Cubs Heroes and Goats: NLCS Game 4

In the midst of all of the offense, one of the cooler moments from Game 4...

.@ARizzo44 - a guy you can take home to mom. pic.twitter.com/8YBgUS9Tdw

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) October 20, 2016

Graphs for NLCS Game 4 (courtesy of Fangraphs):

Stats for NLCS Game 4:

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 Ramirez Catalyst of NLCS Game 4: With two on and nobody out in the top of the fourth, the Cubs get on the board first as Willson Contreras drops a single into left field to score Ben Zobrist, with a wild throw home by Andrew Toles allowing Contreras to move to second. WPA impact: +.166.

THE THREE HEROES:

• Superhero - Willson Contreras (.203). Gained the rest of his ground in the second inning on a hard grounder to short that was nabbed by a diving Corey Seager, which was followed by Chase Utley dropping Seager's throw to second on a force attempt.
• Hero - John Lackey (.119 / .090). Wiggled his way out of a couple of early situations with a runner on second -- one thanks to a heads-up throw by Contreras to pick off Justin Turner at second base -- but there was no cushion to be given to him after walking the first two batters to start the fifth with the Cubs holding a 5-0 lead.
• Sidekick - Javier Baez (.099). Made his first two plate appearances both count by drawing a walk in the second and hitting a single in the fourth to set the table for Contreras.

THE THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat - Jason Heyward (-.041). You know, it may have been yet another grounder to second by Heyward in the fourth inning, but the fact that it also gave the Cubs their second run was pretty big in my book. Unfortunately for him, his 0-for-5 night still ended up putting him at the top without much of a fight.
• Goat - Dexter Fowler (-.001). Definitely a tough-luck podium spot for Fowler, who had a 2-for-5 night but unfortunately got both of his hits after the Cubs had built at least a three-run lead.
• Kid - Albert Almora Jr. (.000). Just to make the tough luck even tougher, there was a three-way tie at zero for the final podium spot which I ended up giving to Almora by executive decision, and it's only because his flyout came with a runner on base while Jorge Soler had a groundout with the bases empty. Hector Rondon was the other candidate, but his scoreless ninth inning would have been worth a positive benefit if the score were closer than eight runs.

RANKINGS THROUGH NLCS GAME 4: