On the 30th anniversary of the infamous 8/8/88 date, the first night game to be played ever at Wrigley Field, that ended up being rained out, let’s look at the Cubs this season and the Cubs 30 years ago on this date. Here is Cubs current team status line and the last time we did this.
CHN Team Status
BAT | PITCH | Rs | Ra | W | L | UR | LR | TeamID | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
55.6 | 37.9 | 527 | 428 | 61 | 44 | 4.6 | 0.9 | CHN | 7/30/2018 |
58.6 | 39.7 | 565 | 460 | 66 | 47 | 5.0 | 1.7 | CHN | 8/8/2018 |
BAT flat, PITCH flat, UR up a little, and the Cubs went 5-3 gaining 2 games with a real WAA=+19. The PE estimate based upon run differential is now around +21 so the Cubs are converging on expectation. This usually averages out in the long run. Here are the current top Cubs based on this data model. Note: The below sort only uses CHN contributions. Chavez and Kintzler will be listed below in the relief section.
Top Cubs
Rank | WAA | Name_TeamID | Pos | |
---|---|---|---|---|
+007+ | 6.61 | Javier_Baez_CHN | 2B-SS-3B | |
+064+ | 2.71 | Steve_Cishek_CHN | PITCH | |
+092+ | 2.18 | Ben_Zobrist_CHN | 2B-LF-RF | |
+101+ | 2.10 | Anthony_Rizzo_CHN | 1B | |
+103+ | 2.10 | Jason_Heyward_CHN | RF-CF | |
+112+ | 2.04 | Jon_Lester_CHN | PITCH | |
+129+ | 1.89 | Brandon_Morrow_CHN | PITCH | |
+178+ | 1.49 | Kyle_Schwarber_CHN | LF | |
+182+ | 1.47 | Pedro_Strop_CHN | PITCH | |
XXXXX | 1.22 | Kris_Bryant_CHN | 3B | |
XXXXX | 1.18 | Carl_Edwards_CHN | PITCH | |
XXXXX | 1.03 | Mike_Montgomery_CHN | PITCH |
Baez still in top ten and sill at +007+. He leads the race for NL MVP according to this data model but there are 7 more weeks left in this season. Let’s look at how Cubs stack up with the rest of MLB with regards to lineup, starters, and relief.
CHN Tier Data
Type | Tier | Name_Teamid | WAA | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lineups | 1 | CHN | 14.87 | |
SP | 3 | Cole_Hamels_CHN | -0.80 | |
SP | 3 | Kyle_Hendricks_CHN | 0.13 | |
SP | 2 | Jon_Lester_CHN | 2.04 | |
SP | 3 | Jose_Quintana_CHN | -0.02 | |
SP | 3 | Mike_Montgomery_CHN | 1.03 | |
RP | 2 | CHN | 6.89 |
Cole Hamels is now Tier 3 average and almost above water with his WAA. Lester dropped to Tier 2 and everyone else in the rotation is average. Relief at Tier 2 and lineup top of the league (based upon their last lineup).
CHN Relief
Rank | WAA | Name_TeamID | Pos | |
---|---|---|---|---|
+064+ | 2.71 | Steve_Cishek_CHN | PITCH | |
+164+ | 1.62 | Jesse_Chavez_TOT | PITCH | |
+182+ | 1.47 | Pedro_Strop_CHN | PITCH | |
XXXXX | 1.18 | Carl_Edwards_CHN | PITCH | |
XXXXX | 0.90 | Brandon_Kintzler_TOT | PITCH | |
XXXXX | 0.82 | Justin_Wilson_CHN | PITCH | |
-100- | -1.81 | Tyler_Chatwood_CHN | PITCH | |
Total | 6.89 |
Duensing on DL and Rosario must have been optioned off. Our source for these rosters might not be totally up to date and the Cubs move players around a lot.
Blast from the Past 8/8/88
It was a shocking development to see lights in Wrigley Field that day. The Cubs didn’t go to the playoffs again until 1989 however. Let’s see how they were doing on this day 8/8/88.
CHN Team Status
BAT | PITCH | Rs | Ra | W | L | UR | LR | TeamID | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-37.0 | 24.0 | 431 | 440 | 53 | 56 | 4.5 | -0.4 | CHN | 8/8/1988 |
Bad BAT, good PITCHing and at 53-56 the Cubs were almost even steven for the season.
Top Cubs on 8/8/88
Rank | WAA | Name_TeamID | Pos | |
---|---|---|---|---|
+037+ | 3.61 | Greg_Maddux_CHN | PITCH | |
+110+ | 1.72 | Andre_Dawson_CHN | RF | |
+130+ | 1.53 | Al_Nipper_CHN | PITCH | |
+132+ | 1.53 | Jamie_Moyer_CHN | PITCH | |
XXXXX | 1.07 | Pat_Perry_CHN | PITCH | |
XXXXX | 0.50 | Rich_Gossage_CHN | PITCH | |
XXXXX | 0.46 | Vance_Law_CHN | 3B | |
XXXXX | 0.34 | Les_Lancaster_CHN | PITCH | |
XXXXX | 0.29 | Shawon_Dunston_CHN | SS |
Only 4 guys in top 200. Maddux pitching well ranked #37. He finishes the year ranked #74. This is his first above average season in his HOF career. Maddux doesn’t explode as a superstar until 1992, his final season with the Cubs.
Update 8/9/2018: Just realized there are a few notable players missing from the above list. Since Cubs on 8/8/88 were slightly below average, not everyone can be valued as a superstar. Even HOF players, like Ryne Sandberg, have off years and this was one of them. On this day his full line looked like this.
Rank | WAA | BA | OBP | PA | RBI | R | Name_TeamID | Pos | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
XXXXX | -0.36 | 0.254 | 0.316 | 456 | 44 | 52 | Ryne_Sandberg_CHN | 2B | 8/8/88 |
XXXXX | 0.48 | 0.264 | 0.322 | 679 | 69 | 77 | Ryne_Sandberg_CHN | 2B | Full 1988 |
He’s only slightly below average on 8/8/88 and has a good August and September to finish the year above average. Sandberg goes on a run for the next four years which propels him into the HOF. Here’s another notable player left out.
Rank | WAA | IP | ERA | Gs | Gr | Name_TeamID | Pos | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
XXXXX | 0.02 | 144.7 | 3.79 | 21 | 0 | Rick_Sutcliffe_CHN | PITCH | 8/8/88 |
XXXXX | -0.88 | 226.0 | 3.86 | 32 | 0 | Rick_Sutcliffe_CHN | PITCH | Full 1988 |
Sutcliffe on the other hand was almost completely average on 8/8/88 and didn’t pitch well during August and September. Here is how the Cubs ended that season.
BAT | PITCH | Rs | Ra | W | L | UR | LR | TeamID | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-10.1 | -30.0 | 660 | 694 | 77 | 85 | -1.5 | 1.7 | CHN | 1988 |
Other than being the first year for lights at Wrigley 1988 was a highly forgettable season overall — much like many years to follow and many years preceding. That is all for this update. Usually good historical Cubs teams are highlighted here where we don’t run into this problem of leaving out star players. End of Update 8/9/2018
Average teams are average because of their players and the above reflects that. And to reminisce a little more, here are the top ten players at the end of the 1988 season.
Top MLB players 1988
Rank | WAA | Name_TeamID | Pos | |
---|---|---|---|---|
+001+ | 10.56 | Jose_Canseco_OAK | RF-DH | |
+002+ | 8.99 | Kirby_Puckett_MIN | CF | |
+003+ | 8.97 | Orel_Hershiser_LAN | PITCH | |
+004+ | 8.32 | David_Cone_NYN | PITCH | |
+005+ | 8.21 | Dave_Henderson_OAK | CF | |
+006+ | 7.92 | Dwight_Evans_BOS | RF-1B | |
+007+ | 7.73 | Dave_Winfield_NYA | RF | |
+008+ | 7.01 | Will_Clark_SFN | 1B | |
+009+ | 6.99 | Darryl_Strawberry_NYN | RF | |
+010+ | 6.83 | Mark_Gubicza_KCA | PITCH |
Dodgers with Orel Hershiser win the World Series that year. That is all for now. Until then ….