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The funniest part of the balk play that Al mentioned in his recap was listening to the Brewers announcers on the Fox Sports Wisconsin feed as the play occurred. Theories of Anthony Rizzo colliding with the first-base umpire came into play and they had no idea why Rick Renteria was so upset. It took them until the top of the ninth to finally figure out what actually happened. Apparently they don't look have a replay view that shows the second-base umpire in the shot because it would have made their jobs a heck of a lot easier.
Graphs for Game 160 (courtesy of Fangraphs):
Stats for Game 160:
Pitcher |
IP |
H |
HR |
ER |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
H Rondon |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1.15 |
.087 |
N Ramirez |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.69 |
.052 |
D Straily |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1.26 |
.051 |
P Strop |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1.65 |
.009 |
E Jokisch |
4 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
1.57 |
-.003 |
J Grimm |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1.96 |
-.024 |
Total |
9 |
8 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
9 |
1.52 |
.172 |
Batter |
AB |
R |
H |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
J Baez |
5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1.05 |
.250 |
C Coghlan |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0.79 |
.141 |
L Watkins |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.93 |
.066 |
A Rizzo |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0.83 |
.057 |
J Soler |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0.93 |
.050 |
R Kalish |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.13 |
-.003 |
L Valbuena |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0.73 |
-.008 |
E Jokisch |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.38 |
-.010 |
M Olt |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.39 |
-.011 |
R Lopez |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.35 |
-.024 |
M Szczur |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0.5 |
-.050 |
A Alcantara |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.95 |
-.129 |
Total |
35 |
6 |
9 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
7 |
0.77 |
.328 |
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 - Javier Baez (.250). Who would have ever guessed that his first Superhero award would have come on a night where he didn't hit a homer?
- Hero - Chris Coghlan (.141). His performance in 2014 continues to amaze me, and I continue to worry that if he sticks around into 2015 he's going to go full-pumpkin and hit more like he did in 2013.
- Sidekick - Hector Rondon (.087). He's been on this step so many times I think he's actually engraved his initials into it.
THE THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat - Arismendy Alcantara (-.129). He's sinking into some pretty ugly territory on the plus/minus chart.
- Goat - Matt Szczur (-.050). Garden-variety 0-for-4 night with no frills attached.
- Kid (tie) #1 - Rafael Lopez (-.024). Also an uneventful night, but he did have a single.
- Kid (tie) #2 - Justin Grimm (-.024). The same can not be said for him, escaping a four-runner inning with only one run scored..
UPDATED RANKINGS THROUGH GAME 160 (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 |
17 |
11 |
10 |
83 |
Luis Valbuena |
13 |
13 |
8 |
73 |
Starlin Castro |
14.5 |
10 |
9 |
72.5 |
Welington Castillo |
11 |
8.5 |
5.5 |
55.5 |
Chris Coghlan |
9 |
10 |
4 |
51 |
Jake Arrieta |
12 |
5 |
1 |
47 |
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 |
9 |
27 |
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 |
Hector Rondon |
0 |
2 |
16 |
20 |
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 |
Pedro Strop |
1 |
3 |
9 |
18 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
5 |
1 |
0 |
17 |
z-Darwin Barney |
3.5 |
2.5 |
1 |
16.5 |
Edwin Jackson |
4 |
1 |
2 |
16 |
Javier Baez |
1 |
5 |
3 |
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 |
Carlos Villanueva |
0 |
3 |
5 |
11 |
z-James Russell |
0 |
2 |
6 |
10 |
Matt Szczur |
1 |
2.5 |
1.5 |
9.5 |
Zac Rosscup |
0 |
3 |
1.5 |
7.5 |
Neil Ramirez |
0 |
0.5 |
6.5 |
7.5 |
Felix Doubront |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
Jacob Turner |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
Blake Parker |
0 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
Kyuji Fujikawa |
0 |
1 |
1.5 |
3.5 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
x-Chris Rusin |
1 |
0 |
0 |
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 |
5 |
15.5 |
9 |
55 |
Starlin Castro |
5 |
10.5 |
15 |
51 |
Travis Wood |
12 |
5 |
2 |
48 |
Edwin Jackson |
13 |
3 |
1 |
46 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
6 |
9.5 |
5.5 |
42.5 |
Junior Lake |
6 |
6.5 |
9.5 |
40.5 |
Chris Coghlan |
7 |
5 |
8 |
39 |
Anthony Rizzo |
2 |
11 |
8 |
36 |
Mike Olt |
6 |
4 |
6 |
32 |
Javier Baez |
5 |
4.5 |
5.5 |
29.5 |
Justin Grimm |
7 |
1.5 |
3 |
27 |
y-Justin Ruggiano |
2 |
7 |
6 |
26 |
z-Emilio Bonifacio |
1 |
9 |
4 |
25 |
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 |
Matt Szczur |
0 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
Blake Parker |
1 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
y-Eli Whiteside |
1 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
Jorge Soler |
0 |
1 |
4 |
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 |
Eric Jokisch |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
x-Chris Rusin |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Zac Rosscup |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Rafael Lopez |
0 |
0 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
Overall |
Hero |
Goat |
+/- |
Anthony Rizzo |
83 |
36 |
47 |
Jake Arrieta |
47 |
15 |
32 |
Starlin Castro |
72.5 |
51 |
21.5 |
Luis Valbuena |
73 |
57 |
16 |
y-Justin Ruggiano |
41.5 |
26 |
15.5 |
Jorge Soler |
19.5 |
6 |
13.5 |
Chris Coghlan |
51 |
39 |
12 |
z-Jeff Samardzija |
24 |
15 |
9 |
Tsuyoshi Wada |
17 |
9 |
8 |
Zac Rosscup |
7.5 |
1 |
6.5 |
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 |
z-Jason Hammel |
28 |
23 |
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 |
Matt Szczur |
9.5 |
8 |
1.5 |
x-Chris Rusin |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Welington Castillo |
55.5 |
55 |
0.5 |
Rafael Lopez |
1 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
Pedro Strop |
18 |
18 |
0 |
Logan Watkins |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
x-Dallas Beeler |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
Blake Parker |
5 |
7 |
-2 |
Eric Jokisch |
1 |
3 |
-2 |
z-Emilio Bonifacio |
22 |
25 |
-3 |
Hector Rondon |
20 |
23 |
-3 |
Wesley Wright |
13 |
17 |
-4 |
Dan Straily |
1 |
5 |
-4 |
Neil Ramirez |
7.5 |
12 |
-4.5 |
Mike Olt |
27 |
32 |
-5 |
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 |
27 |
-12 |
Carlos Villanueva |
11 |
24 |
-13 |
Javier Baez |
16 |
29.5 |
-13.5 |
Travis Wood |
31 |
48 |
-17 |
Junior Lake |
22 |
40.5 |
-18.5 |
Arismendy Alcantara |
21 |
42.5 |
-21.5 |
z-Nate Schierholtz |
27 |
55 |
-28 |
Edwin Jackson |
16 |
46 |
-30 |
Baez finally enjoys the view from the top of the Hero podium, while Alcantara sinks into the dreaded minus-20 territory on the plus/minus chart.