Early Season’s Best Road Teams
By Bill McBride
Covers.com
OK, so we have about a month’s sampling of baseball these days, and by now, the loyal bettors out there have a list of teams they’re riding, and those that they’re fading.
Clearly, the realistic players out there also have a list of clubs that are going to turn the corner eventually, as well, with the likes of the Angels, Red Sox, Tigers and Phillies off to ho-hum starts.
But you can’t wait around forever, right? There are wins to be had. And there is no better value out there than a quality team that can take care of business on the road and get you back to the window as soon as possible.
So, let’s take a look at some of the early-season standouts, with regards to baseball away from home (statistics through Monday):
TEXAS RANGERS
OVERALL RECORD: 17-6.
ROAD RECORD: 9-1.
THE SKINNY: Not sure why so many people are surprised about the Rangers’ start. While they didn’t make the offseason splashes that the Tigers and Angels did, the fact remains that this club had made the World Series the last two seasons, and quite possibly could have won both.
But that doesn’t matter now. What does, is the Rangers have the bats to produce in any ballpark, and a staff that can make things hold up. The road wins just rolled up in March -- three at Fenway Park, three more at Comerica Park, and another one on Monday, a 4-1 whitewash at Toronto in which Yu Darvish (4-0) dazzled again.
He’s not alone. The Rangers have five pitchers with at least two wins, and Darvish and Colby Lewis have combined for seven in just 10 starts. The league was hitting just .114 off reliever Alexi Ogando, and with batting-average against such a huge statistic in road success, consider Texas has just one pitcher -- Koji Uehara -- who has a clip at .300 or higher.
That kind of pitching dominance has meshed well with an offense that features four players -- Josh Hamilton, Alberto Gonzalez, Michael Young, and Adrian Beltre -- with batting averages over .400 away from Texas. Stay on Texas on the road, folks.
CLEVELAND INDIANS
OVERALL RECORD: 11-9.
ROAD RECORD: 7-2.
THE SKINNY: Now, you’re talking about value. The Rangers, sure, you’ll have to pay a steep price for them sometimes. But the Indians come at a discount, and it’s clear that they use the away games -- there’s better spring weather seemingly everywhere in the majors than Cleveland -- to their advantage. Let’s face it, the Indians have already had a home game snowed out. But what really hurts the Indians is a lack of clutch hitting, though the pitching staff has been there to rescue them early.
Now, however, as Johnny Damon was activated on Tuesday, there are some reinforcements. Entering Tuesday's action, only Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana, with three apiece, had more than two home runs, and only two Indians -- Travis Hafner (.450) and Santana (.417) had topped .400 in on-base percentage.
Damon won't be the be-all, end-all elixir but he does have 1,120 career RBIs,1,643 runs scored, and he knows how to win. That will only add more punch to Cleveland's road work.
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
OVERALL RECORD: 14-8.
ROAD RECORD: 8-5.
THE SKINNY: Anyone who watched closely last postseason understands just how successful a culture there is in St. Louis, and that soaks into players and managers, as well as the fans.
It’s one of those intangibles you just can’t explain, but being in a Cardinals uniform must just mean something special. And that’s why this is an organization that can lose Albert Pujols and Tony La Russa, and still be in first place in May. There’s a long way to go, of course, but that National League Central has seen better days, and it’s begging to be dominated by somebody. That someone could be St. Louis, which has the horses and the heart to continue this road run.
St. Louis has six players with .300 or better averages away from home, including Shane Robinson (.478), who also has a .538 road on-base percentage. And with the exception of Fernando Salas, who has pitched only four innings, Jaime Garcia and J.C. Romero, every other St. Louis pitcher to appear on the road has a batting-average against number below .300. Not bad.
CHICAGO WHITE SOX
OVERALL RECORD: 11-11.
ROAD RECORD: 7-4.
THE SKINNY: Proceed with caution as Chicago went 4-2 out west against the mediocre likes of Oakland and Seattle, but three games over .500 on the road, means you cash at the window, so let's throw the White Sox in the mix. Chicago certainly has its power stroke on the road, as evidenced by four players -- Adam Dunn, Paul Konerko, Alejandro De Aza and A.J. Pierzynski -- combining for 11 home runs away from the Windy City.
And if they can continue to get decent averages out of Alex Rios on the road -- .361 batting, and .429 on-base -- then they may have something here. Chicago fans will tell you that this is a scrappy bunch that has clearly adopted the never-say-die attitude of its new manager, Robin Ventura.
The former third baseman who once charged Nolan Ryan on the mound, has plenty of fight left in him, and it shows in his club. Pitching wise, if you take out John Danks’ 11 road earned runs, the White Sox have only allowed 21 more as a team in their road greys. If that keeps up, so will the value.