Maybe Kyle Hendricks isn't a fan of piggyback rides. Who knows?
As requested in yesterday's comments, I'll be making the Player of the Game poll an official part of Heroes & Goats from now on when the Cubs win, so make sure to vote. I'm also looking for suggestions for a name for the "non-Player of the Game" in losses, so if you have something creative for a name, feel free to leave it in the comments.
Graphs for Game 40 (courtesy of Fangraphs):
Stats for Game 40:
Pitcher |
IP |
H |
HR |
ER |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
K Hendricks |
9 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
0.81 |
.376 |
Total |
9 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
0.81 |
.376 |
Batter |
AB |
R |
H |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
K Bryant |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0.87 |
.153 |
A Russell |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0.39 |
.050 |
D Fowler |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0.61 |
.027 |
C Coghlan |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.37 |
.025 |
S Castro |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.28 |
.011 |
M Montero |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.41 |
-.015 |
A Rizzo |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.39 |
-.035 |
K Hendricks |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.39 |
-.043 |
J Soler |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.48 |
-.047 |
Total |
34 |
3 |
7 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
0.47 |
.124 |
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 - Kyle Hendricks (.376). By just about any metric, it was the best start of his career. The only major career high he didn't break was strikeouts in a single game; he struck out eight in a start on April 18.
- Hero - Kris Bryant (.153). Is 27 RBI in 32 games any good? I'm pretty sure it is.
- Sidekick - Addison Russell (.050). He might also lead the team in accidental bat tosses.
THE THREE GOATS:
It's been a while since there was a bump on the Goat podium. Thursday night's game makes the 13th this season in 40 games in which a pitcher's hitting was moved out, still all from the Goats. Two players move up a step with Hendricks' -.043 hitting not counted.
- Billy Goat - Jorge Soler (-.047). Takes the dubious honor of leading the Goat chart ahead of Starlin Castro and Chris Coghlan.
- Goat - Anthony Rizzo (-.035). Cue the scary music: His OBP is down to a pedestrian .449.
- Kid - Miguel Montero (-.015). Seriously, I'm beginning to wonder about post-Welington Castillo depression with him. (Okay, maybe not seriously.)
RANKINGS THROUGH GAME 40 ("x" indicates player not on active roster):
The top three players on the plus/minus chart all appear on the podium Thursday night, while Soler takes another perilous step toward the cellar door.
Heroes |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Anthony Rizzo |
5 |
9 |
1 |
34 |
Dexter Fowler |
6 |
2 |
4 |
26 |
Kris Bryant |
3 |
5 |
3 |
22 |
Miguel Montero |
4.5 |
2.5 |
0 |
18.5 |
Starlin Castro |
2 |
3 |
4 |
16 |
Jake Arrieta |
3.5 |
1.5 |
0 |
13.5 |
Hector Rondon |
0 |
4 |
3.5 |
11.5 |
Jorge Soler |
2 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
Jason Hammel |
2 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
Zac Rosscup |
2 |
0 |
3 |
9 |
Addison Russell |
1 |
1 |
4 |
9 |
Jonathan Herrera |
1 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
Kyle Hendricks |
2 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
Jon Lester |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
Chris Coghlan |
1 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
Travis Wood |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
James Russell |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
x-Phil Coke |
1 |
0 |
0.5 |
3.5 |
Pedro Strop |
0 |
0 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
x-Matt Szczur |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
x-Brian Schlitter |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
x-Chris Denorfia |
0 |
0 |
2.5 |
2.5 |
x-Welington Castillo |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
x-Arismendy Alcantara |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Junior Lake |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Jason Motte |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
David Ross |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Justin Grimm |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Goats |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Jorge Soler |
3 |
5 |
4 |
23 |
Starlin Castro |
4 |
2 |
5 |
21 |
Chris Coghlan |
2 |
5 |
5 |
21 |
Dexter Fowler |
3 |
4 |
2 |
19 |
Anthony Rizzo |
1 |
4 |
1 |
12 |
Zac Rosscup |
3 |
1 |
0 |
11 |
x-Brian Schlitter |
3 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
Addison Russell |
0 |
4 |
2 |
10 |
Kris Bryant |
1 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
Miguel Montero |
1 |
1 |
4 |
9 |
Edwin Jackson |
2 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
Pedro Strop |
2 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
Jon Lester |
2 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
Travis Wood |
2 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
Jason Motte |
1 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
x-Welington Castillo |
1 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
Jake Arrieta |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
Hector Rondon |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
David Ross |
0 |
2 |
2 |
6 |
Jason Hammel |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
Kyle Hendricks |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
x-Mike Olt |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
x-Matt Szczur |
0 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
x-Gonzalez Germen |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
x-Phil Coke |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
James Russell |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Jonathan Herrera |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Justin Grimm |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
x-Arismendy Alcantara |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
x-Neil Ramirez |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Overall |
Hero |
Goat |
+/- |
Anthony Rizzo |
34 |
12 |
22 |
Kris Bryant |
22 |
9 |
13 |
Miguel Montero |
18.5 |
9 |
9.5 |
Jake Arrieta |
13.5 |
6 |
7.5 |
Dexter Fowler |
26 |
19 |
7 |
Jonathan Herrera |
8 |
1 |
7 |
Hector Rondon |
11.5 |
6 |
5.5 |
Jason Hammel |
10 |
5 |
5 |
x-Chris Denorfia |
2.5 |
0 |
2.5 |
Kyle Hendricks |
7 |
5 |
2 |
James Russell |
4 |
2 |
2 |
Junior Lake |
2 |
0 |
2 |
x-Arismendy Alcantara |
2 |
1 |
1 |
x-Phil Coke |
3.5 |
3 |
0.5 |
Justin Grimm |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Addison Russell |
9 |
10 |
-1 |
Jon Lester |
6 |
7 |
-1 |
x-Matt Szczur |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
x-Neil Ramirez |
0 |
1 |
-1 |
Zac Rosscup |
9 |
11 |
-2 |
Travis Wood |
4 |
7 |
-3 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
0 |
3 |
-3 |
x-Gonzalez Germen |
0 |
3 |
-3 |
x-Mike Olt |
0 |
4 |
-4 |
Pedro Strop |
3.5 |
8 |
-4.5 |
Starlin Castro |
16 |
21 |
-5 |
x-Welington Castillo |
2 |
7 |
-5 |
Jason Motte |
2 |
7 |
-5 |
David Ross |
1 |
6 |
-5 |
x-Brian Schlitter |
3 |
10 |
-7 |
Edwin Jackson |
0 |
8 |
-8 |
Jorge Soler |
11 |
23 |
-12 |
Chris Coghlan |
5 |
21 |
-16 |