2024 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 77

Jameson Taillon served up exactly the kind of start the Cubs were looking for after Shōta Imanaga was knocked around on Friday. In that situation, you are all but begging for a competitive start out of the next day’s starter. You dream of the kind of dominant outing he actually had. Exactly the kind of start that re-balances things and gives you a chance to win the series and the homestand.

There haven’t been nearly enough of these comfortable wins this year. All too often, even when the Cubs win, it has felt like every game has taken its toll on the Cubs season. It can be amusing to see how short the memories are of Cubs fans. This season hasn’t been anywhere near as awful as some even in recent memory. But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been frustrating. For me, the weight of expectations has made this one worse.

That said, even while being frustrated, even while starting to turn some of my mental energy to 2025 and beyond, I do keep coming back to the idea that this team is very much alive and is in contention. It does not take a run of any kind of epic proportion to get this team back into the thick of things. At just a 55 percent win rate for the rest of the year, they win 85 games. That number alone has some chance of reaching the postseason.

What if Julian Merryweather, Adbert Alzolay and Ben Brown all returned to this team healthy and productive? Could they replicate their start to this season over a similar stretch? How can you explicitly rule it out? How many teams are going to pull back on the reins in August and September. How many teams will have injury woes of their own? How many teams might be tempted to trade an expiring contract and look to next year?

We can’t know these things. More likely than not, this team fades and loses 90ish games at this point. That’s where inertia takes them. But it isn’t a miracle turn around if they play over .500 the rest of the way. That’s half the fun of following sports. You think you know, but you can’t be sure. There is probably a team with the Cubs record or worse currently that ends up a going down to the wire for a playoff spot. It certainly could be the Cubs. They do have the starting pitching to buoy a run.

It sure would help to have some more games like Saturday’s if they are going to make a run. First and foremost it doesn’t give the bullpen any chance to implode and give the game away. But also, it allows Craig Counsell to look at the next game or two and which pitchers he would like to have ready and able to go. There isn’t much reason to think that the Sunday game is a lost cause. Win that game, leave town having won four of five. A decent road trip and you no longer appear like a team left for dead after breaking down in the desert.

Let’s find the three biggest positives from a very positive game.

1. Jameson Taillon gave the Cubs the start they needed. Seven innings, one run, a solo homer, no walks, ten strikeouts. It was, perhaps, his best start of the year.
2. Three Cubs had two hits and one other Cub reached base three times. But my offensive player of the game is Christopher Morel. Single, homer, two runs, two runs batted in.
3. Pete Crow-Armstrong needs some games like this. Single, triple, run batted in, run.

Game 77, June 22: Cubs 8, Mets 1 (37-40)

Fangraphs

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

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Jameson Taillon (.142). 7 IP, 27 batters, 6 H, R, 10 K (W 4-3)
• Hero: Seiya Suzuki (.134). 2-4, 2B, RBI, R, SB
• Sidekick: Christopher Morel (.087). 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Michael Busch (-.022). 0-3, BB, R
• Goat: Ian Happ (-.003). 0-4, RBI
• Kid: Tomas Nido (-.001). 1-4, 2B, RBI, R

WPA Play of the Game: Seiya Suzuki batted with runners on first and second with one out in a scoreless first inning. He singled, driving in the first run of the game. (.118)

*Mets Play of the Game: With a runner on first and no outs in the first, Trevor Megill got Michael Busch to ground into a fielder’s choice. (.033)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Yesterday’s Winner: Cody Bellinger 43 of 87 votes. Porter Hodge second with 28.

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.

• Shōta Imanaga/Jameson Taillon +12
• Ben Brown +11
• Michael Busch +9
• Seiya Suzuki +8.5
• Adbert Alzolay/Miguel Amaya -10
• Nico Hoerner -12
• Kyle Hendricks -13
• Christopher Morel -14

*A shakeup at the top with Michael Busch and Jameson Taillon switching spots. Seiya Suzuki leap frogs Ian Happ (+5). Tomas Nido is the 41st Cub to appear in Heroes and Goats this year. Christopher Morel takes a baby step forward.

Up Next: A chance for a series win. Sunday night baseball with Javier Assad (4-2, 2.75) on the mound. Javier has been very consistent in keeping his team in the game. Luis Severino (4-2, 3.52). He dominated the Cubs back on April 29, allowing one run on one hit and two walks in eight innings of work. The Cubs ended up winning that one 3-1 behind a very strong effort from Jameson Taillon when they scored two in the ninth.