I must admit that when the calendar turns to September my ability to watch Cub games diminishes greatly, but not because of other professional sports. Between high school football, marching band competitions, town parades and music practices there's hardly time for much else. Maybe this is why the fall is always a blur for me...
A quick recap of the Friday and Saturday games:
Game 154 (Friday - Dodgers 14, Cubs 5):
Superhero - Chris Valaika (.049). Had a couple of hits early while the game was still somewhat close, with a loose definition of "somewhat" being applied.
Billy Goat - Edwin Jackson (-.326). The only logical explanation I can come up with for Jackson making this start was to see if someone could unseat Nate Schierholtz from the bottom of the plus/minus chart. The evil plan worked.
Game 155 (Saturday - Cubs 8, Dodgers 7):
Superhero - Chris Coghlan (.750). The game of his career, basically. The next closest Superhero performance for the Cubs this year was from Arismendy Alcantara on July 10, and Coghlan's previous best from April 25, 2011 was completely blown away. And he wasn't even the Superhero in that game.
Billy Goat - Felix Doubront (-.433). There was a bit of a pattern to the Billy Goats this past weekend.
And as for Sunday:
Graphs for Game 156 (courtesy of Fangraphs):
Stats for Game 156:
Pitcher |
IP |
H |
HR |
ER |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
D Straily |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0.25 |
.014 |
B Schlitter |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0.33 |
-.032 |
K Fujikawa |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.71 |
-.058 |
Z Rosscup |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1.06 |
-.085 |
J Turner |
5 |
8 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
0.82 |
-.301 |
Total |
9 |
16 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
6 |
0.72 |
-.462 |
Batter |
AB |
R |
H |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
C Coghlan |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1.12 |
.180 |
L Valbuena |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1.2 |
.165 |
R Lopez |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0.87 |
.045 |
J Turner |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.83 |
.003 |
L Watkins |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.94 |
-.023 |
A Alcantara |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1.4 |
-.028 |
A Rizzo |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1.65 |
-.033 |
R Kalish |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.99 |
-.050 |
M Szczur |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1.21 |
-.059 |
W Castillo |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1.47 |
-.066 |
J Baez |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1.58 |
-.084 |
C Valaika |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1.21 |
-.086 |
Total |
35 |
5 |
8 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
13 |
1.31 |
-.038 |
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 - Chris Coghlan (.180). What better way to follow up the best WPA game of your career than to take the top spot on the podium a second day in a row.
- Hero - Luis Valbuena (.165). Was in line for the top spot until his game-ending whiff with runners on second and third.
- Sidekick - Rafael Lopez (.045). With six games left in the season, all of the position players on the active roster have now made the podium at least once.
THE THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat - Jacob Turner (-.301). Yup, the starting pitchers swept the Billy Goats over the weekend.
- Goat - Chris Valaika (-.086). Had a couple of big strikeouts with runners on early.
- Kid - Zac Rosscup (-.085). And finally, the man with the 10.22 ERA finds the Goat podium after escaping it all season.
UPDATED RANKINGS THROUGH GAME 156 (Changes in Bold, Notations Below):
x - Player not on active roster.
y - Player not on 40-man roster.
z - Player no longer with Cubs.
Heroes |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Anthony Rizzo |
16 |
11 |
10 |
80 |
Luis Valbuena |
13 |
13 |
8 |
73 |
Starlin Castro |
14.5 |
10 |
9 |
72.5 |
Welington Castillo |
10 |
8.5 |
5.5 |
52.5 |
Chris Coghlan |
9 |
9 |
4 |
49 |
Jake Arrieta |
11 |
4 |
1 |
42 |
y-Justin Ruggiano |
6.5 |
9.5 |
3 |
41.5 |
Travis Wood |
6 |
6 |
1 |
31 |
z-Jason Hammel |
5 |
4 |
5 |
28 |
z-Nate Schierholtz |
4 |
6 |
3 |
27 |
Mike Olt |
4 |
3 |
8 |
26 |
y-Ryan Sweeney |
2 |
6 |
6.5 |
24.5 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
6 |
2 |
2 |
24 |
Junior Lake |
4 |
3 |
4 |
22 |
z-Emilio Bonifacio |
1 |
9 |
1 |
22 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
3 |
5 |
2 |
21 |
Jorge Soler |
5 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
19.5 |
Brian Schlitter |
1 |
4.5 |
7.5 |
19.5 |
Kyle Hendricks |
5 |
1.5 |
0.5 |
18.5 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
5 |
1 |
0 |
17 |
Pedro Strop |
1 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
Hector Rondon |
0 |
1 |
15 |
17 |
z-Darwin Barney |
3.5 |
2.5 |
1 |
16.5 |
Edwin Jackson |
4 |
1 |
2 |
16 |
Chris Valaika |
5 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
Ryan Kalish |
4 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
Justin Grimm |
0 |
4 |
7 |
15 |
John Baker |
1 |
4 |
3 |
14 |
Wesley Wright |
0.5 |
4 |
3.5 |
13 |
Javier Baez |
0 |
5 |
3 |
13 |
Carlos Villanueva |
0 |
3 |
5 |
11 |
z-James Russell |
0 |
2 |
6 |
10 |
Matt Szczur |
1 |
2.5 |
1.5 |
9.5 |
Neil Ramirez |
0 |
0.5 |
6.5 |
7.5 |
Zac Rosscup |
0 |
3 |
0.5 |
6.5 |
Felix Doubront |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
Jacob Turner |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
Kyuji Fujikawa |
0 |
1 |
1.5 |
3.5 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
x-Chris Rusin |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Blake Parker |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
Logan Watkins |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
Dan Straily |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Eric Jokisch |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Rafael Lopez |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Goats |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Luis Valbuena |
8 |
10 |
13 |
57 |
z-Nate Schierholtz |
8 |
12 |
7 |
55 |
Welington Castillo |
4 |
15.5 |
9 |
52 |
Starlin Castro |
5 |
10.5 |
15 |
51 |
Edwin Jackson |
13 |
3 |
1 |
46 |
Travis Wood |
11 |
5 |
2 |
45 |
Junior Lake |
6 |
6.5 |
8.5 |
39.5 |
Chris Coghlan |
7 |
5 |
7 |
38 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
4 |
9.5 |
5.5 |
36.5 |
Anthony Rizzo |
2 |
11 |
8 |
36 |
Mike Olt |
6 |
4 |
6 |
32 |
Justin Grimm |
7 |
1.5 |
2.5 |
26.5 |
y-Justin Ruggiano |
2 |
7 |
6 |
26 |
z-Emilio Bonifacio |
1 |
9 |
4 |
25 |
Javier Baez |
5 |
2.5 |
4.5 |
24.5 |
Carlos Villanueva |
6 |
1 |
4 |
24 |
z-Jason Hammel |
7 |
1 |
0 |
23 |
Hector Rondon |
6 |
2 |
1 |
23 |
John Baker |
4 |
2 |
5 |
21 |
z-James Russell |
3 |
3 |
5 |
20 |
y-Ryan Sweeney |
3 |
3 |
3.5 |
18.5 |
Pedro Strop |
3 |
4 |
1 |
18 |
Wesley Wright |
4 |
1 |
3 |
17 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
4 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
Jake Arrieta |
4 |
0 |
3 |
15 |
z-Darwin Barney |
0 |
6 |
3 |
15 |
Brian Schlitter |
2 |
3 |
2 |
14 |
Kyle Hendricks |
1 |
3 |
4 |
13 |
Neil Ramirez |
4 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
Jacob Turner |
4 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
Chris Valaika |
1 |
4 |
1 |
12 |
Ryan Kalish |
1 |
2 |
2.5 |
9.5 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
3 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
z-Jose Veras |
2 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
Blake Parker |
1 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
y-Eli Whiteside |
1 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
Matt Szczur |
0 |
2 |
2 |
6 |
Dan Straily |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
Felix Doubront |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
Logan Watkins |
0 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
Jorge Soler |
0 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
Eric Jokisch |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
x-Chris Rusin |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Zac Rosscup |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Overall |
Hero |
Goat |
+/- |
Anthony Rizzo |
80 |
36 |
44 |
Jake Arrieta |
42 |
15 |
27 |
Starlin Castro |
72.5 |
51 |
21.5 |
Luis Valbuena |
73 |
57 |
16 |
y-Justin Ruggiano |
41.5 |
26 |
15.5 |
Jorge Soler |
19.5 |
4 |
15.5 |
Chris Coghlan |
49 |
38 |
11 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
24 |
15 |
9 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
17 |
9 |
8 |
y-Ryan Sweeney |
24.5 |
18.5 |
6 |
Brian Schlitter |
19.5 |
14 |
5.5 |
Kyle Hendricks |
18.5 |
13 |
5.5 |
Ryan Kalish |
15 |
9.5 |
5.5 |
Zac Rosscup |
6.5 |
1 |
5.5 |
z-Jason Hammel |
28 |
23 |
5 |
Matt Szczur |
9.5 |
6 |
3.5 |
Kyuji Fujikawa |
3.5 |
0 |
3.5 |
Chris Valaika |
15 |
12 |
3 |
Felix Doubront |
6 |
4 |
2 |
z-Darwin Barney |
16.5 |
15 |
1.5 |
x-Chris Rusin |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Rafael Lopez |
1 |
0 |
1 |
Welington Castillo |
52.5 |
52 |
0.5 |
Pedro Strop |
17 |
18 |
-1 |
Logan Watkins |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
Eric Jokisch |
1 |
3 |
-2 |
z-Emilio Bonifacio |
22 |
25 |
-3 |
Wesley Wright |
13 |
17 |
-4 |
Blake Parker |
3 |
7 |
-4 |
Dan Straily |
1 |
5 |
-4 |
Neil Ramirez |
7.5 |
12 |
-4.5 |
Mike Olt |
26 |
32 |
-6 |
Hector Rondon |
17 |
23 |
-6 |
y-Eli Whiteside |
0 |
6 |
-6 |
John Baker |
14 |
21 |
-7 |
Jacob Turner |
5 |
12 |
-7 |
z-Jose Veras |
0 |
9 |
-9 |
z-James Russell |
10 |
20 |
-10 |
Justin Grimm |
15 |
26.5 |
-11.5 |
Javier Baez |
13 |
24.5 |
-11.5 |
Carlos Villanueva |
11 |
24 |
-13 |
Travis Wood |
31 |
45 |
-14 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
21 |
36.5 |
-15.5 |
Junior Lake |
22 |
39.5 |
-17.5 |
z-Nate Schierholtz |
27 |
55 |
-28 |
Edwin Jackson |
16 |
46 |
-30 |
Coghlan rides back-to-back Superhero awards to a double-digit positive on the plus/minus chart, while Jackson becomes the only Cub to hit the minus-30 mark this season.