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Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 119

The lead at the top of the charts changes hands once again as Jon Lester picks up his team-leading 12th Superhero of the season in the Cubs' 6-1 win on Wednesday night.

David Banks/Getty Images

Maybe the bullpen uses robot stand-ins during the actual game.  #NobodyFlinch

Graphs for Game 119 (courtesy of Fangraphs):

Game 119 Chart 2016

Stats for Game 119:

Pitcher

IP

H

HR

ER

BB

SO

pLI

WPA

J Lester

6.2

3

0

1

2

7

0.4

.133

C Edwards Jr.

1.1

1

0

0

0

1

0.27

.017

T Wood

1

0

0

0

0

1

0.07

.005

Total

9

4

0

1

2

9

0.36

.155

Batter

AB

R

H

HR

RBI

BB

SO

pLI

WPA

B Zobrist

4

1

2

0

1

0

1

0.58

.129

J Soler

4

1

2

1

3

0

0

0.39

.117

A Russell

4

1

1

0

1

0

1

0.53

.058

K Bryant

2

1

0

0

0

0

0

0.47

.057

D Fowler

4

1

1

0

0

1

1

0.3

.023

D Ross

2

1

1

1

1

2

1

0.12

.020

J Heyward

4

0

1

0

0

0

0

0.1

.005

J Baez

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0.04

-.001

J Lester

2

0

0

0

0

1

1

0.17

-.002

A Rizzo

4

0

0

0

0

0

1

0.58

-.062

Total

31

6

8

2

6

4

6

0.36

.345

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 Ramirez Catalyst of Game 119: This one came down to the thinnest of margins. With two on and one out in the bottom of the first, Ben Zobrist lines a single through the right side of the infield to score Dexter Fowler and give the Cubs the first run of the five that they would score in the inning.  WPA impact: +.123.

THE THREE HEROES:

  • Superhero - Jon Lester (.133 / .131). As has been the case several times this season among the entire starting rotation, the only thing that kept Lester's WPA down in this game was the fact that the score was 5-0 by the time the second inning started. In this case, he was still able to hang on to the top spot despite the first-inning heroics of...
  • Hero - Ben Zobrist (.129). ...who got most of his second step from his single in the first, with his subsequent single in the second applying the finishing touch.
  • Sidekick - Jorge Soler (.117). When I said "the thinnest of margins" above, I wasn't lying; Soler's three-run bomb in the first had a WPA impact of +.122. Had it not been for the run-scoring single by Addison Russell that preceded Soler's blast, he probably would have had the Ramirez for the night. I think it's okay to give it to Soler on an honorary basis, though.

THE THREE GOATS:

  • Billy Goat - Anthony Rizzo (-.062). It's sad when all of your friends are hitting the ball all over the place in the first and you fly out to center.
  • Goat - Javier Baez (-.001). Ah, the dreaded early-blowout, late-pinch-hit Goat. (Yes, I did just make that up. But it's been the case a few times this season.) And with Lester's -.002 hitting going into his slash line above, that leaves...
  • Kid (tie) - Jason Heyward and Travis Wood (+.005). ...a two-way Anti-Goat tie for the final step. Heyward's first-inning double wasn't enough to save him, and Wood once again suffers a final step thanks to pitching a scoreless ninth inning. It's a thankless job, I tell you.

RANKINGS THROUGH GAME 119: The combination of Lester's Superhero and Rizzo's Billy Goat puts Lester in a four-point lead at the top, with Rizzo and Jake Arrieta standing just on the other side of the velvet rope to the plus-30 club.

Heroes

1st

2nd

3rd

Total

Anthony Rizzo

11

17.5

10

78

Addison Russell

11

10

11

64

Kris Bryant

6.5

8.5

13

49.5

Jon Lester

12

3.5

2.5

45.5

Ben Zobrist

7

6

10.5

43.5

Jake Arrieta

11.5

2.5

0

39.5

Kyle Hendricks

9

4

2

37

Jason Hammel

8

2

5

33

Dexter Fowler

2

5.5

13.5

30.5

Javier Baez

4

5

6

28

John Lackey

8

1

0

26

Jason Heyward

2

8

4

26

Miguel Montero

4.5

4

2.5

24

Jorge Soler

3

3

7

22

Hector Rondon

2.5

3.5

5

19.5

Travis Wood

4

3

1

19

Tommy La Stella

2

4

3.5

17.5

David Ross

2

3

2.5

14.5

Willson Contreras

3

1

3

14

Adam Warren

1

3.5

1.5

11.5

Trevor Cahill

1

3

0.5

9.5

Matt Szczur

1

2

2

9

Pedro Strop

1

2

2

9

Albert Almora Jr.

2

1

0

8

Justin Grimm

0

1.5

3.5

6.5

Carl Edwards Jr.

0

2

1

5

Chris Coghlan

0

2

1

5

Aroldis Chapman

0

1

1

3

Clayton Richard

0

1

1

3

Jeimer Candelario

0

1

0

2

Joel Peralta

0

1

0

2

Mike Montgomery

0

1

0

2

Ryan Kalish

0

1

0

2

Tim Federowicz

0

1

0

2

Spencer Patton

0

0

1.5

1.5

Gerardo Concepcion

0

0

1

1

Neil Ramirez

0

0

1

1

Goats

1st

2nd

3rd

Total

Addison Russell

11

11

12.5

67.5

Jason Heyward

11

14

5

66

Kris Bryant

10.5

10.5

9

61.5

Ben Zobrist

5.5

12.5

12

53.5

Dexter Fowler

10

7

5

49

Anthony Rizzo

6

13

4.5

48.5

Javier Baez

7

5

11.5

42.5

Jorge Soler

4

3

10

28

Willson Contreras

3.5

5.5

3

24.5

Miguel Montero

3

5

3

22

Pedro Strop

4

4

1

21

John Lackey

5

1

2

19

Travis Wood

4

1

4.5

18.5

David Ross

2

3

4.5

16.5

Adam Warren

4

2

0

16

Matt Szczur

1.5

3.5

4

15.5

Hector Rondon

3

2

1

14

Jon Lester

3

1

1

12

Albert Almora Jr.

1

2

5

12

Kyle Hendricks

2

2

1

11

Jake Arrieta

3

0

1

10

Justin Grimm

2

1

2

10

Tommy La Stella

2

0

4

10

Trevor Cahill

2

1

1

9

Jason Hammel

1

2

2

9

Chris Coghlan

1

1

1.5

6.5

Clayton Richard

1

0

3

6

Carl Edwards Jr.

1

0

1

4

Mike Montgomery

1

0

1

4

Tim Federowicz

1

0

1

4

Jeimer Candelario

0

2

0

4

Joe Smith

0

2

0

4

Aroldis Chapman

1

0

0

3

Brian Matusz

1

0

0

3

Joel Peralta

1

0

0

3

Gerardo Concepcion

0

1

0

2

Spencer Patton

0

1

0

2

Kyle Schwarber

0

0

1

1

Neil Ramirez

0

0

1

1

Overall

Hero

Goat

+/-

Jon Lester

45.5

12

33.5

Anthony Rizzo

78

48.5

29.5

Jake Arrieta

39.5

10

29.5

Kyle Hendricks

37

11

26

Jason Hammel

33

9

24

Tommy La Stella

17.5

10

7.5

John Lackey

26

19

7

Hector Rondon

19.5

14

5.5

Miguel Montero

24

22

2

Ryan Kalish

2

0

2

Carl Edwards Jr.

5

4

1

Trevor Cahill

9.5

9

0.5

Travis Wood

19

19

0

Aroldis Chapman

3

3

0

Neil Ramirez

1

1

0

Spencer Patton

1.5

2

-0.5

Joel Peralta

2

3

-1

Gerardo Concepcion

1

2

-1

Kyle Schwarber

0

1

-1

Chris Coghlan

5

6.5

-1.5

David Ross

14.5

16.5

-2

Jeimer Candelario

2

4

-2

Mike Montgomery

2

4

-2

Tim Federowicz

2

4

-2

Clayton Richard

3

6

-3

Brian Matusz

0

3

-3

Addison Russell

64

67.5

-3.5

Justin Grimm

6.5

10

-3.5

Albert Almora Jr.

8

12

-4

Joe Smith

0

4

-4

Adam Warren

11.5

16

-4.5

Jorge Soler

22

28

-6

Matt Szczur

9

15.5

-6.5

Ben Zobrist

43.5

53.5

-10

Willson Contreras

14

24.5

-10.5

Kris Bryant

49.5

61.5

-12

Pedro Strop

9

21

-12

Javier Baez

28

42.5

-14.5

Dexter Fowler

30.5

49

-18.5

Jason Heyward

26

65.5

-39.5