Cubs Heroes and Goats: Games 82 & 83

Since I'll be covering both games in this piece and in the interest of keeping it a bit shorter, I won't be including each game's stats here. They can be found at the included Fangraphs links for those that are interested.

Also, no Hickman poll today, but feel free to leave your Hickman votes in the comments. And any other witty banter that may come to mind.

Graphs for Game 82 (courtesy of Fangraphs):

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, GAME 82:

• Superhero - Chris Denorfia (.185). Started the scoring with his two-run single and just kept getting on base.
• Hero - Jake Arrieta (.120). Cruised through the first six innings without much work and then ran out of gas in the seventh. Thankfully James Russell was able to close the door with a Matt Carpenter strikeout.
• Sidekick - Pedro Strop (.112). Pitched a perfect eighth in a game that was still close at that time.

THE THREE GOATS, GAME 82:

• Billy Goat - Jorge Soler (-.092). Even the bases-loaded walk couldn't keep him from the top spot.
• Goat - Starlin Castro (-.069). Apparently now that he's in the cellar he's looking to stay there for a while.
• Kid - Kris Bryant (-.055). One of a few victims in this game for the Cubs of the bases-loaded out.

And, for the nightcap...

Graphs for Game 83 (courtesy of Fangraphs):

THE THREE HEROES, GAME 83:

• Superhero - Addison Russell (.218). Definitely worked some magic in keeping that ball fair down the first base line in the seventh.
• Hero - Taylor Teagarden (.094). It's his debut on either podium for the Cubs, and for the guy in the short-term role it's much better than the Eli Whiteside days of 2014.
• Sidekick - Jonathan Herrera (.075). Maybe Chris Coghlan deserves a share of the credit since Herrera was wearing his helmet when he got his single in the seventh. I must admit that he looked rather comical trying to wear Mike Baxter's helmet up there before he switched to Coghlan's.

THE THREE GOATS, GAME 83:

• Billy Goat - Justin Grimm (-.127). It would have been a very tough play for Castro to get Mark Reynolds at first even if he picked the ball cleanly, but Jason Heyward doesn't score anyway if not for Grimm's two wild pitches before that.
• Goat - Jorge Soler (-.065). Okay, someone needs to go down to the cellar of the plus/minus chart and see exactly what's going on down there. Maybe they've just got a really good theater room set up down there with comfy chairs or something.
• Kid - Chris Coghlan (-.060). Somehow this is on Herrera because of helmet-gate. Never mind the inning-ending whiff in the sixth with Bryant on second; Heroes and Goats needs a good fake scandal every once in a while just to update the fake drama factor.

The top of the chart remains relatively unchanged, while down in the basement Castro and Soler fight over whose wall decorations look better.