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Cubs Heroes and Goats: Games 82 & 83

Here's the recap of the Tuesday doubleheader sweep against the Cardinals.

Hey, watch those hands, guys!
Hey, watch those hands, guys!
Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

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):

Game 82 Chart 2015

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):

Game 83 Chart 2015

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.
RANKINGS THROUGH GAME 83 ("x" indicates player not on active roster):

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

Heroes

1st

2nd

3rd

Total

Anthony Rizzo

10

18

3

69

Kris Bryant

9

7

6

47

Dexter Fowler

6

4

7

33

Jake Arrieta

7.5

3

0.5

29

Starlin Castro

3

6

8

29

Miguel Montero

5.5

5.5

0

27.5

Chris Coghlan

6

2

5

27

Addison Russell

6

2.5

5.5

28.5

Jason Hammel

6

2

0

22

Jorge Soler

2

7

1

21

Jon Lester

5

0

2

17

Hector Rondon

0

6

3.5

15.5

Kyle Hendricks

4

0

2

14

Pedro Strop

1

0

8.5

11.5

Travis Wood

1

2

3.5

10.5

Jonathan Herrera

1

3

2

11

x-Matt Szczur

2

1

1

9

x-Zac Rosscup

2

0

3

9

Chris Denorfia

1

1

3.5

8.5

James Russell

0

3

1.5

7.5

Jason Motte

0

1

5

7

x-Kyle Schwarber

2

0

0

6

x-Junior Lake

1

1

1

6

Justin Grimm

0

1

3.5

5.5

x-Tsuyoshi Wada

1

1

0

5

x-Brian Schlitter

0

2

1

5

x-Phil Coke

1

0

0.5

3.5

Edwin Jackson

0

1

1

3

Taylor Teagarden

0

1

0

2

x-Welington Castillo

0

1

0

2

x-Arismendy Alcantara

0

1

0

2

Mike Baxter

0

0

1.5

1.5

Clayton Richard

0

0

1

1

x-David Ross

0

0

1

1

x-Yoervis Medina

0

0

1

1

Goats

1st

2nd

3rd

Total

Starlin Castro

8

6

10

46

Jorge Soler

5

9

5

38

Addison Russell

2

11

6

34

Dexter Fowler

4

6.5

6.5

31.5

Chris Coghlan

2

7

10

30

Kris Bryant

4

5

6

28

Miguel Montero

3

6

6

27

Anthony Rizzo

3

7

3

26

Kyle Hendricks

5

1

0

17

Pedro Strop

5

1

0

17

Jon Lester

5

0

1

16

Jason Hammel

3

3

0

15

Hector Rondon

4

1

0

14

Jake Arrieta

4

0

1

13

x-Tsuyoshi Wada

4

0

0

12

x-Zac Rosscup

3

1

1

12

Travis Wood

2

1

3

11

Justin Grimm

1

4

3

14

x-David Ross

0

3.5

3.5

10.5

x-Brian Schlitter

3

0

1

10

Edwin Jackson

2

1

0

8

Mike Baxter

2

1

0

8

Jason Motte

1

2

0

7

x-Welington Castillo

1

1

2

7

Chris Denorfia

1

1

2

7

Jonathan Herrera

1

0

4

7

James Russell

1

1

0

5

x-Junior Lake

1

0

2

5

x-Matt Szczur

0

1

3

5

x-Mike Olt

1

0

1

4

x-Donn Roach

1

0

0

3

x-Gonzalez Germen

1

0

0

3

x-Phil Coke

0

1

1

3

x-Kyle Schwarber

0

1

0

2

x-Arismendy Alcantara

0

0

1

1

Neil Ramirez

0

0

1

1

Overall

Hero

Goat

+/-

Anthony Rizzo

69

26

43

Kris Bryant

47

28

19

Jake Arrieta

29

13

16

Jason Hammel

22

15

7

x-Matt Szczur

9

5

4

x-Kyle Schwarber

6

2

4

Jonathan Herrera

11

7

4

James Russell

7.5

5

2.5

Taylor Teagarden

2

0

2

Dexter Fowler

33

31.5

1.5

Hector Rondon

15.5

14

1.5

Chris Denorfia

8.5

7

1.5

Jon Lester

17

16

1

x-Junior Lake

6

5

1

x-Arismendy Alcantara

2

1

1

Clayton Richard

1

0

1

x-Yoervis Medina

1

0

1

Miguel Montero

27.5

27

0.5

x-Phil Coke

3.5

3

0.5

Jason Motte

7

7

0

Travis Wood

10.5

11

-0.5

Neil Ramirez

0

1

-1

Chris Coghlan

27

30

-3

Kyle Hendricks

14

17

-3

x-Zac Rosscup

9

12

-3

x-Donn Roach

0

3

-3

x-Gonzalez Germen

0

3

-3

x-Mike Olt

0

4

-4

x-Brian Schlitter

5

10

-5

Edwin Jackson

3

8

-5

x-Welington Castillo

2

7

-5

Pedro Strop

11.5

17

-5.5

Justin Grimm

5.5

14

-8.5

Mike Baxter

1.5

8

-6.5

x-Tsuyoshi Wada

5

12

-7

Addison Russell

28.5

34

-5.5

x-David Ross

1

10.5

-9.5

Jorge Soler

21

38

-17

Starlin Castro

29

46

-17