The Cubs' Road Run Differential is Truly Mind-Boggling

2019 has been a pretty funky season for the Cubs, and their home-road splits prove it. They're 41-19 at Wrigley this year but a paltry 25-39 on the road. No matter what they do, they just seem to struggle outside of Chicago.

But what's truly astounding is the fact that they've managed a run differential of just negative-five on the road despite losing so many games.

The offense produces at about the same level, averaging 4.8 runs per game on the road compared to 5.03 at home. The problem lies with the pitching, which has allowed 313 road runs, 86 more than they've cough up at home. They are a far cry from the plus-75 team that plays in the Windy City.

The Cubs' shaky bullpen has been a problem for the club all year long, and it continues to plague them on the road, causing them to lose tightly contested games.

Though the run differential is disappointing, it suggests that the Cubs have more or less played like a slightly below-.500 team on the road. However, the results have produced a .391 winning percentage.

It's normal to expect a team to play better at home than on the road, but seeing such a sharp difference in run differential and an even sharper difference in winning percentage is borderline unheard of.

Monday night's victory over the Pirates secured their first road series win since May, which is incredibly frightening for a team with World Series aspirations.

They turn into a completely different team away from Wrigley Field, and the fact that they do so could ultimately cost them down the stretch.