2024 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 126

I do promise to get back to usual, but I hit the road early tomorrow for a drive to Miami. After what was basically a 13 hour travel day Sunday, a 4½ hour drive Wednesday morning is just perfect. And then the return trip Thursday. I ought to be fully back to normal by about Sunday. Tonight was a bowling night and Thursday night a board meeting. Three jobs makes for fun challenges.

Anyway, you aren’t here to hear about me. You want to check in on the Cubs and what WPA had to say about their efforts. On Tuesday night, the Cubs were back in action and they continued their season-long dominance against the AL. Despite that speed bump in Cleveland last week (that I’m magically able to black out), the Cubs are now 24-14 against American League teams. Has anyone tried petitioning for a move? At 10 games over .500, the Cubs, you could construct an argument that the Cubs are only 2½ out of the last AL wild card spot. Unfortunately, nothing works that way.

It is hopefully indisputable in the year 2024 that Javier Assad is the better of the two Javiers that played in this game. But Assad is going to have do a whole lot to get anywhere near the spot Baez has in my heart. The Cueto game back in 2016 is the only playoff game I’ve ever been to and so Baez is responsible for my most cherished live memory. The Baez era was one of my favorite in all of my years as a Cubs fan.

Certainly, Assad was the better of the two on Tuesday night. He turned in a strong start, his best since returning from an earlier injury. Baez struck out four times in four tries. The move to Detroit appears to have been stifling to his career. That’s sad for me to see. I’m not sure the Cubs front office gets enough credit for their decision making on when to cut bait on players.

I think Assad is the first star of the night with one out shy of six innings of work, one run allowed, six hits, one walk and seven strikeouts.

The second is Cody Bellinger and if you had them flip-flopped, I totally get it. Two hits, one a crucial two-run double.

Dansby Swanson gets my third star of the night. His solo homer gave the Cubs a little wiggle room in the first game post-Hector Neris. The Cubs managed only five hits and four walks. Some sequencing, a homer, a double and a walk were all keys in making the meager production stretch into three runs.

*Note: Shota Imanaga’s August 12 start had a WPA of -.490 and was the 10th lowest of the season to date.

Game 126, August 20: Cubs 3, Tigers 1 (62-64)

Fangraphs

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

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Cody Bellinger (.228). 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI
• Hero: Javier Assad (.181). 5⅔ IP, 23 batters, 6 H, BB, R, 7 K (W 6-3)
• Sidekick: Dansby Swanson (.119). 1-2, HR, BB, RBI, R

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Seiya Suzuki (-.116). 0-3, BB
• Goat: Isaac Paredes (-.101). 0-4
• Kid: Miguel Amaya (-.072). 0-3

WPA Play of the Game: Cody Bellinger’s two-run double in the fifth. (.260)

*Tigers Play of the Game: Dillon Dingler tripled leading off the fifth, the Tigers up one. (.102)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Sunday’s Winner: Shōta Imanaga received 115 of 136 votes.

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 +17.5
• Seiya Suzuki +12.5
• Ben Brown/Mark Leiter Jr. +11
• Porter Hodge +10
• Adbert Alzolay -10
• Pete Crow-Armstrong -10.5
• Kyle Hendricks/Miguel Amaya -11
• Christopher Morel -20.5

*Suzuki dropped four spots while I was out of town, Taillon also dropped four to fall out of the top five. The bottom five was a lot more stable. From last night’s game, Bellinger moves to +7, Assad up to 9.5, Swanson up to -6. Suzuki continued his drop to a fading second, Paredes down to -7, Hoerner to 0.

Up Next: Jameson Taillon will start the second game of the series. The Cubs keep flirting with getting back to .500 but just can’t get over the hill. This is another opportunity to get back to one under. They’ve only reached one under once since June 6. Let’s make it twice.