2024 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 158

The Cubs hitters were really good on Tuesday night, coming off an impressive win over the Phillies that, despite all the adversity, pushed them to the 81-win mark and secured a season finish of .500 or better. We can wonder what could have been, but we can also give credit to the players on the field and the coaches for correcting course and finishing strong.

Whether you looked at Tanner Banks as an opener or playing out of the bullpen, the Phillies went an uncharacteristic direction yesterday and it didn’t work out very well for them. Banks faced eight batters, the most he’s faced in a game since he had a couple of such appearances with the White Sox in July. He had appearances with 10 and 13 batters with the Sox in April.

But last night he had trouble getting through eight. He allowed three hits and also hit a batter before walking with the bases loaded. All three runs scored. Taijuan Walker, who sometimes holds out a few times and has made 15 starts for the Phillies, was second. He fared no better, facing 12 batters and allowing four hits and three walks, in addition to allowing three runs.

Like I said, I always want to acknowledge that all teams use the majority of their power against second-rate pitchers. But I do want to acknowledge how effective the Cubs are against those second-rate pitchers. Especially in the last two months or so, this team has occasionally just out-hit another team. For a team that is decidedly mediocre offensively, they are incredibly outmatched.

If the Cubs can’t find an elite hitter to match, my next choice will be a patient hitter with a lot of bases. The 2016 Cubs pitched teams to death at times. The continued focus on the bullpen has somewhat diminished the effectiveness of that strategy. But if you can take the starters out of the game in four or five innings, it’s still very difficult to cover the last five innings of a game.

Even a team as good as the Phillies had trouble covering this game. Of course, this wasn’t their “A” relief group. I understand that. But most teams don’t have “A” coverage for five innings anyway.

This was a collective effort. The Cubs managed a total of 15 hits, four walks, and two hit batters. They had four doubles and a triple. It’s unusual to score 10 runs without a home run or a ton of drawn walks. This was largely an avalanche of singles. The decisive inning of the game featured four singles, two walks, and a hit batter. So there were free bases, but it was mostly station-to-station baseball with almost the entire lineup contributing. In fact, there wasn’t a play in that inning where a Cubs advanced more than one base. That’s an awfully difficult way to score six runs.

With the win, the odds of surpassing last year’s win total increase significantly. They need two wins in four games to tie and three to surpass. The Cubs have Jameson Taillon and Shōta Imanaga lined up for the series. It’s unclear how much either will pitch. Fangraphs has them tied at 83, but I wouldn’t rule out them hitting 84.

Let’s get to the stars of this performance.

Three stars:

1. Cody Bellinger had three hits, including a triple, and scored four runs.
2. Nico Hoerner also had three hits, one of which was a double. He scored one run. The Cubs used 11 different batters in this game and eight of them scored at least one run.
3. Seiya Suzuki had two hits, one of which was a double, and walked one. He scored two runs and batted in two runs.

Game 158, September 24: Cubs 10, Phillies 4 (81-77)

Fangraphs

As a reminder, Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA ratings and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Seiya Suzuki (.134). 2-3, 2B, BB, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Hero: Miguel Amaya (.093). 2-4, BB, RBI, 2 R
• Buddy: Ian Happ (.061).

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Isaac Paredes (-.058). 0-5, RBI
• Goat: Mike Tauchman (-.018).
• Child: Patrick Wisdom (-.001).

WPA move of the game: Seiya Suzuki was at bat with runners on second and third base and two outs, the Cubs leading by two. He hit a single and scored a run. (.131)

*Phillies play of the game: Bryce Harper hit a solo home run with two outs in the first inning to score the first run of the game. (.103)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Yesterday’s winners: Isaac Paredes received 37 of 96 votes, Mike Tauchman (22) came second.

Overall Rizzo Award score: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

The award is named after Anthony Rizzo, who won the category three times out of the first four years it was introduced and four times overall. He also earned the highest season total of all time at +65.5. The points scale ranges from three points for a superhero to minus three points for a goat.

• Shōta Imanaga +23.5
• Seiya Suzuki +18.5
• Christian Bethancourt +16
• Jameson Taillon +15
• Javier Assad +12.5
• Jordan Wicks -10.5
• Kyle Hendricks -11
• Miles Mastrobuoni -12
• Isaac Paredes -14
• Christopher Morel -20.5

* Suzuki back in second place and trying to launch a late attack on the win. Amaya out of the last five at -10, Happ up to +1.5. Paredes slipped to second to last place, Tauchman slipped to +4.5, Wisdom at -8.

Next: The Cubs can win this series and even the season series against the Phillies with a win. Javier Assad (7-5, 3.34) makes his last start of the season.