2022 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 107

Al’s suggested a handful of times that he might write a recap one day that simply says the Cubs lost and give the score. Particularly from a Heroes and Goats standpoint, this one felt like one of those games. The Cubs mustered two hits, neither for extra bases, and drew two walks. They only allowed three runs so that’s good. Generally if you allow three or fewer, you are going to win more than you are going to lose.

In an Earth-shattering statistic, teams that score zero runs remain winless in baseball history. And this isn’t hockey, you don’t get partial credit for it being 0-0 heading to bonus time. So there really wasn’t a lot to talk about, write about or even think about with this one.

The Cubs aren’t a very good baseball team, but this wasn’t even one of those games. They didn’t beat themselves. The Marlins played a crisp game and the Cubs lost. I do have at least a small amount of concern that the Cubs have been shut out three times in their last seven games. In those seven games, they’ve scored a total of 11 runs and won just twice.

This is at least a little odd, because they traded four pitchers. All the hitters that have made key contributions to this team are still here. To the extent that your preference is that the Cubs win games at this point, it’s a good thing Willson Contreras is still here. In those seven games, he’s been the Superhero twice and the Sidekick once. He’s contributing, but there just isn’t much else going on.

Ironically, the Cubs have only allowed 30 runs over those seven games. To be sure, 30-11 over any stretch is not a good thing. But, it’s not like the pitching staff has gotten lit up.

I committed months ago to trying to find three positives in each game, so we’re going to try to stick to it. Let’s see if we can find three positive performances on a pretty negative day.

1. Kervin Castro gets the easy top spot. He faced three batters and retired them all. It’ll be interesting to see if the Cubs can find some value in another waiver pickup.
2. Yan Gomes has to get the nod. He had a single and a walk. The Cubs only had four baserunners and the Marlins only needed to face 29 Cubs hitters to record 27 outs. Gomes was easily the most effective Cub offensively.
3. I’ll give Nick Madrigal the other nod. He had one hit in four tries. His bat has had some life in it since he returned to the team.

And now we turn our attention to the Heroes and Goats from Sunday’s loss.

Game 107, August 7: Marlins 3 at Cubs 0 (43-64)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Yan Gomes (.053). 1-2, BB
• Hero: Kervin Castro (.021). IP (3 batters)
• Sidekick: Sean Newcomb (.016). IP (5 batters), H, BB, 2K

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Nelson Velazquez (-.102). 0-3, K, DP
• Goat: Willson Contreras (-.092). 0-4
• Kid: Nico Hoerner (-.085). 0-3

WPA Play of the Game: With no outs and a runner on second in a scoreless game, Jacob Stalling hit a two-run homer off of Adrian Sampson. (.171)

*Cubs Play of the Game: With runners on first and second with one out in the first, Sampson got Nick Fortes to ground into an inning-ending double play. (.086)

Rizzo Award Cumulative Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• David Robertson +22.5
• Nico Hoerner +20.5
• Scott Effross +17
• Christopher Morel +14
• Patrick Wisdom +10.5
• Daniel Norris/Frank Schwindel -9.5
• Yan Gomes -11
• Rafael Ortega -11.5
• Jason Heyward -15.5

Up Next: The Cubs host the Nationals Monday night. The Nationals come in at 36-74, the worst record in baseball. Keegan Thompson (8-5, 3.48) will start for the Cubs. Anibal Sanchez (0-4, 7.65) will start for the Nationals. Sanchez is one of those guys where it is hard to believe he is still around, as he debuted way back in 2006. He was last a productive major league starter in 2019. He missed the entire 2021 season and this one hasn’t been kind through his first four starts, all losses. I do not think it is hyperbole to suggest this is the most favorable matchup the Cubs have had this year.