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Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 44

No, it's not a mirage and you're not seeing things... that *is* actually David Ross at the top of the Hero podium.

"Holy cow... so THIS is what it looks like from up here!"
"Holy cow... so THIS is what it looks like from up here!"
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

And here's Len Kasper on the slick play by Justin Grimm:

Graphs for Game 44 (courtesy of Fangraphs):

Game 44 Chart 2016

Stats for Game 44:

Pitcher

IP

H

HR

ER

BB

SO

pLI

WPA

J Hammel

7.1

4

0

1

3

4

0.2

.083

J Grimm

0.2

0

0

0

0

0

0.06

.003

T Cahill

0.1

0

0

0

0

1

0.01

.000

C Richard

0.2

3

0

1

0

0

0.01

.000

Total

9

7

0

2

3

5

0.15

.086

Batter

AB

R

H

HR

RBI

BB

SO

pLI

WPA

D Ross

3

1

1

0

2

1

1

0.58

.134

J Soler

3

2

2

1

3

2

0

0.51

.097

J Hammel

4

0

1

0

2

0

2

0.3

.069

K Bryant

6

1

2

0

1

0

2

0.3

.057

D Fowler

6

1

3

0

1

0

2

0.21

.052

A Rizzo

4

0

1

0

0

1

0

0.29

.045

B Zobrist

3

2

1

0

0

1

0

0.5

.028

T Federowicz

1

1

1

0

1

0

0

0.01

.000

M Szczur

1

1

1

0

2

0

0

0

.000

J Baez

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

.000

J Heyward

5

0

0

0

0

1

2

0.24

-.012

A Russell

5

2

2

0

0

0

1

0.43

-.058

Total

41

12

15

1

12

6

10

0.34

.414

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 - David Ross (.134). This is truly a banner day for the elder statesman; it's the first time ever that he's seen the top step of the Hero podium.
  • Hero - Jorge Soler (.097). His two-run shot to dead center in the fifth cemented the second spot for him, even if it did make the score 8-0 at the time.
  • Sidekick - Jason Hammel (.083). It's hard to rack up much positive WPA when you're spotted to a 6-0 lead before you even take the mound.  It doesn't take away from his performance, though.

THE THREE GOATS:

  • Billy Goat - Addison Russell (-.058). He did have two hits later in the game, but his fate was determined all in that first at-bat.
  • Goat - Jason Heyward (-.012). The struggle continues...
  • Kid - Clayton Richard (.000). For the first time this season I had to break out the "executive decision" doctrine as there was a five-way tie with Richard (2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER), Trevor Cahill (1/3 IP, 1 K), Matt Szczur (1-1, 3B. 2 RBI), Tim Federowicz (1-1, 1 RBI), and Javier Baez (0-0, HBP) all at .000 for the game.  In this case it seemed like a pretty easy choice.

RANKINGS THROUGH GAME 43: While Ross enjoys the view from the top of the Heroes, Hammel moves back into third on the overall chart, breaking the two-way tie with Miguel Montero.

Heroes

1st

2nd

3rd

Total

Anthony Rizzo

5

4.5

3.5

27.5

Addison Russell

3

6

2

23

Ben Zobrist

5

2

3.5

22.5

Jake Arrieta

6

1

0

20

Jon Lester

5

2

0

19

Kris Bryant

1.5

4.5

4

17.5

Dexter Fowler

1

2

9

16

Miguel Montero

3.5

2

0.5

15

Jason Hammel

4

0

2

14

Jorge Soler

1

2

4

11

Kyle Hendricks

2

1

1

9

Jason Heyward

0

4

0

8

Tommy La Stella

0

2

3.5

7.5

Hector Rondon

1

1

2

7

Adam Warren

0

2.5

1.5

6.5

John Lackey

2

0

0

6

Pedro Strop

1

1

1

6

Travis Wood

1

1

0

5

David Ross

1

0

1

4

Javier Baez

1

0

1

4

Trevor Cahill

0

2

0

4

Justin Grimm

0

0.5

2.5

3.5

Matt Szczur

0

1

0

2

Ryan Kalish

0

1

0

2

Tim Federowicz

0

1

0

2

Clayton Richard

0

0

1

1

Neil Ramirez

0

0

1

1

Goats

1st

2nd

3rd

Total

Jason Heyward

6

8

1

35

Addison Russell

7

2

3

28

Dexter Fowler

5

3

3

24

Kris Bryant

3.5

5.5

2

23.5

Jorge Soler

4

2

7

23

Anthony Rizzo

3

6

2

23

Ben Zobrist

1.5

3.5

4

15.5

Tommy La Stella

2

0

3

9

Javier Baez

0

2

5

9

David Ross

1

2

1

8

Pedro Strop

1

2

0

7

Adam Warren

2

0

0

6

John Lackey

2

0

0

6

Kyle Hendricks

1

1

1

6

Trevor Cahill

1

1

0

5

Miguel Montero

0

2

1

5

Jon Lester

1

0

1

4

Tim Federowicz

1

0

1

4

Travis Wood

1

0

1

4

Hector Rondon

1

0

0

3

Jason Hammel

0

1

1

3

Justin Grimm

0

1

1

3

Matt Szczur

0

1

1

3

Clayton Richard

0

0

3

3

Spencer Patton

0

1

0

2

Kyle Schwarber

0

0

1

1

Neil Ramirez

0

0

1

1

Overall

Hero

Goat

+/-

Jake Arrieta

20

0

20

Jon Lester

19

4

15

Jason Hammel

14

3

11

Miguel Montero

15

5

10

Ben Zobrist

22.5

15.5

7

Anthony Rizzo

27.5

23

4.5

Hector Rondon

7

3

4

Kyle Hendricks

9

6

3

Ryan Kalish

2

0

2

Travis Wood

5

4

1

Adam Warren

6.5

6

0.5

Justin Grimm

3.5

3

0.5

John Lackey

6

6

0

Neil Ramirez

1

1

0

Pedro Strop

6

7

-1

Trevor Cahill

4

5

-1

Matt Szczur

2

3

-1

Kyle Schwarber

0

1

-1

Tommy La Stella

7.5

9

-1.5

Tim Federowicz

2

4

-2

Clayton Richard

1

3

-2

Spencer Patton

0

2

-2

David Ross

4

8

-4

Addison Russell

23

28

-5

Javier Baez

4

9

-5

Kris Bryant

17.5

23.5

-6

Dexter Fowler

16

24

-8

Jorge Soler

11

23

-12

Jason Heyward

8

35

-27