2021 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 13

An off day and a (reduced capacity) home crowd weren’t enough to turn the Cubs‘ fortunes around. The pitching wasn’t quite as bad as it has been lately, allowing “only” five runs. The offense wasn’t as bad as it has been, scoring two whole runs. The offense actually left scores of runners on base. That’s a new problem. So far in 2021, they haven’t been having enough runners on base to notice particularly leave them on base.

I have to always hit the pause button. It’s so important as a baseball fan to neither get too high, nor get too low. But, this sure feels like it’s going to get real bad, real fast. At this early stage of the year, all Cubs fans can really do is hope that they are going to put the brakes on it and at least be competitive. Or maybe we don’t. Maybe what Cubs fans really want is for things to get real bad and to tear it all down and start over. The Darvish trade brought four young players that at least have some relatively high potential upside. Maybe, they need to pull off a couple more of those deals.

All I know for sure is that this is getting hard to watch quickly. I’m sure there are some seasons that I’ve blacked out of my memory or just didn’t pay any attention to, but I can’t remember the Cubs being this inept since the 1990s. Usually, the Cubs field a team that is good at least on side of the ball or the other. But right now, it feels like a rally is right around the corner for the other team at all times. And on offense, it feels like there is a rally killer that could happen at any time.

Tomorrow is another day. I just keep hoping that the next day is going to be the one where they start to turn it around. Until then, we cover another loss.

With that, we’ll turn our attention to Heroes and Goats. As you’ll recall, the Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA (Win Probability Added) and are not in any way subjective. Many days WPA will not tell the story of what happened, but often it can give at least a glimpse to who rose to the occasion in a high-leverage moment or who didn’t get the job done in that moment. With that, let’s get to the results.

Game 13, April 16: Braves 5, Cubs 2 (5-8)

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Willson Contreras (.116). 2-4, HR (3), HBP, RBI, R, K
• Hero: Anthony Rizzo (.101). 1-3, 2BB, K
• Sidekick: Pedro Strop (.036). 1IP (5 batters faced), 1H, 1BB, 0R, 2K

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Zach Davies (-.261). 4IP (22 batters faced), 7H, 3BB, 4R, 1K (L 1-2)
• Goat: Kris Bryant (-.197). 0-4, BB, 2K, DP
• Kid: Joc Pederson (-.154). 1-5, K

WPA Play of the Game: Ronald Acuña Jr. batted with runners on second and third and two outs in the fourth inning. The score was tied at one. Acuña singled and two runs scored. (.205)

*Cubs Play of the Game: Willson Contreras led off the fifth inning with a solo homer off of Kyle Wright. That cut the deficit to only 4-2. (.097)

Up Next: The Cubs and Braves meet again on Saturday afternoon. Trevor Williams should make the start for the Cubs. The last time he pitched at home he was terrific. Let’s hope he can duplicate that feat and the Cubs can get back in the win column.