2026 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 16

Reminder: I’m on vacation all this week and will be a little briefer than usual this week. Thanks for your patience.

At least once in every season, a baseball fan’s faith will be tested. Losing nine of 16 games is not particularly a sky-is-falling stretch. The easiest example that hits close to home is the 2016 Cubs losing 15 of 20 in one stretch. That isn’t to say that an early season stretch like this can’t be damaging. It certainly can be.

Losing Cade Horton for the season is a trajectory-altering occurrence. The seasons of Jameson Taillon, Shōta Imanaga, Javier Assad, Colin Rea, Justin Steele and Ben Brown now have all taken on added significance. Imanaga and Rea look to be on the right track. Will they stay there? How many of the others will get on track? That group has to somehow patch together enough innings to pair with a very good Cubs defense to get them on track as a team. This organization should have the financial and prospect capital to grab an impact player or two this summer. But, the guys in the clubhouse have to position them into the race if that’s going to happen.

Monday night, Javier Assad was just not the pitcher we saw in his season debut a week ago. This looked more like the numbers he put up in two starts for Iowa. Frustratingly, had the Cubs cut bait on him earlier, maybe the game wasn’t out of reach. If the game had sequenced differently, no doubt Philadelphia would have approached their side of the equation differently. But, this one got a heck of a lot closer at the end.

It isn’t often that you lose by six and can say also that the game wasn’t as close as the final score.

Three Positives:

• Dansby Swanson had a homer, drew a walk, scored twice and drove in two.
• Moises Ballesteros had two hits in two at bats, one a double. He scored one and drove one in.
• Miguel Amaya had a pair of hits. He was also hit by pitch and had one run scored.

Game 16, April 13: Phillies 13, Cubs 7 (7-9)

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

THREE HEROES:

• **Superhero:**Carson Kelly (.087). 1-2, BB, R
• **Hero:**Alex Bregman (.079). 1-4, BB
• Sidekick: Dansby Swanson (.057). 1-3, HR, BB, 2 RBI, 2 R

THREE GOATS:

• **Billy Goat:**Javier Assad (-.362). 4.1 IP , 26 BF, 11 H, 2 BB, 9 ER, 3 K (L 1-1)
• Goat: Ian Happ (-.103). 2-5, 2B, R, DP
• Kid: Pete Crow-Armstrong (-.097). 1-5, RBI, R

WPA Play of the Game: Dansby Swanson’s two-run homer in the fourth cut it to 4-2. (.117)

*Phillies Play of the Game: In the top of the fifth, Ian Happ batted with runners on first and second and one out, the Cubs down two. He grounded into an inning ending double play. (.113)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Up Next: Game two of the series Tuesday night. Colin Rea (1-0, 3.18, 11.1 IP) should get the bulk of the innings, following Riley Martin (0-0, 0.00, 3.1 IP) as an opener. Aaron Nola (1-1, 3.63, 17.1 IP) gets the start for the Phillies.