And just how good has the Cubs' bullpen been recently? Not including Tuesday night, the pen's ERA of 1.78 and WHIP of 0.90 in the last 30 days are the best in baseball.
Graphs for Game 131 (courtesy of Fangraphs):
Stats for Game 131:
Pitcher |
IP |
H |
HR |
ER |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
T Wood |
6 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
0.93 |
.372 |
N Ramirez |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0.62 |
.046 |
P Strop |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0.82 |
.042 |
H Rondon |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.44 |
.033 |
Total |
9 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
9 |
0.84 |
.492 |
Batter |
AB |
R |
H |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
A Alcantara |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0.93 |
.111 |
M Szczur |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0.69 |
.065 |
A Rizzo |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0.76 |
.050 |
C Coghlan |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0.76 |
.019 |
S Castro |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.5 |
.011 |
C Valaika |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.08 |
-.002 |
R Sweeney |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.8 |
-.019 |
T Wood |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.63 |
-.035 |
W Castillo |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0.49 |
-.046 |
J Baez |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0.78 |
-.071 |
L Valbuena |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.8 |
-.075 |
Total |
35 |
3 |
8 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
13 |
0.7 |
.008 |
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:
- Superhero - Travis Wood (.372). His Game Score of 72 for Tuesday night is also his best in over two months, falling just short of the 79 he posted against Philadelphia on June 15.
- Hero - Arismendy Alcantara (.111). Well, I guess if you're going to protect on a hit-and-run by swinging at a pitch at eye-level, might as well knock it out of the park while you're at it.
- Sidekick - Matt Szczur (.065). Gets the table-setter podium spot for leading off two innings by getting on base.
THE THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat - Luis Valbuena (-.075). Couldn't convert in two chances with runners on, including one chance with runners at the corners.
- Goat - Javier Baez (-.071). He already had the record for most Golden Sombreros at the beginning of a career; now he's just adding on.
- Kid - Welington Castillo (-.049). Couldn't keep up with Baez, but had three whiffs of his own.
UPDATED RANKINGS THROUGH GAME 131 (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 |
15 |
11 |
10 |
77 |
Starlin Castro |
14.5 |
8.5 |
8.5 |
69 |
Luis Valbuena |
12 |
10 |
6 |
62 |
Welington Castillo |
9 |
5.5 |
4.5 |
42.5 |
Justin Ruggiano |
6.5 |
9.5 |
3 |
41.5 |
Jake Arrieta |
8 |
4 |
1 |
33 |
Chris Coghlan |
7 |
5 |
1 |
32 |
z-Jason Hammel |
5 |
4 |
5 |
28 |
Travis Wood |
6 |
4 |
1 |
27 |
z-Nate Schierholtz |
4 |
6 |
3 |
27 |
Ryan Sweeney |
2 |
6 |
6.5 |
24.5 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
6 |
2 |
2 |
24 |
z-Emilio Bonifacio |
1 |
9 |
1 |
22 |
x-Mike Olt |
3 |
3 |
6 |
21 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
3 |
4 |
2 |
19 |
x-Junior Lake |
3 |
3 |
4 |
19 |
x-Brian Schlitter |
1 |
4.5 |
7 |
19 |
z-Darwin Barney |
3.5 |
2.5 |
1 |
16.5 |
x-Edwin Jackson |
4 |
1 |
2 |
16 |
Pedro Strop |
1 |
3 |
7 |
16 |
Kyle Hendricks |
4 |
1.5 |
0.5 |
15.5 |
Hector Rondon |
0 |
1 |
12.5 |
14.5 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
4 |
1 |
0 |
14 |
John Baker |
1 |
4 |
3 |
14 |
Justin Grimm |
0 |
3 |
6 |
12 |
Wesley Wright |
0.5 |
3.5 |
3 |
11.5 |
Carlos Villanueva |
0 |
3 |
5 |
11 |
y-Ryan Kalish |
3 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
z-James Russell |
0 |
2 |
6 |
10 |
Neil Ramirez |
0 |
0.5 |
5.5 |
6.5 |
Chris Valaika |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
Javier Baez |
0 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
Zac Rosscup |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
x-Chris Rusin |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Matt Szczur |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
x-Blake Parker |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
Jacob Turner |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Kyuji Fujikawa |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
x-Logan Watkins |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Goats |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
z-Nate Schierholtz |
8 |
12 |
7 |
55 |
Luis Valbuena |
8 |
8.5 |
11.5 |
52.5 |
Starlin Castro |
5 |
10.5 |
14 |
50 |
x-Edwin Jackson |
12 |
3 |
1 |
43 |
Travis Wood |
10 |
5 |
2 |
42 |
x-Junior Lake |
6 |
6 |
8 |
38 |
Welington Castillo |
3 |
9.5 |
9 |
37 |
Anthony Rizzo |
2 |
11 |
8 |
36 |
Chris Coghlan |
5 |
5 |
6 |
31 |
x-Mike Olt |
5 |
3 |
6 |
27 |
Justin Ruggiano |
2 |
7 |
6 |
26 |
z-Emilio Bonifacio |
1 |
9 |
4 |
25 |
Justin Grimm |
7 |
0.5 |
2.5 |
24.5 |
z-Jason Hammel |
7 |
1 |
0 |
23 |
Hector Rondon |
6 |
2 |
1 |
23 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
2 |
6 |
3 |
21 |
Carlos Villanueva |
5 |
1 |
3 |
20 |
z-James Russell |
3 |
3 |
5 |
20 |
Ryan Sweeney |
3 |
3 |
3.5 |
18.5 |
Pedro Strop |
3 |
3 |
1 |
16 |
John Baker |
3 |
1 |
5 |
16 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
4 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
z-Darwin Barney |
0 |
6 |
3 |
15 |
Wesley Wright |
3 |
1 |
3 |
14 |
x-Brian Schlitter |
2 |
3 |
1 |
13 |
Jake Arrieta |
3 |
0 |
3 |
12 |
Javier Baez |
2 |
2 |
2 |
12 |
z-Jose Veras |
2 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
y-Ryan Kalish |
1 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
Kyle Hendricks |
1 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
Neil Ramirez |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
y-Eli Whiteside |
1 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
x-Blake Parker |
1 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
x-Dan Straily |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Chris Valaika |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Matt Szczur |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
x-Chris Rusin |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
x-Logan Watkins |
0 |
0 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
Overall |
Hero |
Goat |
+/- |
Anthony Rizzo |
77 |
36 |
41 |
Jake Arrieta |
33 |
12 |
21 |
Starlin Castro |
69 |
50 |
19 |
Justin Ruggiano |
41.5 |
26 |
15.5 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
14 |
3 |
11 |
Luis Valbuena |
62 |
52.5 |
9.5 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
24 |
15 |
9 |
Kyle Hendricks |
15.5 |
9 |
6.5 |
Ryan Sweeney |
24.5 |
18.5 |
6 |
x-Brian Schlitter |
19 |
13 |
6 |
Welington Castillo |
42.5 |
37 |
5.5 |
z-Jason Hammel |
28 |
23 |
5 |
Chris Valaika |
6 |
2 |
4 |
Zac Rosscup |
4 |
0 |
4 |
Jacob Turner |
2 |
0 |
2 |
z-Darwin Barney |
16.5 |
15 |
1.5 |
Chris Coghlan |
32 |
31 |
1 |
y-Ryan Kalish |
10 |
9 |
1 |
x-Chris Rusin |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Matt Szczur |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Kyuji Fujikawa |
1 |
0 |
1 |
Neil Ramirez |
6.5 |
6 |
0.5 |
x-Logan Watkins |
1 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
Pedro Strop |
16 |
16 |
0 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
19 |
21 |
-2 |
John Baker |
14 |
16 |
-2 |
x-Blake Parker |
3 |
5 |
-2 |
Wesley Wright |
11.5 |
14 |
-2.5 |
z-Emilio Bonifacio |
22 |
25 |
-3 |
x-Dan Straily |
0 |
3 |
-3 |
x-Mike Olt |
21 |
27 |
-6 |
y-Eli Whiteside |
0 |
6 |
-6 |
Javier Baez |
5 |
12 |
-7 |
Hector Rondon |
14.5 |
23 |
-8.5 |
Carlos Villanueva |
11 |
20 |
-9 |
z-Jose Veras |
0 |
9 |
-9 |
z-James Russell |
10 |
20 |
-10 |
Justin Grimm |
12 |
24.5 |
-12.5 |
Travis Wood |
27 |
42 |
-15 |
x-Junior Lake |
19 |
38 |
-19 |
x-Edwin Jackson |
16 |
43 |
-27 |
z-Nate Schierholtz |
27 |
55 |
-28 |
Wood pulls himself away from the depths of the plus/minus cellar, while Valbuena reaches striking distance of passing Nate Schierholtz for the overall Goat lead.