Home doesn’t feel like home anymore for the Red Sox.
Boston newcomer Isaiah Kiner-Falefa made an eye-raising remark after Tuesday’s 4-2 home loss to the Orioles, referencing the “different” feel for the team at Fenway Park compared to road venues.
The last-place Red Sox are an MLB-worst 9-20 at home compared to 16-14 on the road.
“I just feel like on the road we’re a very close-knit team,” Kiner-Falefa said after losing the series opener. “We’ve come home and there’s just a lot of people and it’s different, it’s a different vibe at home and we got to figure out a way to make it small like it is on the road. Just feel like at home we see a lot of people we don’t know, just don’t know that are around this area and when we’re on the road its a close-knit group and we’re becoming a really close team and, yeah, we got to find a way to bring that back home.”
While Kiner-Falefa did not specify whom those people are, the comments highlight how MLB teams have more staffers around for home games compared to road games, as expected.
While some appreciate having more folks and more data available — especially since there should be more analytics folks around — there are those who surely can find it overbearing.
It’s not often, though, that the difference in staff size is cited for a team’s struggles.
The old adage in baseball is that good teams should shoot for .500 on the road and dominate at home, a formula that can result in 90-plus-win seasons.
The Red Sox usually are strong at home due to their familiarity with the odd dimensions and the ability to build a team suited for 81 games in the park, but this year’s team is allergic to winning at home.
Boston is a mind-boggling 1-7-1 in home series, having only won a three-game set against Milwaukee from April 6-8.
The Red Sox noticeably are significantly worse at home offensively, averaging 3.17 runs per game compared to 4.70 on the road.
Their pitchers have actually fared better at home, allowing 4.0 runs per game compared to 4.07 on the road.
“Our goal is just to go out and play baseball, and it’ll turn eventually,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said after the team fell to 25-34. “It’s obvious the way we’ve played so well on the road, and it’s been a struggle here as far as wins and losses are concerned.”
Boston entered the season with high aspirations after last year’s run to the Wild-Card series, a three-game loss to the Yankees, but a lot has gone wrong through the first 59 games.
Injuries to ace Garrett Crochet and budding superstar Roman Anthony have hurt, and the team parted ways with longtime manager Alex Cora.
Boston now needs to win the final two games of this series to clinch just its second home set of the year before visiting The Bronx for a three-game set over the weekend.
“Sick of it,” Kiner-Falefa said of the home woes, per MLB.com. “And I think everybody in here is sick of it. We’ve got to find a way to be better.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
