Jimmy Boyd in 
Every team gets an edge playing in front of the home crowd. But, do you know exactly how much home field is worth for each MLB team? If you simply look at the league average over the years, you’ll find playing in the friendly confines is worth about 0.15 runs. That’s almost nothing.
This is a little surprising. In baseball, the home team always gets to bat last. That’s a distinct, strategic advantage. But, for some reason, this doesn’t appear to translate for every team. As with any baseball betting strategy you have to dig deeper.
Teams that Benefit the Most From Home Field Advantage in Baseball
We put together a list of home scoring margins versus road scoring margins of each team. This gives us a true advantage for each team (regular season only). The final number represents how many runs per game playing at home is worth to each team.
This number doesn’t tell us who the best home teams are. It tells us which teams are better off playing at home than on the road. The Rockies, for example, aren’t the best-scoring team at home. That honor goes to the NY Yankees. But, Colorado is significantly better in Denver than they are on the road. That is why playing in Coors is such a big advantage to them.
There are some good franchises down near the bottom of this list. All that tells us here at Boyds Bets is that these teams play well no matter where the game is at.
League Wide Advantage
| Team | Home Record | Margin | Road Record | Margin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockies | 481-410 | 0.39 | 345-546 | -0.76 | 0.58 |
| Pirates | 454-436 | -0.15 | 339-551 | -0.92 | 0.39 |
| Rays | 497-393 | 0.23 | 394-498 | -0.32 | 0.28 |
| Yankees | 561-329 | 0.95 | 475-416 | 0.43 | 0.26 |
| Red Sox | 532-358 | 0.83 | 448-442 | 0.34 | 0.25 |
| Astros | 448-442 | -0.26 | 356-534 | -0.73 | 0.24 |
| Brewers | 495-396 | 0.15 | 393-497 | -0.30 | 0.23 |
| Athletics | 508-382 | 0.52 | 422-468 | 0.09 | 0.22 |
| Rangers | 501-391 | 0.44 | 425-466 | 0.02 | 0.21 |
| Blue Jays | 488-403 | 0.29 | 386-503 | -0.13 | 0.21 |
| Cardinals | 539-351 | 0.69 | 455-436 | 0.34 | 0.18 |
| Twins | 475-417 | 0.11 | 409-483 | -0.22 | 0.17 |
| Cubs | 449-442 | 0.02 | 397-492 | -0.28 | 0.15 |
| Tigers | 507-384 | 0.42 | 426-466 | 0.12 | 0.15 |
| Indians | 480-410 | 0.16 | 405-485 | -0.10 | 0.13 |
| Nationals | 455-431 | -0.19 | 382-510 | -0.44 | 0.13 |
| Braves | 518-373 | 0.54 | 437-453 | 0.33 | 0.11 |
| Reds | 480-411 | -0.03 | 406-485 | -0.20 | 0.09 |
| Diamondbacks | 448-443 | -0.30 | 383-508 | -0.45 | 0.08 |
| Padres | 470-421 | -0.06 | 404-488 | -0.20 | 0.07 |
| White Sox | 480-412 | 0.05 | 420-471 | -0.08 | 0.07 |
| Mariners | 442-450 | -0.39 | 363-527 | -0.52 | 0.07 |
| Dodgers | 503-388 | 0.36 | 444-446 | 0.23 | 0.07 |
| Orioles | 444-447 | -0.33 | 388-503 | -0.44 | 0.06 |
| Phillies | 493-397 | 0.39 | 466-425 | 0.29 | 0.05 |
| Royals | 408-481 | -0.60 | 362-530 | -0.69 | 0.05 |
| Marlins | 442-448 | -0.23 | 403-486 | -0.28 | 0.03 |
| Giants | 484-408 | 0.00 | 424-464 | -0.01 | 0.01 |
| Angels | 517-374 | 0.41 | 480-410 | 0.43 | -0.01 |
| Mets | 456-434 | 0.00 | 425-466 | 0.06 | -0.03 |
Now we’ll take a look at teams in divisional games only. These teams play each other more often. Thus, it can give us an even better perspective on the home team’s advantage.
The average margin is much smaller in divisional games. You will also notice that teams like the Yankees and Red Sox do not outscore their divisional opponents by as much as they do non-divisional.
Divisional Games
| Team | Home Record | Margin | Road Record | Margin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockies | 209-196 | 0.26 | 166-237 | -0.59 | 0.43 |
| Rays | 223-182 | 0.18 | 176-227 | -0.47 | 0.33 |
| Brewers | 251-187 | 0.34 | 194-243 | -0.30 | 0.32 |
| Pirates | 213-224 | -0.33 | 170-269 | -0.93 | 0.30 |
| Yankees | 245-160 | 0.64 | 208-195 | 0.13 | 0.26 |
| Diamondbacks | 213-192 | -0.05 | 171-232 | -0.52 | 0.24 |
| Twins | 222-184 | 0.33 | 199-208 | -0.08 | 0.21 |
| Blue Jays | 212-191 | -0.05 | 167-237 | -0.33 | 0.14 |
| Astros | 226-211 | -0.13 | 188-243 | -0.40 | 0.14 |
| Cardinals | 264-172 | 0.68 | 224-214 | 0.47 | 0.11 |
| Dodgers | 230-173 | 0.51 | 214-191 | 0.30 | 0.11 |
| Padres | 215-190 | -0.04 | 174-230 | -0.21 | 0.09 |
| Tigers | 227-179 | 0.46 | 206-199 | 0.30 | 0.08 |
| Orioles | 193-211 | -0.40 | 169-236 | -0.54 | 0.07 |
| Red Sox | 223-180 | 0.49 | 204-201 | 0.36 | 0.07 |
| Indians | 217-189 | 0.11 | 191-212 | 0.00 | 0.06 |
| Giants | 227-175 | 0.20 | 201-204 | 0.15 | 0.03 |
| Cubs | 227-218 | 0.13 | 205-234 | 0.08 | 0.03 |
| Phillies | 220-186 | 0.34 | 216-187 | 0.32 | 0.01 |
| Marlins | 203-200 | -0.32 | 178-224 | -0.33 | 0.01 |
| White Sox | 212-195 | 0.00 | 197-207 | 0.03 | -0.02 |
| Braves | 232-172 | 0.59 | 213-190 | 0.62 | -0.02 |
| Reds | 240-195 | -0.03 | 210-234 | 0.07 | -0.05 |
| Rangers | 189-145 | 0.30 | 168-164 | 0.40 | -0.05 |
| Nationals | 190-210 | -0.53 | 182-224 | -0.40 | -0.07 |
| Athletics | 173-159 | 0.14 | 168-165 | 0.31 | -0.09 |
| Mariners | 150-180 | -0.75 | 135-199 | -0.48 | -0.14 |
| Royals | 184-217 | -0.76 | 171-236 | -0.39 | -0.19 |
| Angels | 185-149 | 0.05 | 178-153 | 0.47 | -0.21 |
| Mets | 186-218 | -0.39 | 197-206 | 0.09 | -0.24 |
Other Handicapping Essentials
- How to Bet on MLB
- Baseball Stats Used for Handicapping
- Common Mistakes Bettors Make
- Betting on Baseball Series
- Common Numbers For Baseball Totals
- Best Baseball Handicappers
- Dime Line Sportsbooks
- What MLB Run Line Betting Is
More Sports
