Perspective Check: Four teams with more wins than the Cubs, three teams with the same number of wins as the Cubs. Win pace is 89.6. Two games left before the All-Star break and the trade deadline is just over three weeks away (Aug. 3). With the All-Star break next week, the unofficial start to trading season occurs. The Red Sox, Tigers and to a lesser extent Orioles have heated up a bit. There are only two fully obvious sellers in the AL, the A’s are probably playing themselves into selling position.
In the NL, three teams are primed for selling and the Reds are heading in that direction. The Padres could find themselves there too. But it’s going to take a couple of weeks to sort all of that out.
On the field? Hunter Greene returned to form and dominated the Cubs. The Cubs had just four hits in the game and Greene threw seven innings, striking out 12. That just completely took any wind that might have existed out of the Cub sails. Shōta Imanaga was pretty strong, allowing a run over five, despite allowing seven hits. The one run was a solo homer. Jake Woodford was not good and put the game out of reach in the wrong direction with a bad inning.
This isn’t even a make excuses game. The other team’s starter shoved and that was about all there is to say about that. Hunter Greene and Elly De La Cruz might be their two best players and they both played like stars in this one. Are the Cubs two biggest stars Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch? They were 0-8 with five strikeouts.
This is a total flush game. Nothing to see here. Move along.
Three Positives:
- Seiya Suzuki was really one man alone in this one. Two hits, one a double.
- Trent Thornton faced three hitters in a scoreless inning, allowing a single but getting a double play.
- Ian Happ had a single and a walk. Very quiet three game hitting streak (4-11, BB, no xBH).
Game 94, July 10: Reds 4, Cubs 0 (52-42)
Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.
THREE HEROES:
- Superhero: Shata Imanaga (.133). 5 IP, 23 BF, 7 H, BB, R, 5 K (L 5-8)
- Hero: Seiya Suzuki (.092). 2-4, 2B
- Sidekick: Ian Happ (.070). 1-3, BB
THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat: Jake Woodford (-.173). 2 IP, 11 BF, 5 H, 3 R, 3 K
- Goat: Michael Conforto (-.170). 0-3
- Kid: Nico Hoerner (-.154). 0-3
WPA Play of the Game: Elly De La Cruz’s solo homer in the fifth for the game’s first run. (.134)
Cubs Play of the Game: That double play that Trent Thornton drew with no outs in the sixth. (.072)
Cubs Player of the Game:
Game 93 Winner: Seiya Suzuki 92% of 60 votes.
Rizzo Award 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.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong +24
- Carson Kelly +15.5
- Michael Busch +14
- Ben Brown +13.5
- Trent Thornton +12.5
- Dansby Swanson -9
- Edward Cabrera -9.5
- Phil Maton -10
- Seiya Suzuki -11.5
- Caleb Thielbar -15
Up Next: Game two of the three-game set. Javier Assad (6-1, 4.15) set to start for the Cubs. On July 5, he threw 4.2 scoreless innings against the Cardinals. Nick Lodolo (3-2, 4.68) starts for the Reds. He’s trending well, 2-1, 4.17 over his last seven.
Find a win.
