What’s Behind Pirates’ Dramatic Home/Road Splits This Season?

If the Pittsburgh Pirates played all their games at PNC Park, they’d be a playoff team.

After taking two of three from the Toronto Blue Jays and sweeping the Colorado Rockies at home last week, the Pirates improved to 39-30 with a plus-22 run differential at PNC Park this year. That’s a 92-win pace and the seventh-best home record in the National League.

Pittsburgh’s been even better at home recently, going 32-18 over its last 50 home games since May 9. That’s a 104-win pace.

Unfortunately for the Pirates, they play half their games away from PNC Park, and that’s where they’ve struggled. Pittsburgh is 18-44 with a minus-92 run differential in road games — a 115-loss pace and the second-worst road record in baseball ahead of only the Colorado Rockies.

In and of itself, that trend isn’t unusual. Most Major League teams perform better at home. Entering play on Monday, only four MLB teams had a better road record than home record.

However, the Pirates’ splits are particularly extreme. At home, they’re a playoff team. Everywhere else, they’re one of the worst teams in baseball. Why is that?

Pirates have played at a 91-win pace at home and a 115-loss pace on the road. I don't even know how that's possible

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— Ethan Fisher (@efisher330) August 24, 2025

Pittsburgh struggles on both sides of the ball in away games. Its pitching and defense allow 4.65 runs per game on the road compared to 3.61 runs per game at home. Only four of the team’s MLB-leading 16 shutouts have come in away games.

That’s not too surprising, as PNC Park has been the fourth-most pitching-friendly park in the Majors this year, according to Statcast park effects. It makes sense that Pirates pitchers struggle on the road in more hitter-friendly environments, allowing more walks, home runs and a higher batting average in away games.

The issue, however, is that Pittsburgh’s offense also struggles on the road. While the Pirates average 3.93 runs per game at home, they average just 3.16 runs per game everywhere else despite typically playing in better offensive parks on the road. They’re batting .214/.284/.327 with a 24.5% strikeout rate in away games compared to .252/.325/.373 and a 22.2% whiff rate at home.

Pittsburgh is allowing a full run per game more on the road while scoring nearly a full run per game less. That’s not a recipe for success, especially for a team like the Pirates that plays in a lot of low-scoring games.

They still have three more road trips to try to reverse that trend, starting tonight in St. Louis. Pittsburgh has four games against the St. Louis Cardinals, who have lost eight of their last 11, followed by three at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox, who have been one of the best home teams in baseball this year.

If the Pirates want to contend next year, they need to play better on the road. They have 19 away games left to start learning.

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