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That's not to say that Felix Doubront didn't earn it in Game 1 on Saturday, because he most certainly did.
The quick Friday recap (Game 134 - Cubs 7, Cardinals 2):
Superhero - Jorge Soler (.391). I had a vision during this game. It was a vision of the future. The not-too-distant-future. And it was good. Really good.
Billy Goat - Welington Castillo (-.126). I'm not sure I saw him in it, though.
And for Game 1 on Saturday:
Graphs for Game 135 (courtesy of Fangraphs):
Stats for Game 135:
Pitcher |
IP |
H |
HR |
ER |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
F Doubront |
7 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
0.94 |
.189 |
N Ramirez |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0.64 |
.023 |
J Grimm |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.2 |
.015 |
Total |
9 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
0.84 |
.228 |
Batter |
AB |
R |
H |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
C Coghlan |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1.08 |
.157 |
L Watkins |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0.88 |
.150 |
C Valaika |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0.52 |
.119 |
S Castro |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0.53 |
.006 |
F Doubront |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0.88 |
.003 |
M Szczur |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.05 |
-.001 |
J Baez |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0.73 |
-.008 |
A Alcantara |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0.38 |
-.037 |
L Valbuena |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0.53 |
-.055 |
J Baker |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0.68 |
-.061 |
Total |
33 |
5 |
7 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
13 |
0.67 |
.272 |
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 - Felix Doubront (.189). Dear Felix: I sincerely apologize for saying that expectations for your start should be kept pretty low. I obviously have no idea what I'm talking about.
- Hero - Chris Coghlan (.157). Lost in the Jorge Soler fanfare is the fact that Coghlan has made the Hero podium four games in a row.
- Sidekick - Logan Watkins (.150). Congratulations to him for his first Major League homer. I'll hold off on jokes on how this is vindication for him not playing last year because that's so 2013 anyway.
THE THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat - John Baker (-.061). Slowly but surely losing his folk-hero status.
- Goat - Luis Valbuena (-.055). And in the 135th game of the season, Nate Schierholtz was finally usurped from the top of the Goat list.
- Kid - Arismendy Alcantara (-.037). About as plain of an 0-for-4 day as you can get.
UPDATED RANKINGS THROUGH GAME 135 (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 |
9.5 |
8.5 |
71 |
Luis Valbuena |
12 |
10 |
7 |
63 |
Welington Castillo |
9 |
5.5 |
4.5 |
42.5 |
x-Justin Ruggiano |
6.5 |
9.5 |
3 |
41.5 |
Chris Coghlan |
7 |
8 |
2 |
39 |
Jake Arrieta |
8 |
4 |
1 |
33 |
z-Jason Hammel |
5 |
4 |
5 |
28 |
Travis Wood |
6 |
4 |
1 |
27 |
z-Nate Schierholtz |
4 |
6 |
3 |
27 |
x-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 |
Jorge Soler |
3 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
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 |
0.5 |
4.5 |
Felix Doubront |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
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 |
Logan Watkins |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
Kyuji Fujikawa |
0 |
0 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
Goats |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Luis Valbuena |
8 |
9.5 |
12.5 |
55.5 |
z-Nate Schierholtz |
8 |
12 |
7 |
55 |
Starlin Castro |
5 |
10.5 |
15 |
51 |
x-Edwin Jackson |
12 |
3 |
1 |
43 |
Travis Wood |
10 |
5 |
2 |
42 |
Welington Castillo |
4 |
10.5 |
9 |
42 |
x-Junior Lake |
6 |
6 |
8 |
38 |
Anthony Rizzo |
2 |
11 |
8 |
36 |
Chris Coghlan |
5 |
5 |
6 |
31 |
x-Mike Olt |
5 |
3 |
6 |
27 |
x-Justin Ruggiano |
2 |
7 |
6 |
26 |
z-Emilio Bonifacio |
1 |
9 |
4 |
25 |
Justin Grimm |
7 |
0.5 |
2.5 |
24.5 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
2 |
7 |
4 |
24 |
z-Jason Hammel |
7 |
1 |
0 |
23 |
Hector Rondon |
6 |
2 |
1 |
23 |
Carlos Villanueva |
5 |
1 |
4 |
21 |
z-James Russell |
3 |
3 |
5 |
20 |
John Baker |
4 |
1 |
5 |
19 |
x-Ryan Sweeney |
3 |
3 |
3.5 |
18.5 |
Pedro Strop |
3 |
3 |
1 |
16 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
4 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
Jake Arrieta |
4 |
0 |
3 |
15 |
z-Darwin Barney |
0 |
6 |
3 |
15 |
Wesley Wright |
3 |
1 |
3 |
14 |
x-Brian Schlitter |
2 |
3 |
1 |
13 |
Javier Baez |
2 |
2 |
2 |
12 |
z-Jose Veras |
2 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
Kyle Hendricks |
1 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
y-Ryan Kalish |
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 |
Chris Valaika |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
Jacob Turner |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
x-Dan Straily |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Matt Szczur |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
x-Chris Rusin |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Logan Watkins |
0 |
0 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
Overall |
Hero |
Goat |
+/- |
Anthony Rizzo |
77 |
36 |
41 |
Starlin Castro |
71 |
51 |
20 |
Jake Arrieta |
33 |
15 |
18 |
x-Justin Ruggiano |
41.5 |
26 |
15.5 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
14 |
3 |
11 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
24 |
15 |
9 |
Jorge Soler |
9 |
0 |
9 |
Chris Coghlan |
39 |
31 |
8 |
Luis Valbuena |
63 |
55.5 |
7.5 |
Kyle Hendricks |
15.5 |
9 |
6.5 |
x-Ryan Sweeney |
24.5 |
18.5 |
6 |
x-Brian Schlitter |
19 |
13 |
6 |
z-Jason Hammel |
28 |
23 |
5 |
Zac Rosscup |
4.5 |
0 |
4.5 |
Felix Doubront |
3 |
0 |
3 |
Chris Valaika |
6 |
4 |
2 |
z-Darwin Barney |
16.5 |
15 |
1.5 |
Logan Watkins |
2 |
0.5 |
1.5 |
Kyuji Fujikawa |
1.5 |
0 |
1.5 |
y-Ryan Kalish |
10 |
9 |
1 |
x-Chris Rusin |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Matt Szczur |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Welington Castillo |
42.5 |
42 |
0.5 |
Neil Ramirez |
6.5 |
6 |
0.5 |
Pedro Strop |
16 |
16 |
0 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
Jacob Turner |
2 |
3 |
-1 |
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 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
19 |
24 |
-5 |
John Baker |
14 |
19 |
-5 |
x-Mike Olt |
21 |
27 |
-6 |
y-Eli Whiteside |
0 |
6 |
-6 |
Javier Baez |
5 |
12 |
-7 |
Hector Rondon |
14.5 |
23 |
-8.5 |
z-Jose Veras |
0 |
9 |
-9 |
Carlos Villanueva |
11 |
21 |
-10 |
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 |
The Cubs go for the series win in Game 2 on Saturday night, and Soler attempts to go 4-for-4 in Hero podium visits to start his career.