since 2002

• MLB
  • Home
  • Batter vs Pitcher
  • Daily Matchups
  • Compare Batters
  • DFS Projections
  • Roto Projections
  • Weather
  • Home/Road Splits
  • Position Eligibility
  • Umpire Factors
  • Best of FIC
• NFL
  • Home
  • Lineups
  • Weather

Batters with Extreme Home/Road Splits

Rundown of the players that hit MUCH better at home or on the road.

What exactly does OPS Δ mean?

OPS Delta (Δ) is simply the difference between home and road OPS splits. If it's big enough, they'll appear on this page. We don't set a minimum OPS requirement on this table so it is possible a player could have a below average OPS (<.725) at home and on the road. That's pretty rare, though. In most cases, the better split will be quite a bit above the league average (with its table's cell above colored in green).

Why do some hitters have such extreme home/road splits

Well, that can be a complicated (and often psychological) thing. Hitting better at home is a fairly common thing -- crowd is pullin' for ya (usually), well-rested after sleeping in your bed, daily routine/meals easier to control, etc. Most hitters "feel" better at their home park, even if the numbers don't always bear that out.

Another big factor is the home stadium. Hitter-friendly parks like Coors and Chase Field can significantly improve the chances of a 50/50 ball landing fair or carrying out of reach of a defender. Playing 81 games at a favorable park can account for a big chunk of better home splits.

Batters that thrive at home

• Trevor Story - lifetime, his home OPS is ridiculously higher (.945 vs .720). Of course, the Coors field effect is a huge reason for that. Boston, with the green monster, could end up being another good spot for him but all the injuries have prevented him from setting new home field trends. Even so, I'd still sit Trevor most of the time when he's on the road.
• Yainer Diaz - Houston is super hitter-friendly, especially to righties. That tends to result in a slightly better home OPS for Astros players but with Yainer, that gap is way wider than expected (.900 at home vs .680). That puts him near the top 10 in OPS delta (.220). With his road OPS below league-average, he's an excellent candidate to only start at home.

Batters that thrive on the road

On the flip side, hitting better on the road is a fairly rare thing (just 30% of players on this list). Some players feel too much pressure at home or just love silencing the boos and hecklers. Getting away from a pitcher-friendly park also helps.

• Yordan Alvarez - obviously one of the elite hitters in the league, his OPS on the road is about 0.075 higher (1.022 vs .928). Both rates are way above average and it's interesting that Houston wouldn't result in the better split, but for whatever reason, Yordan lights it up even more on the road (likely the clutch factor vs adversity). Sort of a moot point, though, as he should be started 100% of the time.
• Willy Adames - he has a lifetime road OPS of .800 against .730 on the road. Of course, he broke in with the Rays and Tropicana Field is one of the toughest hitter's parks going. His career OPS of ~.610 at the Trop bears that out. After he moved to the Brewers, he hit for an OPS of ~.800 at home in Milwaukee. So, that suggests his low career road OPS is largely due to his time in Tampa (ie, not psychological but likely something in the Trop that really hinders his approach... batter's eye, etc). Don't let his home/road splits impact your decision to sit or start.