Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 3

Fun fact: The first thing that came to my mind later in the game when the Cubs had drawn their 10th walk -- something they only did once in 2015 and not at all in 2013 or 2014 -- was "when was the last time the Cubs drew at least 10 walks and scored at least 10 runs?"  It's an uncommon feat for them, to be certain, but it has happened 59 times since 1913 and 12 times since 2000.  The last occurrence came on August 30, 2012 when the Cubs notched a 12-11 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers to bring their record to a robust 50-80. The box score is worth checking out for a good laugh. Or a good cry. One way or the other.

Graphs for Game 3 (courtesy of Fangraphs):

Stats for Game 3:

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 - Anthony Rizzo (.373). Being on the podium every game isn't uncommon for Rizzo; he started the 2015 season making the podium in each of the first four games. Two of those were Goat appearances, but he certainly knows his way to the stairs for each of them.
• Hero - Addison Russell (.189). Got his first hit of the season in the second inning, and his double in the fourth was enough to propel him to the second step.
• Sidekick - Dexter Fowler (.162). After three games of hitting the ball all over the place -- he's hitting .583 (!!) so far this season -- he finally makes his way to the Hero podium thanks in part due to a Jake Barrett wild pitch. The triple that preceded it certainly helped as well, don't get me wrong.

THE THREE GOATS: And only three games into the 2016 season, the first bump on the Goat podium comes into play as John Lackey's -.107 hitting is moved out.  There's still the matter of his pitching, though...

• Billy Goat - John Lackey (-.301). ...and that still stays firmly at the top of the Goats for Thursday.  It was nice to see him still go six innings -- while surprisingly only throwing 84 pitches in the process -- but the start of his outing was too much from which to escape the top step.
• Goat - Miguel Montero (-.143).  A rough 0-for-6 night at the plate that started with a bases-loaded strikeout and saw the best opportunity for a hit get gobbled up by Nick Ahmed behind second base.
• Kid - Tommy La Stella (-.091).  Also couldn't find his way to the hit parade, recording three groundouts on the evening.