Heroes and Zeroes is a series where I use www.fangraphs.com to rank each player's gameday. It is not meant to say one player is better than any other player. WPA is a context dependent measurement in which each play is judged on it's probable impact on the outcome of the game. It is a statistic that is meant to divide credit amongst the winning team and blame across the losing team. If you were to follow the link at the end of this paragraph, or even add all the numbers in this article together, they will add up to zero. The winning team is responsible for 0.5 wins, and the losing team is responsible for -.5 wins. The statistic has properties such that an 81-81 team, at the end of the season, will have a collective WPA of exactly zero. Source material for today's game can be found here.
Heroes
First Hero: Wily Peralta (.220)
Peralta earned the win for Milwaukee. He pitched seven innings in total, allowing two walks while striking out four. He allowed only four hits, including Neil Walker's seventh inning two-run homer (-.095). He earned a .246 WPA on the mound, striking out in his only two at bats (-.026).
Second Hero: Aramis Ramirez (.200)
Ramirez flew out in the second inning (-023), hit a two run home run in the fourth (.221 WPA), grounded out in the sixth (-.003), and singled in the eighth (.005).
Third Hero: Neil Walker (.082)
For the second night in a row, Pittsburgh plated multiple runs on a home run while in a 4-0 hole. Unfortunately, it happened only once this time. Walker singled to left field in the second (.026), grounded out in the fourth (-.028), hit a home run with Russell Martin on first base in the seventh (.095), and struck out swinging to end the game in the ninth (-.011).
Almost Heroes
Jim Henderson (.072), Francisco Rodriguez (.071), Carlos Gomez (.060), Mark Reynolds (.042), Bryan Morris (.035).
Nearly Neutral
Jody Mercer (.000), Russell Martin (-.005), Scooter Gennette (-.005), Richie Weeks (-.008).
Below Average
Jose Tabata (-.013), Jonathan Lucroy (-.029), Khris Davis (-.032), Andrew McCutchen (-.034), Jean Segura (-.044), Ryan Braun (-.047), Travis Snider (-.057), Pedro Alvarez (-.105).
Third Zero: Starling Marte (-.112)
Marte struck out looking to lead off the game (-.022), struck out swinging in the third inning (-.039), grounded out to lead off the sixth (-.016), and bunted out to the pitcher to lead off the eighth (-.036).
Second Zero: Travis Ishikawa (-.114)
Ishikawa closed Pittsburgh's second inning by grounding into a double play with Neil Walker on the base paths (-.053). He would go on to ground out in the fifth (-.028) and fly out in the seventh (-.033).
First Zero: Francisco Liriano (-.178)
Liriano started out well, getting through the first three innings with no walks, no hits, and five swinging strikeouts (.151). He opened the fourth by walking Carlos Gomez (-.043), inducing two ground outs (.055), and giving up the big blast to Aramis Ramirez (-.221). He would go on to give up another home run in the fifth (-.088) along with an RBI single. He finished up the night with seven strikeouts and an in-game WHIP of 1.000 (four hits and two walks in six innings). Not too bad, but he also gave up the two home runs and a total of four RBI for an in-game ERA of 6.00.
Rolling 10 game WPA
First Hero: Starling Marte (.474)
Second Hero: Mark Melancon (.467)
Third Hero: Neil Walker (.424)
Third Zero: Clint Barmes (-.374)
Second Zero: Wandy Rodriguez (-.385)
First Zero: Travis Snider (-.480)