Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 17

This just in: David Ross can bunt.  And he can dance, too.

.@D_Ross3 does it all! A suicide squeeze scores @javy23baez and the #Cubs lead 3-0, top 4. #LetsGo pic.twitter.com/n6x5w1NJ6S

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 23, 2016

Graphs for Game 17 (courtesy of Fangraphs):

Stats for Game 17:

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:

• Superhero - Jon Lester (.281).  He has three starts this season with a game score of 66 or higher.  It took him until June 20 last season in his 14th start to reach that same mark.
• Hero - Anthony Rizzo (.110).  Absolutely mashed a slider in the lower part of the zone for his third homer in three days.
• Sidekick - David Ross (.095).  Always great to see the elder statesman crack the Hero podium; it's only the fourth time that he's done it in a Cub uniform.

THE THREE GOATS: The bump machine starts up once again as Lester's -.009 hitting is moved out, making two podium bumps in a row and one from each side.

• Billy Goat - Dexter Fowler (-.056).  Finally got his revenge on the BABIP gods with a ringing double in the ninth, but by then it was way too late to make a WPA difference.
• Goat - Kris Bryant (-.055).  Also joined the double parade in the ninth, but his earlier at-bats did him in.
• Kid - Ben Zobrist (-.008).  The last man standing on the negative side of the WPA fence.

RANKINGS THROUGH GAME 17: Once again there's a logjam of starting pitchers at the top of the plus/minus chart as Lester does his best to stay with Jake Arrieta and Jason Hammel at the top of the list.