2026 Cubs Heroes and Goats: Game 27

I realize national broadcasts want to have their guys to shill their stuff. It would be so much better if they just pulled one guy from each team and let them work together on the call. At least then we’d have announcers familiar with the players and their relative performances and perspective for their accomplishments. I know some of the national crews are really good. But in baseball, I find that more the exception than the rule. Different than the NFL, each MLB team does have a dedicated team that calls very nearly every game. It doesn’t have to be this way. And you might get some fun interaction with my team/your team stuff. In a lot of cases, I don’t think it could be worse.

Just my two cents.

Three Positives:

• Seiya Suzuki had three hits, one a homer.
• Moisés Ballesteros had a homer and a walk. The walk came against a lefty. I saw them say he saw something like 24 pitches in his first three plate appearances. Plays this game like a guy who’s been around for years.
• Vince Velasquez threw in really low leverage. But, he faced eight batters and recorded seven outs. The Cubs will have most of their bullpen available to chase another win in this series.

Game 27, April 25: Dodgers 12, Cubs 4 (17-10)

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

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero:  Moisés Ballesteros (.200). 1-3, HR, BB, RBI, R
• **Hero:**Seiya Suzuki (.140). 3-4, HR, RBI, R
• Sidekick: Michael Busch (.041). 1-5, RBI

THREE GOATS:

• **Billy Goat:**Colin Rea (-.371). 3.1 IP, 20 BF, 6 H, 4 BB, 6 ER, 4 K (L 3-1)
• Goat: Javier Assad (-.245). 2.1 IP, 16 BF, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 ER, 2 K
• Kid: Dansby Swanson (-.097). 0-4

WPA Play of the Game: With the Dodgers trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the third, Max Muncy hit a one-out, two-run homer to tie the game. (.186)

*Cubs Play of the Game: With the game tied in the fourth inning, Moisés Ballesteros hit a solo homer. (.133)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 26 Winner: Dansby Swanson received 248 of 302 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 +7.5
• Michael Conforto/Shōta Imanaga +7
• Matt Shaw -7
• Jacob Webb -9
• Pete Crow-Armstrong -13

**Current Win Pace:**102

Up Next: With all due respect to Meat Loaf, two out of three here would be terrific. The third and final game of the series at the very reasonable hour of 3:10 central. The Cubs will send Shōta Imanaga (2-1, 2.17, 29 IP) to the mound. He’s been nothing shy of terrific for the Cubs so far this year. He’s allowed two runs on six hits and three walks over his last three starts (19 IP).

Hoffman Estates, IL native (though he attended high school in Georgia) Justin Wrobleski (3-0, 1.88, 24 IP) has arguably been even better for the Dodgers. The 11th-round pick of the Dodgers in 2021 out of Oklahoma State is a rarity in modern baseball. He doesn’t really strike out a ton of hitters (just nine so far). He’s won each of his last three starts, allowing two runs on 12 hits and four walks (20 IP). In the process he won in both Colorado and Toronto, two very different challenges.

This is another tough one. But the Cubs have won some tough matchups lately. Let’s do it again.