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Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 53

It's yet another top podium spot for the starting rotation as John Lackey's six-plus innings of shutout ball -- before the circus came to town in the eighth -- earned him his fourth Superhero of the season.

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

#thatsnothowyoudoit

Graphs for Game 53 (courtesy of Fangraphs):

Game 53 Chart 2016

Stats for Game 53:

Pitcher

IP

H

HR

ER

BB

SO

pLI

WPA

J Lackey

6.2

5

0

0

2

9

1.09

.356

P Strop

1

0

0

0

0

1

1.57

.117

A Warren

0.1

0

0

0

0

0

3.3

.083

J Grimm

1

1

0

0

0

2

0.07

.002

Total

9

6

0

0

2

12

1.08

.559

Batter

AB

R

H

HR

RBI

BB

SO

pLI

WPA

A Rizzo

3

0

2

0

1

1

0

1.04

.207

A Russell

1

1

1

0

2

0

0

1.07

.100

J Soler

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0.37

.010

T Federowicz

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0.01

.000

T La Stella

3

0

1

0

0

0

2

0.9

-.008

J Heyward

5

1

1

0

0

0

2

0.56

-.010

K Bryant

3

1

1

0

0

0

1

0.75

-.018

M Montero

2

1

0

0

0

2

1

0.84

-.027

J Baez

4

1

1

0

2

0

3

0.91

-.056

J Lackey

2

0

0

0

0

0

2

1.17

-.059

D Fowler

4

0

0

0

0

0

2

0.78

-.098

B Zobrist

2

1

0

0

0

2

0

1.19

-.100

Total

30

6

7

0

5

6

13

0.82

-.059

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 - John Lackey (.356). Fun Fact: His ERA is down to 2.88 for the season. And it's the highest in the starting rotation.
  • Hero - Anthony Rizzo (.207). I'd love to see the MLB StatCast route efficiency of Chris Owings on Rizzo's RBI double in the sixth. Something tells me it was pretty low.
  • Sidekick - Pedro Strop (.117). Pitched a strong eighth inning. Back when the game was still close.

THE THREE GOATS: It's the third day in a row of podium bumps as Lackey's -.059 hitting is moved out.  It's the fourth podium bump he's caused this year, all from the Goats.

  • Billy Goat - Ben Zobrist (-.100). Although he had two intentional walks, the fact that they both came with two out and a runner already in scoring position caused them to not deflect the needle all that much.
  • Goat - Dexter Fowler (-.098). Almost had the unfortunate honor of being the only player in the starting lineup -- other than Lackey -- to not reach base, but the pitch that grazed him in the eighth took him off the hook.
  • Kid - Javier Baez (-.056). Was one strike away from the Golden Sombrero before his two-run double followed by Owings' Knoblauch-esque throw into the stands.

RANKINGS THROUGH GAME 53: Lackey and Rizzo climb toward the front of the second pack while Zobrist slips back toward even ground.

Heroes

1st

2nd

3rd

Total

Anthony Rizzo

5

6.5

4.5

32.5

Ben Zobrist

5

2

5.5

24.5

Jake Arrieta

7

1

0

23

Jon Lester

6

2

1

23

Addison Russell

3

6

2

23

Kris Bryant

2.5

5.5

4

22.5

Dexter Fowler

1

2

11

18

Jason Hammel

4

1

2

16

Miguel Montero

3.5

2

1.5

16

Jorge Soler

2

2

5

15

Kyle Hendricks

3

2

1

14

John Lackey

4

0

0

12

Jason Heyward

0

5

0

10

Tommy La Stella

0

3

3.5

9.5

Hector Rondon

1

2

2

9

Travis Wood

2

1

0

8

Javier Baez

2

0

1

7

Pedro Strop

1

1

2

7

Adam Warren

0

2.5

1.5

6.5

David Ross

1

1

1

6

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

Addison Russell

9

4

3

38

Kris Bryant

6.5

7.5

3

37.5

Jason Heyward

6

8

1

35

Dexter Fowler

5

4

4

27

Jorge Soler

4

3

9

27

Anthony Rizzo

3

7

2.5

25.5

Ben Zobrist

3.5

3.5

4

21.5

Tommy La Stella

2

0

4

10

Javier Baez

0

2

6

10

David Ross

1

2

1.5

8.5

Adam Warren

2

1

0

8

Travis Wood

2

0

1

7

Pedro Strop

1

2

0

7

John Lackey

2

0

0

6

Kyle Hendricks

1

1

1

6

Clayton Richard

1

0

3

6

Matt Szczur

0

2

2

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

Hector Rondon

1

0

0

3

Jason Hammel

0

1

1

3

Justin Grimm

0

1

1

3

Spencer Patton

0

1

0

2

Jake Arrieta

0

0

1

1

Kyle Schwarber

0

0

1

1

Neil Ramirez

0

0

1

1

Overall

Hero

Goat

+/-

Jake Arrieta

23

1

22

Jon Lester

23

4

19

Jason Hammel

16

3

13

Miguel Montero

16

5

11

Kyle Hendricks

14

6

8

Anthony Rizzo

32.5

25.5

7

John Lackey

12

6

6

Hector Rondon

9

3

6

Ben Zobrist

24.5

21.5

3

Ryan Kalish

2

0

2

Travis Wood

8

7

1

Justin Grimm

3.5

3

0.5

Pedro Strop

7

7

0

Neil Ramirez

1

1

0

Tommy La Stella

9.5

10

-0.5

Trevor Cahill

4

5

-1

Kyle Schwarber

0

1

-1

Adam Warren

6.5

8

-1.5

Tim Federowicz

2

4

-2

Spencer Patton

0

2

-2

David Ross

6

8.5

-2.5

Javier Baez

7

10

-3

Matt Szczur

2

6

-4

Clayton Richard

1

6

-5

Dexter Fowler

18

27

-9

Jorge Soler

15

27

-12

Addison Russell

23

38

-15

Kris Bryant

22.5

37.5

-15

Jason Heyward

10

35

-25