Home Field advantage?

The 2025 season has ended. Award winners have been announced. In the meantime, I’m still watching some highlights of this postseason. While watching highlights, I began to think about a question.

 

The Dodgers won the 2025 World Series. However, did they play well at Dodger stadium in October? To solve my doubt, I decided to check on the MLB website.

 

In the 2025 postseason, the Dodgers played 9 games at Dodger stadium. They got 6 wins and took 3 losses. At home, they owned a 3.13 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP over 92 innings. Looking at hitting performance, the Dodgers slashed .248/.325/.421 with 14 home runs and 36 RBI. Their OPS was .746 in home games this postseason.

 

Now, let’s shift our focus on the away games. The Dodgers played 8 away games this postseason. They hit .215/.314/.378 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI. Their OPS was .692 in away games. Well, it seems that the Dodgers hitters didn’t hit well in away games. Nonetheless, they actually only lost once in away games. The Dodgers pitching staff owned a 3.08 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP over 73 innings. The good pitching performance did help them win several games when they were away.

 

In addition, the Dodgers won the Fall Classic in 2024. So, let’s review their performance in 2024 as well. In the 2024 postseason, the Dodgers took 5 wins and got 3 losses in away games. In those 8 games, their pitching staff owned a 5.09 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP over 69 innings. At the same time, the Dodgers hitters slashed .240/.345/.441 with 16 home runs and 51 RBI. Their OPS was .786 in away games in the 2024 postseason.

 

In home games, the Dodgers hitters hit .234/.323/.409 with 11 home runs and 40 RBI in 8 games in the 2024 postseason. Their OPS was below .750. Looking at the pitching performance, their pitching staff posted a 3.95 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP over 73 innings.

 

Taking a quick review of these 2 postseasons, in 2024, the Dodgers pitching staff did a better job at Dodger stadium than in away games. However, their offense seemed to be better in away games. This postseason, things have changed. The Dodgers batters actually did hit much better in home games than they did in away games. Their pitching performance was consistent, but looking at the numbers, it seemed that the numbers in away games are more impressive. So, does the home field advantage truly exist in the postseason? It might not be that easy to tell. With different opponents, it’s not easy to judge by a single factor. Nonetheless, a key thing worth watching is that their pitching performance at Dodger stadium was acceptable in these 2 postseasons. They each owned an ERA below 4 in the 2024 and 2025 postseason. At the same time, they each posted a WHIP below 1.30. Well, a WHIP of 1.30 is not so good, but at least it didn’t create huge concerns.