What exactly is that historic moment, you ask? If you look at the Cubs' top WPA for hitters on Saturday night, you'll notice this:
Batter |
AB |
R |
H |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
T Wood |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0.42 |
.079 |
K Hendricks |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1.72 |
.075 |
There are a few things that make these numbers historic for the Cubs:
- It's only the fifth time in Cubs' history -- and the first time in 20 years -- that they have had two pitchers notch a hitting WPA of .075 or better in the same game. The last tandem to do it was Jim Bullinger and Turk Wendell on April 10, 1996.
- It's the first time in Cubs' postseason history (dating back to 1903) that they had two pitchers break the .075 hitting WPA mark in the same game.
- And finally, it's the first time ever in Cubs' history (dating back to 1913) that the top two spots on the WPA hitting chart in the game were held by pitchers with a WPA of .075 or better for each of them.
Graphs for NLDS Game 2 (courtesy of Fangraphs):
Stats for NLDS Game 2:
Pitcher |
IP |
H |
HR |
ER |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
T Wood |
1.1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0.94 |
.070 |
C Edwards Jr. |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.63 |
.045 |
H Rondon |
0.2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.83 |
.043 |
M Montgomery |
1.1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.62 |
.040 |
A Chapman |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0.4 |
.030 |
K Hendricks |
3.2 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0.98 |
.030 |
Total |
9 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
0.82 |
.258 |
Batter |
AB |
R |
H |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
pLI |
WPA |
T Wood |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0.42 |
.079 |
K Hendricks |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1.72 |
.075 |
B Zobrist |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0.57 |
.068 |
W Contreras |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.77 |
.051 |
D Fowler |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.56 |
.040 |
J Heyward |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.39 |
.035 |
J Baez |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0.41 |
.010 |
K Bryant |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0.63 |
-.007 |
M Montero |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.27 |
-.007 |
A Russell |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.39 |
-.041 |
A Rizzo |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0.62 |
-.060 |
Total |
33 |
5 |
9 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
6 |
0.56 |
.242 |
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 NLDS Game 2: With two out and Dexter Fowler on second in the bottom of the first, Ben Zobrist delivers with a clutch bloop single to right to score Fowler and give the Cubs the early 1-0 lead. WPA impact: +.097.
THE THREE HEROES:
- Superhero - Travis Wood (.070 / .149). Obviously his homer to left was huge -- even though it didn't get a call from Bob Costas on MLB Network when he hit it because they were busy running a taped interview with Bruce Bochy from the previous half-inning -- but there was also the one-out jam that he dodged with a runner on second after the dreaded double-error by Kris Bryant on a hard grounder from Madison Bumgarner.
- Hero - Ben Zobrist (.068). The early RBI single ended up holding up for second place on the podium, due in large part to the pitchers scoring three of the Cubs' five runs in the game.
- Sidekick - Willson Contreras (.051). Helped set up some unexpected heroics in the second by loading the bases with a single to right.
- Honorable Mention - Kyle Hendricks (.030 / .105). Fear not; he'll be in the Cuyler poll, so you'll have your chance to vote for him. I thought about adding an option for his broken bat but decided against it (sarcasm alert detected). And had he not gotten knocked out of the game on a comebacker in the fourth that hit him in the forearm, he would have had a pretty good chance to make it into the top three for his pitching.
THE THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat - Anthony Rizzo (-.060). Still searching for that first hit in the playoffs this season. It's just his way of sharing the spotlight.
- Goat - Addison Russell (-.041). Had a pretty good chance at a hit in the fifth on a hard shot to third but was denied on a nice play by Conor Gillaspie.
- Kid #1 (tie) - Kris Bryant (-.007). There's definitely a fruit basket headed to Joe Panik for his error in the seventh; without it, Bryant would be on the final step by himself despite his single in the second to extend the lead to 4-0.
- Kid #2 (tie) - Miguel Montero (-.007). And thanks to Panik's error, Montero ends up sharing the final step courtesy of a pinch-hit foulout.
RANKINGS THROUGH NLDS GAME 2:
Heroes |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Jon Lester |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Travis Wood |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Javier Baez |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Ben Zobrist |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Aroldis Chapman |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Willson Contreras |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Goats |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Total |
Anthony Rizzo |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
Ben Zobrist |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Addison Russell |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Jason Heyward |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Kris Bryant |
0 |
0 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
Miguel Montero |
0 |
0 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
Overall |
Hero |
Goat |
+/- |
pWPA |
Jon Lester |
3 |
0 |
3 |
0.535 |
Travis Wood |
3 |
0 |
3 |
0.070 |
Javier Baez |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0.294 |
Aroldis Chapman |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0.155 |
Willson Contreras |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0.051 |
Kris Bryant |
0 |
0.5 |
-0.5 |
-0.007 |
Miguel Montero |
0 |
0.5 |
-0.5 |
-0.007 |
Ben Zobrist |
2 |
3 |
-1 |
-0.029 |
Jason Heyward |
0 |
1 |
-1 |
-0.076 |
Addison Russell |
0 |
2 |
-2 |
-0.041 |
Anthony Rizzo |
0 |
5 |
-5 |
-0.144 |