It would be easy to look at Monday night's loss, point over at Edwin Jackson and say "that guy," but it would be just as easy -- if not even easier -- for him to point right back at the offense for their putrid 2-for-15 performance with runners in scoring position. So for this game, we're going to change up the poll a little bit.
Graphs for Game 87 (courtesy of Fangraphs):
Stats for Game 87:
Pitcher |
IP |
H |
HR |
ER |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
B Parker |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0.11 |
-0.021 |
J Russell |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0.45 |
-0.138 |
E Jackson |
6 |
7 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
6 |
0.95 |
-0.240 |
Total |
8 |
10 |
1 |
9 |
5 |
7 |
0.74 |
-0.399 |
Batter |
AB |
R |
H |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
A Rizzo |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1.23 |
0.228 |
C Coghlan |
5 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.64 |
0.157 |
L Valbuena |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.24 |
0.035 |
R Sweeney |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.06 |
-0.001 |
J Lake |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.83 |
-0.020 |
N Schierholtz |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.42 |
-0.034 |
E Jackson |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0.97 |
-0.046 |
W Castillo |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1.35 |
-0.050 |
J Ruggiano |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0.9 |
-0.067 |
S Castro |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1.4 |
-0.068 |
D Barney |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.47 |
-0.234 |
Total |
37 |
3 |
11 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
1.12 |
-0.101 |
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 - Anthony Rizzo (.228). Got the Cubs temporarily back within striking distance with his two-run shot.
- Hero - Chris Coghlan (.157). His first four-hit game since September 9, 2013. It didn't do the Marlins much good that time, either.
- Sidekick - Luis Valbuena (.035). One of the only Cub starters to not make an out with a runner in scoring position.
THE THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat - Edwin Jackson (-.240). Stop me if you've heard this one before: Six innings, four runs!
- Goat - Darwin Barney (-.234). Part of the podium spot should probably go to Welington Castillo for getting thrown out at home on Barney's flyout in the sixth, but WPA is blind to such things.
- Kid - James Russell (-.138). The second consecutive outing in which he allowed a run after not allowing one in 14 straight appearances.
UPDATED RANKINGS THROUGH GAME 87 (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 |
Starlin Castro |
12.5 |
7.5 |
6.5 |
59 |
Anthony Rizzo |
11 |
7 |
8 |
55 |
Luis Valbuena |
9 |
7 |
3 |
44 |
z-Jason Hammel |
5 |
4 |
5 |
28 |
Welington Castillo |
6 |
3 |
3 |
27 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
6 |
2 |
2 |
24 |
Nate Schierholtz |
3 |
6 |
3 |
24 |
Justin Ruggiano |
3.5 |
5.5 |
2 |
23.5 |
Jake Arrieta |
5 |
3 |
0 |
21 |
Travis Wood |
4 |
4 |
1 |
21 |
Mike Olt |
3 |
3 |
5 |
20 |
x-Emilio Bonifacio |
1 |
7 |
1 |
18 |
Brian Schlitter |
1 |
4.5 |
5 |
17 |
Darwin Barney |
3.5 |
2.5 |
1 |
16.5 |
Junior Lake |
3 |
2 |
3 |
16 |
Edwin Jackson |
4 |
0 |
1 |
13 |
Chris Coghlan |
1 |
4 |
0 |
11 |
John Baker |
1 |
3 |
2 |
11 |
x-Ryan Kalish |
3 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
Hector Rondon |
0 |
1 |
7.5 |
9.5 |
Ryan Sweeney |
0 |
3 |
3 |
9 |
James Russell |
0 |
1 |
6 |
8 |
Wesley Wright |
0.5 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
6 |
Justin Grimm |
0 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
Pedro Strop |
0 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
Carlos Villanueva |
0 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
Neil Ramirez |
0 |
0.5 |
3.5 |
4.5 |
x-Zac Rosscup |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Blake Parker |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Goats |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Nate Schierholtz |
5 |
10 |
6 |
41 |
Starlin Castro |
4 |
5.5 |
12 |
35 |
Luis Valbuena |
4 |
6.5 |
6.5 |
31.5 |
Edwin Jackson |
7 |
3 |
1 |
28 |
Anthony Rizzo |
2 |
8 |
6 |
28 |
Junior Lake |
4 |
5 |
5 |
27 |
Mike Olt |
5 |
3 |
5 |
26 |
Justin Grimm |
7 |
0.5 |
1.5 |
23.5 |
z-Jason Hammel |
7 |
1 |
0 |
23 |
Travis Wood |
5 |
3 |
2 |
23 |
x-Emilio Bonifacio |
1 |
8 |
4 |
23 |
Welington Castillo |
2 |
5.5 |
5.5 |
22.5 |
Carlos Villanueva |
5 |
0 |
1 |
16 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
4 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
Justin Ruggiano |
1 |
5 |
2 |
15 |
Darwin Barney |
0 |
6 |
3 |
15 |
James Russell |
2 |
2 |
4 |
14 |
Ryan Sweeney |
2 |
3 |
1.5 |
13.5 |
Hector Rondon |
3 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
John Baker |
2 |
1 |
4 |
12 |
Chris Coghlan |
2 |
1 |
3 |
11 |
Brian Schlitter |
2 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
Wesley Wright |
2 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
z-Jose Veras |
2 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
Pedro Strop |
2 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
x-Ryan Kalish |
1 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
Jake Arrieta |
2 |
0 |
2 |
8 |
y-Eli Whiteside |
1 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
Neil Ramirez |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Chris Rusin |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Blake Parker |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Overall |
Hero |
Goat |
+/- |
Anthony Rizzo |
55 |
28 |
27 |
Starlin Castro |
59 |
35 |
24 |
Jake Arrieta |
21 |
8 |
13 |
Luis Valbuena |
44 |
31.5 |
12.5 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
24 |
15 |
9 |
Justin Ruggiano |
23.5 |
15 |
8.5 |
Brian Schlitter |
17 |
10 |
7 |
z-Jason Hammel |
28 |
23 |
5 |
Welington Castillo |
27 |
22.5 |
4.5 |
x-Zac Rosscup |
4 |
0 |
4 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
3 |
0 |
3 |
Darwin Barney |
16.5 |
15 |
1.5 |
Neil Ramirez |
4.5 |
3 |
1.5 |
x-Ryan Kalish |
10 |
9 |
1 |
Chris Coghlan |
11 |
11 |
0 |
Blake Parker |
1 |
1 |
0 |
John Baker |
11 |
12 |
-1 |
Travis Wood |
21 |
23 |
-2 |
Chris Rusin |
0 |
2 |
-2 |
Hector Rondon |
9.5 |
12 |
-2.5 |
Pedro Strop |
6 |
9 |
-3 |
Wesley Wright |
6 |
10 |
-4 |
Ryan Sweeney |
9 |
13.5 |
-4.5 |
x-Emilio Bonifacio |
18 |
23 |
-5 |
Mike Olt |
20 |
26 |
-6 |
James Russell |
8 |
14 |
-6 |
y-Eli Whiteside |
0 |
6 |
-6 |
z-Jose Veras |
0 |
9 |
-9 |
Carlos Villanueva |
6 |
16 |
-10 |
Junior Lake |
16 |
27 |
-11 |
Edwin Jackson |
13 |
28 |
-15 |
Nate Schierholtz |
24 |
41 |
-17 |
Justin Grimm |
6 |
23.5 |
-17.5 |
Rizzo leads the Heroes for the first time in 13 games, while Jackson falls dangerously close to the bottom of the plus/minus chart.