analysis

After Friday's loss to Bruce Chen and the Royals, the White Sox are now 24-33 at home and 34-27 on the road. I decided to take a look into the home and road splits to see if I found anything really out of whack, which would explain this teams better play on the road. I was pretty surprised to see what I found. The group with the biggest difference between their performance at home and away is the bullpen.

Player Road E.R.A. Road WHIP Home ERA Home WHIP

Sergio Santos 0.00 0.63 5.87 1.39
Matt Thornton 2.79 1.34 4.12 1.83
Jesse Crain 1.25 1.15 3.60 1.10
Chris Sale 1.57 0.94 3.96 1.36
Will Ohman 5.65 1.46 3.04 1.14

Only Will Ohman has performed better in Chicago. That home bullpen work is part of a reason why the Sox are 1-5 in extra inning games at the Cell.

As far as the starting rotation goes, Mark Buehrle, Edwin Jackson and John Danks all are better in the Cell than away from it. Philip Humber is about even. Jake Peavy has been slightly better on the road (4.00 ERA away, 5.12 home). Only Gavin Floyd has been a lot better on the road. Floyd sports a hefty 7.06 ERA at the Cell and a nifty 3.13 out of town.

Here are the offensive highlights of my search after the jump:

Carlos Quentin - Away: .294/.372/.616 17 HR 49 RBI Home: .223/.315/.402 7 HR 23 RBI
Juan Pierre - 13/16 in stolen bases away. 6/16 in stolen bases at home.
Adam Dunn - 8 of 11 HRs have come at home. Slash line "better" away. .142/.255/.296 Home. .180/.330/.297 Away
Alex Rios - Home: .259/.305/.374. Away: .183/.220/.270
Alexei Ramirez - Home: .277/.347/.426 Away: .256/.313/.388
Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski are marginally better at home, while Gordon Beckham and Brent Morel are slightly better away.

According to baseball history, their playoff chances are slim to none and slim is heading for the door. There has only been one team since 1995* to get into the post season with a losing record at home. That team was the 2001 Atlanta Braves, who went 40-41 at home and 48-33 on the road to win the NL East. Those Braves went on to lose in the NLCS to the eventual champion Diamondbacks.

That is 1 out of 128 playoff teams since 1995 to finish with a losing home record, and they only missed by one game. The White Sox have 24 remaining home dates on the calendar. They have to go 17-7 to get themselves a winning home record. Here are the remaining home games:

7 with Indians
5 with Royals
3 with Rangers
3 with Twins
3 with Tigers
3 with Blue Jays

There have been 20/128 playoff teams to finish with a better record on the road. Surprisingly enough, 2 of the 3 White Sox playoff teams were on that list. The 2000 Sox went 46-35 at home and 49-32 on the road before getting swept by the Mariners. The 2005 World Champs went 47-34 at home and 52-29 on the road, and then proceeded to clinch the division and win every playoff series away from home.

30 teams finished under .500 on the road and still made it to October. The worst road team to make the playoffs was the 2006 Cardinals, who finished 34-47 on the road. The 2008 White Sox are the 2nd worst road team to make the playoffs, as they went 35-46 away from the Cell. That year, they used the launching pad of the Cell to their advantage as they went 54-28 at home. That club smashed 143 home runs at home, and only 92 on the road.

* I used 1995 as a jumping point since that was the first year of the current playoff format.

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Comments

A very interesting analysis. Well done!

As a famous person once said,

“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down The Cell!”

White Sox 2011: The season of extraneous body parts.

by greenlight on Aug 13, 2011 7:59 AM CDT reply actions

nice article, didn't most of the bullpen's damage at home happen in April though? Glass chihuahua on the mound tonight for the methup!

by Rhubarb on Aug 13, 2011 8:58 AM CDT reply actions 8 recs

for thornton and sale yes.

crain has the higher era number at home due to the fact he’s given up 4 of his 5 homers at the Cell

Santos was great in april, june was his worst month. But he’s given up 15 runs on the year- all during home games.

Kenwo4life=ratings. Just call me Mr. USA Today.

by KenWo4LiFe on Aug 13, 2011 9:17 AM CDT up reply actions

so you finally broke down and did it yourself.

well done!

"keep a weather eye on the horizon, dearest captain of the douche canoe" - BJ

by Shoeless In SC on Aug 13, 2011 9:00 PM CDT up reply actions

i wanted it to be ozzie in some gucci shit with peavy in a murse.

do it!

by Rhubarb on Aug 14, 2011 12:12 PM CDT up reply actions

Only Will Ohman has performed better in Chicago. That home bullpen work is part of a reason why the Sox are 1-5 in extra inning games at the Cell.

That’s not necessarily true. If the offense don’t produce, our bullpen will give in the run(s) that will make us lose the game. The lack of the walk-off hit in extra-innings at home put our bullpen in a difficult situation as we ask them to be perfect for 2 or 3 or 4 extra-innings where they had already delivered quality pitching in the 8th or 9th innings. Excellent article and analysis, but the problems at home are the nonexistent offense. We have faced various “Bruce Chens” at home and we have been unable to score runs….fuck the runs…yesterday we managed 2 HITS in the entire game….Francisco Liriano sports a 5 ERA and an atrocious WHIP, and one of the worse controls in the majors (66 walks in a little over 100 innings) and Liriano No-Hit us at the Cellular field….. I blame mostly our hitters for our losing record at home.

If you chase two rabbits both will escape!

by JofpGallagher on Aug 13, 2011 9:08 AM CDT reply actions

you're right. thats why i said they are "part of the reason".

but if you look at the teams overall hitting they are equally pathetic at home and on the road.

Home: .251/.319/.397 64 HR
Away: .252/.314/.376 51 HR

Now they have scored 257 runs on the road and 211 at home. But when you throw in the fact they’ve played 4 more road gamesand their opening day demolition of cleveland… it has pretty much been even.

Kenwo4life=ratings. Just call me Mr. USA Today.

by KenWo4LiFe on Aug 13, 2011 9:15 AM CDT up reply actions

It is kinda hard to explain...maybe it is a psychological thingy.

I suggest to accidentally demolish the Cellular field, and we are forced to play roads games for the remaining of the season.

If you chase two rabbits both will escape!

by JofpGallagher on Aug 13, 2011 9:29 AM CDT up reply actions

haha i know what you mean.

i just wanted to rummage through the home and away splits to see what i’ve found because I personally hate when they are playing at home this year. Floyd and Quentin are the major outliers. i was just surprised that the bullpen has been much better away from the park.

Kenwo4life=ratings. Just call me Mr. USA Today.

by KenWo4LiFe on Aug 13, 2011 9:32 AM CDT up reply actions

theory

without evaluating the stats in depth you think it might have something to do with out inept offense? A weak powerless team in a small ballpark could be the cause of our lack of home-field advantage. Anyone have any ideas?

by bitternutz on Aug 13, 2011 11:30 AM CDT up reply actions

equally pathetic is a good way to put it.

they’re trying to reach one game under .500 for our meet up
two weeks ago when i went they successfully reached .500
that tuesday i went they tried and failed to reach .500

treading water for over a month now.

He's streaky. I heard you the first 100 times. I don't care. Ride or die. -tdogg on c quentin

by e-gus on Aug 13, 2011 1:10 PM CDT up reply actions

since larry is busy i'll cover the minor leagues this week

this week in white sox minor league baseball:

our system is a teeming with major league ready 4 OF types

also readily available talent exists from kannapolis to charlotte in the form of swing starter/set up men pitching; primarily from the right side

by ndsoxfan on Aug 13, 2011 10:20 AM CDT reply actions 4 recs

not white sox related but related to the article

throwing out the anomaly against st. louis, the brewers seem to be on pace to finish with the worst road record for a playoff team.

and the sox have inept slugging power and most of the pitching staff arent auto-K pitchers. playing in a hitters park with a small-ball lineup and pitchers that are effective at best when inducing ground balls and flyouts seems to be a reason among many why they suck at home

The realist keepin it real amongst the surrealists

R.I.P. Big Homey Nate Dogg: "Cuz Iiiiiiiiii have ne-evv-ver met a giiiiiiiiiirrrrrrllllllllllllllllllll tha-at I loved in the whole wide wooorrrlllllddddddd"

by starbury_to_s-jaxci2000 on Aug 13, 2011 12:44 PM CDT reply actions

Pierre 7, Vizquel 4, Konerko DH, Quentin 9, Ramirez 6, De Aza 8, Morel 5, Lillibridge 3, Flowers 2 Peavy RHP

by larry on Aug 13, 2011 1:19 PM CDT reply actions

ajs first missed game from injury evar?

Joe Buck is just White Noise to me. It’s like the game is being called by a CD of whale songs. - mechanical turk

by blackoutsox on Aug 13, 2011 1:27 PM CDT up reply actions

of course not.

by larry on Aug 13, 2011 1:30 PM CDT up reply actions

the give up game.

nice

"The words "becorned can" just beminded my fuck." - SkanchoDanza

by BoeJouma on Aug 13, 2011 1:42 PM CDT up reply actions

It might look that way on the surface.

But Pierzynski is getting a day off for the injury, Lillibridge is an upgrade over Dunn on both sides of the ball, and Vizquel and De Aza couldn’t possibly look worse than Beckham and Rios did last night. Sadly, these might be the best 9 guys to send out there right now.

Frank Thomas's wOBA at the time of the 1994 strike was .497. He was on pace to hit 54 homers, drive in 152 runs, walk 152 times, and pile up 10.5 WAR.

by mikecws91 on Aug 13, 2011 2:03 PM CDT up reply actions

no rios, dunn, and beckham at once?

there might actually be some offensive production tonight

paulie and dayan: get healthy soon.

The realist keepin it real amongst the surrealists

R.I.P. Big Homey Nate Dogg: "Cuz Iiiiiiiiii have ne-evv-ver met a giiiiiiiiiirrrrrrllllllllllllllllllll tha-at I loved in the whole wide wooorrrlllllddddddd"

by starbury_to_s-jaxci2000 on Aug 13, 2011 2:09 PM CDT up reply actions

de aza and lilli fighting for their roster spots.

viciedo playing first base tonight for charlotte.

by larry on Aug 13, 2011 2:14 PM CDT up reply actions

ooh, juicy.

Frank Thomas's wOBA at the time of the 1994 strike was .497. He was on pace to hit 54 homers, drive in 152 runs, walk 152 times, and pile up 10.5 WAR.

by mikecws91 on Aug 13, 2011 2:28 PM CDT up reply actions

thats pretty sexy

"The words "becorned can" just beminded my fuck." - SkanchoDanza

by BoeJouma on Aug 13, 2011 2:31 PM CDT up reply actions

whatever

If the Sox lose the division by 3 games or less I will never forgive this regime. Morons.

"Rooting for the Twins is just a roundabout way of rooting for a first-round playoff bye for the Yankees." by big_fun

by Tdogg on Aug 13, 2011 3:30 PM CDT up reply actions

But 3 games or fewer and all is forgiven?

"If you are looking for a good and quick treat, mosey on over to Hardees or KFC." -Jessy S

by Uribe Down on Aug 13, 2011 3:33 PM CDT up reply actions

Currently pouring up by the park.

"Many people need desperately to receive this message: 'I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.'"

by U-God on Aug 13, 2011 2:34 PM CDT reply actions

the picture of rios sums up the abortion of a season this is

"The words "becorned can" just beminded my fuck." - SkanchoDanza

by BoeJouma on Aug 13, 2011 3:12 PM CDT reply actions

I've got 9 tickets for the game

But I busted my knee on Monday, and am hobbling around on crutches. What do you think chances are of a reschedule? Anyone? Really don’t want to head down there from Rogers Park if they’re going to call it.

"If God had intended for pitchers to bat, he wouldn't have made them suck at it. The AL: God's League."

by TheOutfield on Aug 13, 2011 3:16 PM CDT reply actions

i'd imagine everyone is praying the game goes ahead.

by craigws on Aug 13, 2011 3:26 PM CDT up reply actions

I took the wife, kids and my dad to White Sox days at brookfield zoo...

We met Tyler Flowers, Zach Stewart, Southpaw and the kids got to hit and throw. Pretty fun. I told you guys on here my son likes Flowers for some reason ( i think its the name)… and he said “HEY HIT A HOME RUN TONIGHT” and Flowers responded “I’ll see what i can do”. So if he goes deep- you know who to thank.

Kenwo4life=ratings. Just call me Mr. USA Today.

by KenWo4LiFe on Aug 13, 2011 3:27 PM CDT reply actions 8 recs

but my son is a jinx... so flowers will go 0- his next 30.

Kenwo4life=ratings. Just call me Mr. USA Today.

by KenWo4LiFe on Aug 13, 2011 3:28 PM CDT up reply actions

haha

"The words "becorned can" just beminded my fuck." - SkanchoDanza

by BoeJouma on Aug 13, 2011 3:47 PM CDT up reply actions

sss

White Sox 2011: The season of extraneous body parts.

by greenlight on Aug 13, 2011 4:45 PM CDT up reply actions

this needs to be so green

Joe Buck is just White Noise to me. It’s like the game is being called by a CD of whale songs. - mechanical turk

by blackoutsox on Aug 14, 2011 12:52 AM CDT up reply actions

Thanks, kid.

You can hang with us as long as you want.

by winningugly on Aug 14, 2011 11:28 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions

Don't look at Hochevar general stats coz Hochevar has been very sharp lately

Last 33.2 innings: 2.41 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 26 Ks, 4 quality starts while facing Boston, Tampa (twice), Baltimore, and Minnesota……

If you chase two rabbits both will escape!

by JofpGallagher on Aug 13, 2011 3:47 PM CDT reply actions

Oriole talk

I’ve been following the Sox via mlb.tv and only have access to the home broadcasts. Your analysis is right on target with what the Oriole announcers were talking abiut iver the four game series. It even got to the point that they would bring up the Sox reliever effectiveness so much it was kinda of like when other announcers (Hawk and Farmio) try to jynx a no hitter by talking about it.

I don’t know the home/road split has been completely solved, but I would also like to know why the Sox have so much trouble against soft throwing lefties. We’ve got two more starts against Cy Chen, and I’d like to think we have a chance to score more than one run in both if those games.

by Kodachrome on Aug 13, 2011 4:57 PM CDT reply actions

Well done, Ken.

All this time off has you pumpin’ out these stat-filled articles and recaps with Jim-like frequency.

"keep a weather eye on the horizon, dearest captain of the douche canoe" - BJ

by Shoeless In SC on Aug 13, 2011 9:02 PM CDT reply actions

The White Sox team seems to be getting some negative attention. They did not do very well and once more are probably not going to do well enough to reach playoffs; but, miracles can and do happen every single day.

Halloween World

by cartersally21 on Aug 13, 2011 9:39 PM CDT reply actions