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Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 17

It's another strong night for the starting rotation as Jon Lester joins the party with his third Superhero award in his first four starts of the season.

"Hey, Jason!  Jake!  Wait for meeeee!"
"Hey, Jason! Jake! Wait for meeeee!"
Joe Robbins/Getty Images

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

Graphs for Game 17 (courtesy of Fangraphs):

Game 17 Chart 2016

Stats for Game 17:

Pitcher

IP

H

HR

ER

BB

SO

pLI

WPA

J Lester

7

5

1

1

1

4

0.94

.281

P Strop

1

0

0

0

0

1

0.66

.050

J Grimm

1

0

0

0

0

0

0.02

.001

Total

9

5

1

1

1

5

0.81

.333

Batter

AB

R

H

HR

RBI

BB

SO

pLI

WPA

A Rizzo

3

1

1

1

1

2

0

0.44

.110

D Ross

2

0

0

0

2

0

1

0.8

.095

J Baez

4

3

2

1

1

0

1

0.82

.047

A Russell

4

1

1

0

0

0

0

0.65

.027

J Heyward

4

1

1

0

1

1

1

0.48

.016

T La Stella

1

1

1

0

0

0

0

0.03

.001

B Zobrist

2

0

1

0

0

2

0

0.59

-.008

J Lester

2

0

0

0

1

0

0

0.53

-.009

K Bryant

5

0

1

0

1

0

2

0.42

-.055

D Fowler

5

1

1

0

1

0

0

0.53

-.056

Total

32

8

9

2

8

5

5

0.56

.167

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.

Heroes

1st

2nd

3rd

Total

Anthony Rizzo

2

2.5

1.5

12.5

Jake Arrieta

3

0

0

9

Jason Hammel

3

0

0

9

Jon Lester

3

0

0

9

Jorge Soler

1

1

3

8

Dexter Fowler

0

2

4

8

Miguel Montero

1.5

1

0.5

7

Addison Russell

1

2

0

7

Kris Bryant

0.5

2.5

0

6.5

Adam Warren

0

2

0

4

Jason Heyward

0

2

0

4

John Lackey

1

0

0

3

Kyle Hendricks

1

0

0

3

Matt Szczur

0

1

0

2

Pedro Strop

0

1

0

2

Ben Zobrist

0

0

2

2

Hector Rondon

0

0

2

2

David Ross

0

0

1

1

Justin Grimm

0

0

1

1

Neil Ramirez

0

0

1

1

Tommy La Stella

0

0

1

1

Goats

1st

2nd

3rd

Total

Addison Russell

5

0

2

17

Jason Heyward

2

5

0

16

Kris Bryant

0.5

4.5

0

10.5

Dexter Fowler

3

0

1

10

Ben Zobrist

1

2

3

10

Anthony Rizzo

1.5

1.5

1

8.5

Jorge Soler

1

1

1

6

Kyle Hendricks

1

0

1

4

John Lackey

1

0

0

3

Trevor Cahill

1

0

0

3

Miguel Montero

0

1

1

3

Matt Szczur

0

1

0

2

Pedro Strop

0

1

0

2

Tommy La Stella

0

0

2

2

David Ross

0

0

1

1

Jon Lester

0

0

1

1

Kyle Schwarber

0

0

1

1

Neil Ramirez

0

0

1

1

Travis Wood

0

0

1

1

Overall

Hero

Goat

+/-

Jake Arrieta

9

0

9

Jason Hammel

9

0

9

Jon Lester

9

1

8

Anthony Rizzo

12.5

8.5

4

Miguel Montero

7

3

4

Adam Warren

4

0

4

Jorge Soler

8

6

2

Hector Rondon

2

0

2

Justin Grimm

1

0

1

John Lackey

3

3

0

Matt Szczur

2

2

0

Pedro Strop

2

2

0

David Ross

1

1

0

Neil Ramirez

1

1

0

Kyle Hendricks

3

4

-1

Tommy La Stella

1

2

-1

Kyle Schwarber

0

1

-1

Travis Wood

0

1

-1

Dexter Fowler

8

10

-2

Trevor Cahill

0

3

-3

Kris Bryant

6.5

10.5

-4

Ben Zobrist

2

10

-8

Addison Russell

7

17

-10

Jason Heyward

4

16

-12