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What did I think of Jon Lester starting the ninth inning in the second game of the doubleheader with the Cubs up by one and Lester already at 105 pitches? I'll let Dabney Coleman sum it up.
As has been the case with previous two-game recaps, I won't be including each game's stats here in the interest of keeping the piece a bit shorter. The stats can can be found at the included Fangraphs links for those who are interested.
And as usual with two-game recaps, no polls today, but feel free to leave your votes in the comments.
Graphs for Game 143 (courtesy of Fangraphs):
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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 143:
- Superhero - Tommy La Stella (.350). There's not too much of a fruit basket to be sent to Joakim Soria for the wild pitch (other than the fact that it temporarily tied the game), primarily because La Stella's double was enough to get him to the top of the podium by itself.
- Hero - Pedro Strop (.083). I'd like to think of this outing as a confidence-builder.
- Sidekick - Dexter Fowler (.061). This podium spot probably has more of a fruit-basket feel to it because of the air-mailed throw by Chris Stewart on Fowler's stolen base which led to a majority of Fowler's points for the day.
THE THREE GOATS, GAME 143:
- Billy Goat - Jason Hammel (-.288). To say he looked shaky would be an understatement.
- Goat - Justin Grimm (-.251). I'd like to think of this outing as a pitcher desperately needing a confidence-builder.
- Kid - Kyle Schwarber (-.146). Had a few chances with runners on, with the big blow being the strikeout in the seventh with a runner on second.
As for the nightcap...
Graphs for Game 144 (courtesy of Fangraphs):
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THE THREE HEROES, GAME 144:
- Superhero - Jon Lester (.622). Baseball Reference puts the game at .641, a number which hasn't been reached by a Cub starting pitcher since -- no, I'm not kidding -- Jason Marquis on May 9, 2007.
- Sidekick - David Ross (.080). So how's this for a fun fact: He's been on the Hero podium three times all season. The first time was the very first game of the season. The second time was 47 games ago.
- Hero - Anthony Rizzo (.058). Drove in the first run of the game in the first inning.
THE THREE GOATS, GAME 144:
- Billy Goat - Addison Russell (-.106). Rough game at the plate with three swinging strikeouts.
- Goat - Starlin Castro (-.048). Had a big chance with the bases loaded in the fifth and came up... well, pretty short.
- Kid - Kris Bryant (-.042). Would have landed on the second step if not for the wild throw by Pedro Florimon on a grounder to short.
|
Heroes |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
|
Anthony Rizzo |
16 |
23.5 |
11.5 |
106.5 |
|
Kris Bryant |
16 |
15 |
9 |
87 |
|
Dexter Fowler |
11 |
6 |
16 |
61 |
|
Jake Arrieta |
16.5 |
4 |
0.5 |
58 |
|
Miguel Montero |
10.5 |
5.5 |
4 |
46.5 |
|
Addison Russell |
9 |
5.5 |
7.5 |
45.5 |
|
Chris Coghlan |
8 |
5 |
9 |
43 |
|
x-Jorge Soler |
6 |
11 |
3 |
43 |
|
Starlin Castro |
4 |
9 |
11 |
41 |
|
Jon Lester |
9 |
5 |
2 |
39 |
|
Kyle Schwarber |
9 |
2 |
5 |
36 |
|
Jason Hammel |
7 |
4 |
1 |
30 |
|
Hector Rondon |
0 |
9 |
8.5 |
26.5 |
|
Travis Wood |
2 |
6 |
3.5 |
21.5 |
|
Kyle Hendricks |
5 |
1 |
3 |
20 |
|
Pedro Strop |
1 |
2 |
8.5 |
15.5 |
|
Jonathan Herrera |
1 |
5 |
2 |
15 |
|
Matt Szczur |
2 |
2 |
2.5 |
12.5 |
|
Chris Denorfia |
1 |
2 |
5.5 |
12.5 |
|
x-Jason Motte |
0 |
2.5 |
5.5 |
10.5 |
|
Justin Grimm |
0 |
2 |
6.5 |
10.5 |
|
Tommy La Stella |
2 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
|
Zac Rosscup |
2 |
0 |
3.5 |
9.5 |
|
x-James Russell |
0 |
3 |
1.5 |
7.5 |
|
x-Junior Lake |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
|
Clayton Richard |
1 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
|
Tsuyoshi Wada |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
x-Taylor Teagarden |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
x-Brian Schlitter |
0 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
|
Dan Haren |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
|
David Ross |
0 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
|
x-Phil Coke |
1 |
0 |
0.5 |
3.5 |
|
Trevor Cahill |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
Austin Jackson |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
x-Edwin Jackson |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
x-Arismendy Alcantara |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
x-Welington Castillo |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
x-Mike Baxter |
0 |
0 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
|
Neil Ramirez |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Tommy Hunter |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Yoervis Medina |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Goats |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
|
Starlin Castro |
10 |
11 |
14 |
66 |
|
Addison Russell |
5 |
17 |
12 |
61 |
|
Dexter Fowler |
9 |
10.5 |
9.5 |
57.5 |
|
Kris Bryant |
8 |
10 |
9 |
53 |
|
x-Jorge Soler |
6 |
12 |
10 |
52 |
|
Anthony Rizzo |
7 |
10 |
9 |
50 |
|
Chris Coghlan |
3 |
10 |
15 |
44 |
|
Kyle Hendricks |
9 |
3 |
1 |
34 |
|
Miguel Montero |
3 |
8 |
9 |
34 |
|
Pedro Strop |
9 |
2 |
0 |
31 |
|
Jason Hammel |
6 |
5 |
0 |
28 |
|
Kyle Schwarber |
3 |
6 |
6 |
27 |
|
Justin Grimm |
4 |
5 |
4 |
26 |
|
David Ross |
3 |
4.5 |
6.5 |
24.5 |
|
Jon Lester |
7 |
1 |
1 |
24 |
|
Hector Rondon |
6 |
3 |
0 |
24 |
|
Chris Denorfia |
3 |
3 |
7 |
22 |
|
Jake Arrieta |
5 |
0 |
1 |
16 |
|
Travis Wood |
3 |
2 |
3 |
16 |
|
Jonathan Herrera |
1 |
2.5 |
6.5 |
14.5 |
|
Tsuyoshi Wada |
4 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
|
Dan Haren |
3 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
|
Zac Rosscup |
3 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
|
x-Jason Motte |
1 |
4 |
0 |
11 |
|
x-Brian Schlitter |
3 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
|
Clayton Richard |
1 |
3 |
1 |
10 |
|
x-Edwin Jackson |
2 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
|
x-Mike Baxter |
2 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
|
Fernando Rodney |
1 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
|
x-Welington Castillo |
1 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
|
Austin Jackson |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
|
x-Dallas Beeler |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
|
x-Rafael Soriano |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
|
Matt Szczur |
0 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
|
Tommy Hunter |
1 |
0.5 |
1.5 |
5.5 |
|
x-James Russell |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
|
x-Junior Lake |
1 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
|
Javier Baez |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
|
x-Mike Olt |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
|
Tommy La Stella |
0 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
|
x-Donn Roach |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
x-Gonzalez Germen |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
x-Phil Coke |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
Neil Ramirez |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
x-Arismendy Alcantara |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Overall |
Hero |
Goat |
+/- |
|
Anthony Rizzo |
106.5 |
50 |
56.5 |
|
Jake Arrieta |
58 |
16 |
42 |
|
Kris Bryant |
87 |
53 |
34 |
|
Jon Lester |
39 |
24 |
15 |
|
Miguel Montero |
46.5 |
34 |
12.5 |
|
Kyle Schwarber |
36 |
27 |
9 |
|
Matt Szczur |
12.5 |
6 |
6.5 |
|
Tommy La Stella |
10 |
4 |
6 |
|
Travis Wood |
21.5 |
16 |
5.5 |
|
x-Taylor Teagarden |
5 |
0 |
5 |
|
Dexter Fowler |
61 |
57.5 |
3.5 |
|
Trevor Cahill |
3 |
0 |
3 |
|
Hector Rondon |
26.5 |
24 |
2.5 |
|
x-James Russell |
7.5 |
5 |
2.5 |
|
Jason Hammel |
30 |
28 |
2 |
|
x-Junior Lake |
6 |
5 |
1 |
|
x-Arismendy Alcantara |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
Yoervis Medina |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Jonathan Herrera |
15 |
14.5 |
0.5 |
|
x-Phil Coke |
3.5 |
3 |
0.5 |
|
Neil Ramirez |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
x-Jason Motte |
10.5 |
11 |
-0.5 |
|
Chris Coghlan |
43 |
44 |
-1 |
|
Zac Rosscup |
9.5 |
12 |
-2.5 |
|
Austin Jackson |
3 |
6 |
-3 |
|
x-Donn Roach |
0 |
3 |
-3 |
|
x-Gonzalez Germen |
0 |
3 |
-3 |
|
Clayton Richard |
6 |
10 |
-4 |
|
Javier Baez |
0 |
4 |
-4 |
|
x-Mike Olt |
0 |
4 |
-4 |
|
Tommy Hunter |
1 |
5.5 |
-4.5 |
|
x-Brian Schlitter |
5 |
10 |
-5 |
|
x-Edwin Jackson |
3 |
8 |
-5 |
|
x-Welington Castillo |
2 |
7 |
-5 |
|
x-Dallas Beeler |
0 |
6 |
-6 |
|
x-Rafael Soriano |
0 |
6 |
-6 |
|
x-Mike Baxter |
1.5 |
8 |
-6.5 |
|
Tsuyoshi Wada |
5 |
12 |
-7 |
|
Fernando Rodney |
0 |
7 |
-7 |
|
Dan Haren |
4 |
12 |
-8 |
|
x-Jorge Soler |
43 |
52 |
-9 |
|
Chris Denorfia |
12.5 |
22 |
-9.5 |
|
Kyle Hendricks |
20 |
34 |
-14 |
|
Addison Russell |
45.5 |
61 |
-15.5 |
|
Pedro Strop |
15.5 |
31 |
-15.5 |
|
Justin Grimm |
10.5 |
26 |
-15.5 |
|
David Ross |
4 |
24.5 |
-20.5 |
|
Starlin Castro |
41 |
66 |
-25 |