Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Top Play (WPA): While this game certainly had its fair share of important moments, there was little payoff on situations that could have dramatically altered the outcome. All three of the top plays by WPA came with the Pirates on offense and none of them topped .130. The highest of these was the Sean Rodriguez homer in the third inning (.126) that tied the game up 1-1.
Bottom Play (WPA): Just as with the top plays, there were few negative plays that drastically changed the probability of the outcome. The lowest of these was a swinging strikeout by Corey Hart in the top of the fourth inning (-.105) with runners on second and third and one out. This effectively killed one of Pittsburgh’s best chances to change the course of the game.
Key Moment: Jon Lester gave seven solid innings for the Cubs Saturday, but already being over 100 pitches, was replaced in the eighth by none other than Brian Schlitter. Schlitter rejoined the team prior to the game, presumably as a temporary measure after the Cubs had to tax their bullpen in Friday’s extra-innings win. Cubs fans could be excused for having trepidation about the sight of Schlitter entering the game in the eighth inning of a three-run game. Unfortunately he did nothing to alleviate those fears as he allowed a single to Starling Marte (.039) and a double to Jung-ho Kang (.114), advancing Marte to third. Thankfully, Phil Coke and Jason Motte went 1-2-3 in relief of Schlitter, getting the Cubs out of the inning and helping to seal the victory. Coke and Motte have both been up and down this season, but when they’re on, they are a big help to this team.
Trend to Watch: Travis Wood picked up the save in this game in what was his first relief appearance as a Cub. There had been lots of speculation the last few days that the Cubs would look to supplant Wood in the rotation with Tsuyoshi Wada, as the latter’s Triple-A rehab assignment has officially ended. The Cubs had a tired bullpen coming into tonight’s game after taking 12 innings to secure a victory the day before and so it was clear Joe Maddon would have to get creative. Wood began warming up in the eighth inning, which seemed to indicate that Wada would indeed be taking Wood’s spot in the rotation. Maddon confirmed this after the game:
Wood staying in pen. #Cubs to talk rotation tomorrow. Wada seems the choice
— Bruce Miles (@BruceMiles2112) May 16, 2015
The interesting thing will be to see how Wood is used in the bullpen. He looked good tonight in a full-inning, late-game spot, but that’s just one appearance. Maddon might very well be inclined to try him out in high-leverage spots, given how overused the Cubs most reliable relievers have been this season. It’s certainly something to keep an eye on and we can all certainly hope that Wood bolsters a tired and often inconsistent bullpen and that Wada does the same for the back end of the rotation.
Coming Next: The Cubs (21-15) will look to complete the sweep of the Pirates (17-20) tomorrow and extend the winning streak to seven. Jake Arrieta (3.00 ERA, 2.34 FIP, 3.55 DRA) takes the mound for the Cubs, while the Pirates send out ageless wonder A.J. Burnett (1.60 ERA, 3.07 FIP, 3.58 DRA), who may very well never retire.