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Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 86

As the All-Star Break approaches, Heroes and Goats will be taking an early vacation once again this season.

Perhaps this is Jake Arrieta's problem: There are too many of him on the mound.
Perhaps this is Jake Arrieta's problem: There are too many of him on the mound.
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

I'm telling you, I could take those week-long vacations to Texas for the rest of my life and not grow tired of them. Even though it was close to 100 degrees every day and sunny for all of them (so, basically, your average Texas July) there were still plenty of fun times had at the two Six Flags parks in Arlington and San Antonio. Major kudos to Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington for the best new ride of the two parks, that being the Riddler's Revenge. If you're anywhere in the vicinity of Arlington and have the time to stop by Six Flags, this ride is an absolute must. Here's a video to give you an idea of what the ride is like. (And no, Heroes and Goats is not being sponsored by Six Flags, the state of Texas, or the Riddler.)

And yes, I did have more waffles that were in the shape of the state of Texas. Because it's a requirement, basically.

Graphs for Game 86 (courtesy of Fangraphs):

Game 86 Chart 2016

Stats for Game 86:

Pitcher

IP

H

HR

ER

BB

SO

pLI

WPA

T Cahill

1

0

0

1

3

0

0.14

-.011

C Edwards Jr.

1

1

0

0

1

1

0.54

-.040

T Wood

0

0

0

0

0

0

2.83

-.178

J Arrieta

6

9

2

6

1

6

0.9

-.468

Total

8

10

2

7

5

7

0.74

-.697

Batter

AB

R

H

HR

RBI

BB

SO

pLI

WPA

M Montero

2

1

1

1

2

0

0

1.09

.294

A Rizzo

3

1

1

1

1

2

0

1.18

.190

J Heyward

4

1

2

0

0

0

0

1.11

.103

B Zobrist

4

0

0

0

0

1

1

0.93

.025

K Bryant

4

0

2

0

0

1

1

0.82

.018

T La Stella

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0.29

-.007

A Russell

4

1

0

0

0

0

1

1.16

-.037

A Almora

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

1.03

-.040

J Baez

2

0

0

0

1

1

0

1.37

-.102

W Contreras

4

0

0

0

0

1

3

1.18

-.113

J Arrieta

3

0

0

0

0

0

2

1.29

-.133

Total

32

4

6

2

4

6

8

1.08

.197

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 - Miguel Montero (.294). It's the return of Captain Clutch, as his two-run homer to tie the game was more than enough for the top spot on Friday.
  • Hero - Anthony Rizzo (.190). The only thing that shows up in the WPA logs is his blast to right-center in the top of the seventh to give the Cubs a temporary lead. What's missing is the play in the bottom of the same inning that kept the floodgates open.
  • Sidekick - Jason Heyward (.103). Talk about reversals of fortune: Just 16 games ago Heyward was sitting completely by himself in the muck at minus-31. He's pulled it back to minus-18 since then.

THE THREE GOATS: There's a bump on the final spot of the Goat podium as Jake Arrieta's -.133 hitting is moved out.

  • Billy Goat - Jake Arrieta (-.468). I'm becoming more and more convinced that someone abducted the real Jake Arrieta and has him tucked away in a broom closet somewhere. How that guy found such a great doppleganger for Arrieta, I'd love to know.
  • Goat - Travis Wood (-.178). And here's the recipient of the podium spot courtesy of the aforementioned play in the bottom of the seventh. Could Wood have gotten to that throw? He did get a bit of his glove on it, so the throw wasn't completely off-line, but it was off-line enough to land Wood on the second step.
  • Kid - Willson Contreras (-.133). Earns his podium spot the old-fashioned way: Miss out on four opportunities with runners on, including three strikeouts.

RANKINGS THROUGH GAME 86: Arrieta slips to third on the charts as Rizzo charges back to familiar territory near the top.

Heroes

1st

2nd

3rd

Total

Anthony Rizzo

8

11.5

8

55

Addison Russell

7

8

5

42

Kris Bryant

4.5

6.5

9

35.5

Jon Lester

9

3

1

34

Ben Zobrist

7

3

6.5

33.5

Jake Arrieta

9

1

0

29

Jason Heyward

2

8

3

25

Miguel Montero

4.5

4

2.5

24

Kyle Hendricks

5

2

2

21

Dexter Fowler

1

3

11

20

Travis Wood

4

3

1

19

Jason Hammel

4

1

5

19

John Lackey

5

1

0

17

Jorge Soler

2

3

5

17

David Ross

2

3

1.5

13.5

Hector Rondon

2

2

3

13

Javier Baez

2

2

3

13

Tommy La Stella

1

3

3.5

12.5

Willson Contreras

3

0

1

10

Adam Warren

1

2.5

1.5

9.5

Pedro Strop

1

2

2

9

Albert Almora Jr.

2

1

0

8

Trevor Cahill

0

3

0.5

6.5

Justin Grimm

0

1.5

3.5

6.5

Matt Szczur

0

2

1

5

Chris Coghlan

0

1

1

3

Clayton Richard

0

1

1

3

Jeimer Candelario

0

1

0

2

Joel Peralta

0

1

0

2

Ryan Kalish

0

1

0

2

Tim Federowicz

0

1

0

2

Spencer Patton

0

0

1.5

1.5

Carl Edwards Jr.

0

0

1

1

Gerardo Concepcion

0

0

1

1

Neil Ramirez

0

0

1

1

Goats

1st

2nd

3rd

Total

Addison Russell

10

9

6

54

Jason Heyward

8

9

1

43

Kris Bryant

6.5

8.5

6

42.5

Dexter Fowler

8

6

5

41

Anthony Rizzo

5

9

2.5

35.5

Ben Zobrist

3.5

7.5

9

34.5

Javier Baez

4

3

9

27

Jorge Soler

4

3

9

27

Pedro Strop

3

3

1

16

Adam Warren

4

1

0

14

Miguel Montero

1

4

3

14

Travis Wood

3

1

2

13

John Lackey

4

0

0

12

Kyle Hendricks

2

2

1

11

Albert Almora Jr.

1

2

4

11

David Ross

1

2

3.5

10.5

Jake Arrieta

3

0

1

10

Justin Grimm

2

1

2

10

Tommy La Stella

2

0

4

10

Hector Rondon

2

1

1

9

Trevor Cahill

2

1

1

9

Jason Hammel

1

2

2

9

Matt Szczur

0

3

2

8

Willson Contreras

0

3

2

8

Jon Lester

2

0

1

7

Chris Coghlan

1

1

1

6

Clayton Richard

1

0

3

6

Tim Federowicz

1

0

1

4

Jeimer Candelario

0

2

0

4

Joel Peralta

1

0

0

3

Gerardo Concepcion

0

1

0

2

Spencer Patton

0

1

0

2

Carl Edwards Jr.

0

0

1

1

Kyle Schwarber

0

0

1

1

Neil Ramirez

0

0

1

1

Overall

Hero

Goat

+/-

Jon Lester

34

7

27

Anthony Rizzo

55

35.5

19.5

Jake Arrieta

29

10

19

Miguel Montero

24

14

10

Kyle Hendricks

21

11

10

Jason Hammel

19

9

10

Travis Wood

19

13

6

John Lackey

17

12

5

Hector Rondon

13

9

4

David Ross

13.5

10.5

3

Tommy La Stella

12.5

10

2.5

Willson Contreras

10

8

2

Ryan Kalish

2

0

2

Carl Edwards Jr.

1

1

0

Neil Ramirez

1

1

0

Spencer Patton

1.5

2

-0.5

Ben Zobrist

33.5

34.5

-1

Joel Peralta

2

3

-1

Gerardo Concepcion

1

2

-1

Kyle Schwarber

0

1

-1

Jeimer Candelario

2

4

-2

Tim Federowicz

2

4

-2

Trevor Cahill

6.5

9

-2.5

Albert Almora Jr.

8

11

-3

Matt Szczur

5

8

-3

Chris Coghlan

3

6

-3

Clayton Richard

3

6

-3

Justin Grimm

6.5

10

-3.5

Adam Warren

9.5

14

-4.5

Kris Bryant

35.5

42.5

-7

Pedro Strop

9

16

-7

Jorge Soler

17

27

-10

Addison Russell

42

54

-12

Javier Baez

13

27

-14

Jason Heyward

25

43

-18

Dexter Fowler

20

41

-21