Lost in the six-hour-plus marathon on Tuesday night was the start by Edwin Jackson, who pitched only four innings and threw 105 pitches. Just how rare was his performance? The only other Cub on record (since pitch counts started being tracked in 1988 on Baseball Reference) to throw 105 pitches or more and not start the fifth inning was Kerry Wood on May 13, 2001. And believe it or not, this isn't the first time that Jackson has thrown 105 pitches or more and didn't come back to start the fifth. So take a bow, sir. This golf clap is for you.
And although he won't show up on either podium: John Baker. The new Joe Mather.
Graphs for Game 105 (courtesy of Fangraphs):
Stats for Game 105:
Pitcher |
IP |
H |
HR |
ER |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
P Strop |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2.07 |
.267 |
J Russell |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2.34 |
.267 |
B Parker |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2.73 |
.267 |
C Villanueva |
2.2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1.18 |
.206 |
B Schlitter |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1.91 |
.134 |
J Baker |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2.36 |
.134 |
J Grimm |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1.39 |
.104 |
W Wright |
0.1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1.85 |
.020 |
E Jackson |
4 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
0.79 |
-.132 |
Total |
16 |
9 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
18 |
1.58 |
1.268 |
Batter |
AB |
R |
H |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
E Bonifacio |
7 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
2.04 |
.119 |
J Baker |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2.24 |
.074 |
L Valbuena |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2.79 |
.071 |
C Coghlan |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.76 |
.054 |
A Rizzo |
7 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2.38 |
.026 |
A Alcantara |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1.85 |
.022 |
J Lake |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1.3 |
.006 |
C Villanueva |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.67 |
-.017 |
E Jackson |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.29 |
-.021 |
S Castro |
7 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2.3 |
-.022 |
T Wood |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.52 |
-.036 |
R Sweeney |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.76 |
-.043 |
J Arrieta |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4.31 |
-.095 |
W Castillo |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1.8 |
-.201 |
J Ruggiano |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1.86 |
-.273 |
N Schierholtz |
7 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2.31 |
-.432 |
Total |
54 |
3 |
12 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
14 |
2.06 |
-.768 |
Writer's Note: The daily selections of the three Heroes and three Goats are based solely on the top three and bottom three WPA scores for the game. The selections are not based on my subjective opinion.
THE THREE HEROES: This is a first. A three-way tie at the top of the Hero podium. I could give a third of a share to each player, but I'm going to pull executive decision and assign podium spots based on who got themselves in the least amount of trouble.
- Superhero - Pedro Strop (.267). He deserves the top spot anyway, in my opinion. Third night in a row pitching, wasn't expected to come in at all and put in two strong innings. Oh, and he almost walked LaTroy Hawkins.
- Hero - James Russell (.267). Struck out three in his two innings of work and navigated around a leadoff single in the 13th.
- Sidekick - Blake Parker (.267). Man, did he ever get lucky with that blown suicide squeeze in the tenth.
THE THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat - Nate Schierholtz (-.432). I was still watching when he made his seventh out of the night in the 15th. By that point, I really wanted to cry. That or throw my keyboard.
- Goat - Justin Ruggiano (-.273). It took seven plate appearances, but he finally recorded the Golden Sombrero.
- Kid - Welington Castillo (-.201). He's looking long and hard at the Hero podium and thinking about how he got robbed twice by Charlie Blackmon.
UPDATED RANKINGS THROUGH GAME 105 (Changes in Bold, Notations Below):
x - Player not on 25-man roster.
y - Player not on 40-man roster.
z - Player no longer with Cubs.
Heroes |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Anthony Rizzo |
14 |
9 |
8 |
68 |
Starlin Castro |
13.5 |
7.5 |
6.5 |
62 |
Luis Valbuena |
11 |
8 |
4 |
53 |
Justin Ruggiano |
5.5 |
7.5 |
3 |
34.5 |
Welington Castillo |
7 |
4 |
3 |
32 |
z-Jason Hammel |
5 |
4 |
5 |
28 |
Nate Schierholtz |
4 |
6 |
3 |
27 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
6 |
2 |
2 |
24 |
Jake Arrieta |
5 |
3 |
1 |
22 |
Emilio Bonifacio |
1 |
9 |
1 |
22 |
Travis Wood |
4 |
4 |
1 |
21 |
x-Mike Olt |
3 |
3 |
6 |
21 |
Chris Coghlan |
3 |
5 |
1 |
20 |
Junior Lake |
3 |
3 |
4 |
19 |
Brian Schlitter |
1 |
4.5 |
6 |
18 |
z-Darwin Barney |
3.5 |
2.5 |
1 |
16.5 |
John Baker |
1 |
4 |
3 |
14 |
Edwin Jackson |
4 |
0 |
1 |
13 |
Ryan Sweeney |
0 |
4 |
4.5 |
12.5 |
Pedro Strop |
1 |
2 |
5 |
12 |
Hector Rondon |
0 |
1 |
8.5 |
10.5 |
x-Ryan Kalish |
3 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
2 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
James Russell |
0 |
2 |
6 |
10 |
Wesley Wright |
0.5 |
2.5 |
2 |
8.5 |
Carlos Villanueva |
0 |
2 |
4 |
8 |
x-Neil Ramirez |
0 |
0.5 |
5.5 |
6.5 |
Kyle Hendricks |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
Justin Grimm |
0 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
x-Zac Rosscup |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Blake Parker |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
Goats |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Nate Schierholtz |
6 |
11 |
7 |
47 |
Starlin Castro |
5 |
8.5 |
14 |
46 |
Luis Valbuena |
5 |
7.5 |
7.5 |
37.5 |
Travis Wood |
9 |
3 |
2 |
35 |
Edwin Jackson |
9 |
3 |
1 |
34 |
Junior Lake |
5 |
6 |
6 |
33 |
Anthony Rizzo |
2 |
9 |
6 |
30 |
Welington Castillo |
2 |
7.5 |
6.5 |
27.5 |
x-Mike Olt |
5 |
3 |
6 |
27 |
Emilio Bonifacio |
1 |
9 |
4 |
25 |
Justin Grimm |
7 |
0.5 |
2.5 |
24.5 |
z-Jason Hammel |
7 |
1 |
0 |
23 |
Carlos Villanueva |
5 |
1 |
3 |
20 |
James Russell |
3 |
3 |
5 |
20 |
Justin Ruggiano |
2 |
6 |
2 |
20 |
Hector Rondon |
5 |
1 |
1 |
18 |
Chris Coghlan |
3 |
2 |
4 |
17 |
Ryan Sweeney |
3 |
3 |
1.5 |
16.5 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
4 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
z-Darwin Barney |
0 |
6 |
3 |
15 |
Brian Schlitter |
2 |
3 |
1 |
13 |
John Baker |
2 |
1 |
4 |
12 |
Pedro Strop |
2 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
Wesley Wright |
2 |
1 |
3 |
11 |
z-Jose Veras |
2 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
Jake Arrieta |
2 |
0 |
3 |
9 |
x-Ryan Kalish |
1 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
y-Eli Whiteside |
1 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
x-Neil Ramirez |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
Kyle Hendricks |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
x-Chris Rusin |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Blake Parker |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Overall |
Hero |
Goat |
+/- |
Anthony Rizzo |
68 |
30 |
38 |
Starlin Castro |
62 |
46 |
16 |
Luis Valbuena |
53 |
37.5 |
15.5 |
Justin Ruggiano |
34.5 |
20 |
14.5 |
Jake Arrieta |
22 |
9 |
13 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
24 |
15 |
9 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
10 |
3 |
7 |
z-Jason Hammel |
28 |
23 |
5 |
Brian Schlitter |
18 |
13 |
5 |
Welington Castillo |
32 |
27.5 |
4.5 |
x-Zac Rosscup |
4 |
0 |
4 |
x-Neil Ramirez |
6.5 |
3 |
3.5 |
Chris Coghlan |
20 |
17 |
3 |
Kyle Hendricks |
6 |
3 |
3 |
John Baker |
14 |
12 |
2 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
5 |
3 |
2 |
Blake Parker |
3 |
1 |
2 |
z-Darwin Barney |
16.5 |
15 |
1.5 |
Pedro Strop |
12 |
11 |
1 |
x-Ryan Kalish |
10 |
9 |
1 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
x-Chris Rusin |
0 |
2 |
-2 |
Wesley Wright |
8.5 |
11 |
-2.5 |
Emilio Bonifacio |
22 |
25 |
-3 |
Ryan Sweeney |
12.5 |
16.5 |
-4 |
x-Mike Olt |
21 |
27 |
-6 |
y-Eli Whiteside |
0 |
6 |
-6 |
Hector Rondon |
10.5 |
18 |
-7.5 |
z-Jose Veras |
0 |
9 |
-9 |
James Russell |
10 |
20 |
-10 |
Carlos Villanueva |
8 |
20 |
-12 |
Travis Wood |
21 |
35 |
-14 |
Junior Lake |
19 |
33 |
-14 |
Justin Grimm |
6 |
24.5 |
-18.5 |
Nate Schierholtz |
27 |
47 |
-20 |
Edwin Jackson |
13 |
34 |
-21 |
The back end of the bullpen sweeps the Hero podium, while Schierholtz returns to his old ways with the Goats on a historic night at Wrigley Field.