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I always find it amazing at how quickly the regular season seems to go by. It feels like just yesterday it was the beginning of April and we were all looking forward to what was going to become of the season ahead. I looked back at the end of the regular season last year and had this to say at that time in the Game 162 Heroes and Goats recap:
All I can think of to say is this: This has probably been the most amazing regular season I can ever remember in my years as a Cub fan. I don't go back as far as some others here do in my fandom, but I go back to the late 1970s for my starting point. Even if Wednesday ends up being the final game of 2015 for the Cubs -- and I really, really hope that it doesn't -- it's been one heck of a ride.
What a difference a year makes, huh? If last year was amazing, then this year must qualify as... forever memorable. And hopefully not just for what happened from April through the beginning of October.
For those of you wondering what might be coming in the few days leading up to the beginning of the Division Series, I'll have some H & G recaps in that four-day time span, looking back at the Heroes and Goats broken down by the wins and the losses as well as looking at the results of the Cuyler and Marmol polls as the season went on. So make sure to stick around; there'll be plenty to read about over the next few days.
The first 103 wins are in the books. It's time to start chasing down those final 11.
Graphs for Game 162 (courtesy of Fangraphs):
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Stats for Game 162:
|
Pitcher |
IP |
H |
HR |
ER |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
|
C Edwards Jr. |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.52 |
.040 |
|
M Montgomery |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0.4 |
.028 |
|
J Smith |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0.3 |
.023 |
|
T Wood |
0.2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0.54 |
.016 |
|
J Grimm |
0.1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.51 |
.014 |
|
K Hendricks |
5 |
6 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
0.85 |
-.214 |
|
Total |
9 |
6 |
0 |
4 |
3 |
7 |
0.69 |
-.093 |
|
Batter |
AB |
R |
H |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
|
M Szczur |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3.78 |
.541 |
|
W Contreras |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1.02 |
.197 |
|
M Montero |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0.97 |
.132 |
|
M Kawasaki |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2.64 |
.115 |
|
J Heyward |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0.92 |
.098 |
|
K Bryant |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1.83 |
.068 |
|
D Fowler |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1.42 |
.035 |
|
J Soler |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1.28 |
.012 |
|
C Coghlan |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1.95 |
.008 |
|
B Zobrist |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1.36 |
.003 |
|
A Almora |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2.29 |
-.030 |
|
J Baez |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1.88 |
-.033 |
|
T Wood |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1.44 |
-.036 |
|
T La Stella |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.18 |
-.060 |
|
T Federowicz |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1.31 |
-.069 |
|
K Hendricks |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1.72 |
-.095 |
|
A Rizzo |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1.65 |
-.104 |
|
A Russell |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1.4 |
-.190 |
|
Total |
35 |
7 |
9 |
2 |
7 |
9 |
12 |
1.67 |
.593 |
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 Game 162: With two on, two out, and down to his final strike in the top of the ninth, Matt Szczur slaps a hard grounder down the first-base line out of the reach of Joey Votto and into right field for a two-run double, scoring Albert Almora Jr. and Munenori Kawasaki to put the Cubs ahead 5-4. WPA impact: +.690.
THE THREE HEROES:
- Superhero - Matt Szczur (.541). Talk about a huge reversal of fortune: He was staring down a one-way ticket to the Goat podium after striking out with the bases loaded in the seventh. He ends the regular season with three Superheroes, his last one coming 21 games ago.
- Hero - Willson Contreras (.197). He had two big plate appearances of his own in this game, the homer in the eighth and the single in the fourth, both times bringing the Cubs back to a one-run deficit. He ends the regular season with an .845 OPS, third-best on the team behind those Bryant and Rizzo guys.
- Sidekick - Miguel Montero (.132). It seems almost impossible to believe, but there was only a span of three games this entire season where Montero was below zero on the plus / minus chart, and that goes all the way back to the third through fifth games of the season when he fell one-half of a point below breakeven before taking the Superhero in the sixth game of the season.
THE THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat - Kyle Hendricks (-.214 / -.309). He unfortunately ends up losing his membership card in the plus-40 club, but who would have ever guessed that he would have ended up in second place overall on the chart at plus-37? And just in case you're wondering how he finished the 2015 season, he was at minus-12. Yeah, I'd say a 49-point turnaround is pretty darn good.
- Goat - Addison Russell (-.190). The double-play monster claims one last victim in the regular season, this time getting Russell on a 5-4-3 with the bases loaded to end the first. He ends the year with the third-highest total of Hero points at 73, but regrettably also ends up leading the team in total Goat points at 94.5 to put him in the minus-20 club for the season. If only the WPA overlords would start to recognize glovework.
- Kid - Anthony Rizzo (-.104). And after two straight seasons of leading the chart and being a member of the plus-40 club or better -- including his mind-boggling plus-65.5 from last season -- he ends up settling for third place at plus-34.5. He does have the honor, however, of being the only player to reach triple-digits in Hero points as he reached 100 points this season, making two straight seasons that he has reached the 100-point plateau.
FINAL RANKINGS FOR THE 2016 REGULAR SEASON:
|
Heroes |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
|
Anthony Rizzo |
15 |
21.5 |
12 |
100 |
|
Kris Bryant |
9.5 |
16.5 |
15 |
76.5 |
|
Addison Russell |
12 |
11 |
15 |
73 |
|
Jon Lester |
19 |
3.5 |
2.5 |
66.5 |
|
Ben Zobrist |
9 |
9 |
14 |
59 |
|
Dexter Fowler |
4 |
12.5 |
14.5 |
51.5 |
|
Kyle Hendricks |
12 |
6 |
3 |
51 |
|
Jake Arrieta |
13.5 |
2.5 |
1 |
46.5 |
|
Jason Heyward |
5 |
9 |
7 |
40 |
|
Javier Baez |
5 |
7 |
8 |
37 |
|
Jason Hammel |
9 |
2 |
5 |
36 |
|
Miguel Montero |
6.5 |
5 |
4.5 |
34 |
|
John Lackey |
8 |
2 |
2 |
30 |
|
Jorge Soler |
4 |
4 |
8 |
28 |
|
Willson Contreras |
5 |
4 |
3 |
26 |
|
Travis Wood |
4 |
4 |
2 |
22 |
|
Tommy La Stella |
3 |
4 |
4.5 |
21.5 |
|
David Ross |
2 |
6 |
3.5 |
21.5 |
|
Hector Rondon |
2.5 |
3.5 |
6 |
20.5 |
|
Matt Szczur |
3 |
2 |
2 |
15 |
|
Adam Warren |
1 |
3.5 |
1.5 |
11.5 |
|
Trevor Cahill |
1 |
3 |
2.5 |
11.5 |
|
Chris Coghlan |
2 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
|
Pedro Strop |
1 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
|
Justin Grimm |
0 |
1.5 |
5.5 |
8.5 |
|
Albert Almora Jr. |
2 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
|
Carl Edwards Jr. |
0 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
|
Rob Zastryzny |
2 |
0 |
1.5 |
7.5 |
|
Aroldis Chapman |
0 |
2 |
2.5 |
6.5 |
|
Mike Montgomery |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
|
Joe Smith |
0 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
|
Jake Buchanan |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
Clayton Richard |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
Felix Pena |
0 |
1 |
0.5 |
2.5 |
|
Jeimer Candelario |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
Joel Peralta |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
Munenori Kawasaki |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
Ryan Kalish |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
Tim Federowicz |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
Spencer Patton |
0 |
0 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
|
Gerardo Concepcion |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Neil Ramirez |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Goats |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
|
Addison Russell |
15 |
16 |
17.5 |
94.5 |
|
Kris Bryant |
15.5 |
16.5 |
11 |
90.5 |
|
Jason Heyward |
16 |
15 |
10.5 |
88.5 |
|
Ben Zobrist |
9.5 |
14.5 |
14 |
71.5 |
|
Anthony Rizzo |
7 |
18 |
8.5 |
65.5 |
|
Dexter Fowler |
12 |
8 |
7 |
59 |
|
Javier Baez |
8 |
9 |
14.5 |
56.5 |
|
Jorge Soler |
6 |
5 |
11 |
39 |
|
Willson Contreras |
4.5 |
6.5 |
6 |
32.5 |
|
Miguel Montero |
3 |
8 |
4 |
29 |
|
Matt Szczur |
1.5 |
5.5 |
9 |
24.5 |
|
Jason Hammel |
6 |
2 |
2 |
24 |
|
David Ross |
3 |
4 |
6.5 |
23.5 |
|
Travis Wood |
5 |
1 |
5 |
22 |
|
Pedro Strop |
4 |
4 |
1 |
21 |
|
John Lackey |
5 |
1 |
3 |
20 |
|
Jake Arrieta |
5 |
1 |
2 |
19 |
|
Adam Warren |
4 |
2 |
0 |
16 |
|
Justin Grimm |
4 |
1 |
2 |
16 |
|
Jon Lester |
4 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
|
Trevor Cahill |
2 |
4 |
1 |
15 |
|
Albert Almora Jr. |
2 |
2 |
5 |
15 |
|
Hector Rondon |
3 |
2 |
1 |
14 |
|
Kyle Hendricks |
3 |
2 |
1 |
14 |
|
Tommy La Stella |
2 |
1 |
6 |
14 |
|
Chris Coghlan |
2 |
2 |
3.5 |
13.5 |
|
Mike Montgomery |
2 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
|
Carl Edwards Jr. |
1 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
|
Joe Smith |
1 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
|
Aroldis Chapman |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
|
Clayton Richard |
1 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
|
Tim Federowicz |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
|
Jeimer Candelario |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
|
Brian Matusz |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
Joel Peralta |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
Gerardo Concepcion |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
Rob Zastryzny |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
Spencer Patton |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
Kyle Schwarber |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Munenori Kawasaki |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Neil Ramirez |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Overall |
Hero |
Goat |
+/- |
|
Jon Lester |
66.5 |
15 |
51.5 |
|
Kyle Hendricks |
51 |
14 |
37 |
|
Anthony Rizzo |
100 |
65.5 |
34.5 |
|
Jake Arrieta |
46.5 |
19 |
27.5 |
|
Jason Hammel |
36 |
24 |
12 |
|
John Lackey |
30 |
20 |
10 |
|
Tommy La Stella |
21.5 |
14 |
7.5 |
|
Hector Rondon |
20.5 |
14 |
6.5 |
|
Rob Zastryzny |
7.5 |
2 |
5.5 |
|
Miguel Montero |
34 |
29 |
5 |
|
Jake Buchanan |
3 |
0 |
3 |
|
Felix Pena |
2.5 |
0 |
2.5 |
|
Ryan Kalish |
2 |
0 |
2 |
|
Munenori Kawasaki |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
Aroldis Chapman |
6.5 |
6 |
0.5 |
|
Travis Wood |
22 |
22 |
0 |
|
Carl Edwards Jr. |
8 |
8 |
0 |
|
Neil Ramirez |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Spencer Patton |
1.5 |
2 |
-0.5 |
|
Joe Smith |
6 |
7 |
-1 |
|
Joel Peralta |
2 |
3 |
-1 |
|
Gerardo Concepcion |
1 |
2 |
-1 |
|
Kyle Schwarber |
0 |
1 |
-1 |
|
David Ross |
21.5 |
23.5 |
-2 |
|
Jeimer Candelario |
2 |
4 |
-2 |
|
Tim Federowicz |
2 |
4 |
-2 |
|
Chris Coghlan |
11 |
13.5 |
-2.5 |
|
Mike Montgomery |
6 |
9 |
-3 |
|
Clayton Richard |
3 |
6 |
-3 |
|
Brian Matusz |
0 |
3 |
-3 |
|
Trevor Cahill |
11.5 |
15 |
-3.5 |
|
Adam Warren |
11.5 |
16 |
-4.5 |
|
Willson Contreras |
26 |
32.5 |
-6.5 |
|
Albert Almora Jr. |
8 |
15 |
-7 |
|
Dexter Fowler |
51.5 |
59 |
-7.5 |
|
Justin Grimm |
8.5 |
16 |
-7.5 |
|
Matt Szczur |
15 |
24.5 |
-9.5 |
|
Jorge Soler |
28 |
39 |
-11 |
|
Pedro Strop |
10 |
21 |
-11 |
|
Ben Zobrist |
59 |
71.5 |
-12.5 |
|
Kris Bryant |
76.5 |
90.5 |
-14 |
|
Javier Baez |
37 |
56.5 |
-19.5 |
|
Addison Russell |
73 |
94.5 |
-21.5 |
|
Jason Heyward |
40 |
88.5 |
-48.5 |