2025 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 17

This game almost became as silly to write about in the good direction as the previous two games did in the wrong direction. The subtle difference here is that this one was a 2-0 game through six innings. The final score is not indicative of how much of a nail-biter as this one was for those six innings.

Because of the way the game unfolded, WPA actually gets it right. Ben Brown is up there at the top and that is fitting. This was his first really strong outing of the year. It was a clear reminder of just why the Cubs are being patient trying to work him into the rotation. To my eye, the picture with him has shifted. Last year when I watched Ben, I really had trouble imagining him being able to carry the load of a starter. But his stuff was so electric, you could understand why they wanted to use him that way. This year, I see a guy who looks a bit stronger. But I hadn’t seen the flashes if being able to harness the ability.

On Saturday night, Ben harnessed the ability. Through six innings, he allowed five hits, no walks and no runs to one of the best lineups he’s likely to ever see. They may not be locked in as a group right now, but that lineup remains fearsome. I can’t find enough positive words for the performance Saturday night. We saw Ben better once last year, but we are hopefully seeing him blossoming.

That’s a great point for me to shift to something I’ve been watching.

Pitch Count:

• Cubs: 124 (13.77 per inning/3.86 per batter)
• Dodgers: 186 (20.67 per inning/3,51 per batter)

So this is a point I got to yesterday. As much as the 20.67 pitches per inning the Cubs saw on Saturday is a massive number, it’s actually more a factor of the rout than it is any large degree of patience. This is actually a fantastic outcome, because it’s what I’ve been talking about. This was organic. This was batters being selective, looking for pitches they could drive and driving them.

As much as the game was only 2-0 through six, the Cubs were a handful of close plays away from busting the game wide open in the first six innings, including Andy Pages going back and up to take a long fly ball that was either going to be a grand slam or the longest of base-clearing doubles for Michael Busch.

There were several of those balls that sent Dodgers outfielders off running to chase down impressive fly balls. For six innings, they ran down almost every one of them. For the final three innings, just about all of them found space either in a gap or in the stands at Dodger Stadium.

Before I move to the three stars, I wanted to use this space to tip my hat to Gage Workman. Before Saturday night, he had never had a hit above the Double-A level in his young career. Saturday night, he had a pair of hits, one a double. He scored two runs. Regardless of what follows for him, this is a night he’ll forever remember.

Now we move to those three stars.

Three Stars:

1. Brown’s excellent outing does not get lost in the noise of a 16-0 win.
2. It is not often that you can have a potential grand slam taken away. It is even less often that in that same game you put up four hits, two doubles, a homer, three runs driven in and four runs. This could have been a titanic game and was still impressive.
3. When it gets to 16-0, there are at least half a dozen choices for this spot. Carson Kelly is the other guy who I think most helped get this game lopsided. This has been a storybook start to the season for Kelly. The first cycle of his career and now the second two homer game of his career.

Game 17, April 12: Cubs 16, Dodgers 0 (10-7)

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

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Ben Brown (.368). 6 IP, 22 BF, 5 H, 0 BB, 0 R, 5 K (W 2-1)
• Hero: Carson Kelly (.126). 3-3, 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 RBI, 3 R
• Sidekick: Michael Busch (.125). 4-6, HR, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 4 R

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Seiya Suzuki (-.081). 0-2
• Goat: Dansby Swanson (-.079). 1-5, RBI
• Kid: Pete Crow-Armstrong (-.071). 1-6, 2B, R

WPA Play of the Game: Michael Busch led off the second with the first homer Roki Sasaki has allowed as an MLB pitcher. (.109)

*Dodgers Play of the Game: Such was the dominance of Brown that the Dodgers offense didn’t really generate any positive WPA. With one out in the third, Sasaki faced Seiya Suzuki with the bases loaded and got a line drive that was caught for the second out. (.071)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Yesterday’s Winner: Matthew Boyd received 122 of 132 votes.

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

• Kyle Tucker +11
• Shōta Imanaga/Matthew Boyd +6
• Jon Berti/Miguel Amaya/Carson Kelly +4
• Dansby Swanson -4
• Ben Brown -5
• Matt Shaw -7

Up Next: The Cubs haven’t officially named a starter for the game, though Craig Counsell said that Colin Rea (0-0, 0.00, 5⅓ IP) is likely to start. Colin is 26-20, 4.52 in 452 career innings (97 G, 76 GS). He started 27 games for the Brewers last year and was a relatively effective starting pitcher. Tyler Glasnow (1-0, 6.43, 7 IP) starts for the Dodgers. He allowed five runs on two hits and five walks in just two innings in April on April 6. He was excellent on March 31 in a win against the Braves, throwing five scoreless and allowing two hits and three walks while striking out eight.

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