2026 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 20

Jameson Taillon did not look sharp early and then said as much during his postgame interview. But he got better as his start wore on. Just under half of Jameson’s starts as a Cub have been quality starts. We all know that not all quality starts are created equal. Without any digging, there are some clunkers surely within that batch of games. But we also know that there are some good ones that didn’t reach the minimum definition. In the modern game, there a lot of pretty good starts that don’t reach six innings. He’s now gone six innings three straight times. He’s hanging around and giving the team a fighting chance. He’s a good rotation piece for the marathon part of the process.

Importantly, Jameson has stayed largely healthy throughout his Cub tenure. That’s becoming a valuable skill. Any once perceived existence of depth has been decimated by a swath of early season pitching injuries. I’ll admit to having blind spots for players on other rosters around the MLB. I put better than 90% of my baseball focus on the Cubs, so while I self-identify as a pretty knowledgeable Cub fan, I admit to being a casual baseball fan’s knowledge of modern players. That is even worse when it comes to minor league players. Years ago, when the team was rebuilding, I woke up every day to read prospect stories (mostly written by Josh). But again, flying blind. At this point, I have to confess to being largely unaware of more than a third of the present Cub pitchers. I feel like I probably heard the names Hoby Milner and Jacob Webb somewhere in the past and feel like I was vaguely aware of Riley Martin. But I’m going to need a scorecard sooner than later.

It’s hard not to be at least a little distressed about the mounting injury toll. It’s another display of the fickle nature of baseball that the injuries and the first sustained winning streak of the year are contemporaries of one another. You may have heard me say in the past that the road to the top isn’t guaranteed and isn’t a straight line. Ask the Toronto Blue Jays. They seemed to finally break through last year. They are off to a really rough start to 2026. Maybe they’ll be able to draw on some past success to turn their early struggles around. But they certainly don’t yet look like the team that got within a few inches of winning last year’s World Series.

After the Mets leave town, things are going to get a lot harder. The Phillies come to town for four, then the Cubs go west to face the Dodgers and Padres. All of that happens without a day off. Sunday’s game against the reeling Mets is a big one. Get this sweep. It could be almost a month before the Cubs face a team with a losing record. Right now today, it looks like a month straight of games against teams that are over .500 and either in first or second place in their division. This is a brutal stretch of games. The Cubs are probably going to need even more from their offense that has come to life over the last week or so. And they’ll likely doing it while facing better starting pitching and some of the more dominant relievers in the game today.

Oh yeah, also I had the math wrong yesterday on the Cub win pace. Writing at the end of a long day can be challenging. Anyway, the up to date math has the Cubs on an 89-win pace. But hey, they are on a 162-win pace over their last four. Stats are all about framing and context.

Buckle up.

Three Positives:

• Jameson Taillon threw six innings, allowing five hits and three walks but only one run. It’s not a work of art, but it led the Cubs to victory.
• Ian Happ had a solo homer and drew two walks. He scored twice.
• Carson Kelly got only the one plate appearance. That one plate appearance was a three-run homer.

Game 20, April 18: Cubs 4, Mets 2 (11-9)

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

THREE HEROES:

• **Superhero:**Carson Kelly (.346). 1-1, HR, 3 RBI, R
• Hero: Jameson Taillon (.226). 6 IP, 24 BF, 5 H, 3 BB, ER, 4 K (W 1-1)
• Sidekick: Ian Happ (.112). 1-2, HR, 2 BB, RBI, 2 R

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat:Pete Crow-Armstrong (-.080). 0-3
• Goat: Dansby Swanson (-.068). 0-3
• Kid: Nico Hoerner/Alex Bregman (-.063). 0-4/0-4

WPA Play of the Game: Carson Kelly’s three-run pinch hit homer with two outs in the sixth inning. (.340)

*Mets Play of the Game: Mark Vientos hit a solo shot with one out in the second inning for the game’s first run. (.110)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 19 Winner: Nico Hoerner received 119 of 191 votes

Rizzo Award Standings:(Top 3/Bottom 3)

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.

• Nico Hoerner +12.5
• Carson Kelly +7
• Edward Cabrera/Daniel Palencia +5
• Phil Maton -6
• Matt Shaw -8
• Pete Crow-Armstrong -15

Up Next: The Cubs will seek their first sweep and five-game winning streak of the season. Javier Assad (1-1, 8.10, 10 IP) makes his third start of the year. Tobias Myers is a 27-year-old righty, originally drafted by the Orioles with the 181st overall pick in the 2016 draft out of Winter Haven, Florida. This season he is 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA in 13 relief innings. He started six games last year as a Brewer. He doesn’t appear stretched out to start. David Peterson normally takes this turn in the Mets rotation but has allowed 14 ER in just 19.2 IP.

There a lot of teams that face the Cubs and I feel sorry for. The Mets are not one of them, despite having a family member who is a (NJ resident) Mets fan. Kick them while they are down and sweep this series.