Heroes And Zeroes: Nationals 7, Marlins 5

Heroes and Zeroes is a series where I take each players contribution to the final result (based on weighted plate appearances) of the ballgame. Each participant in the matchup is ranked from best to worst. The top three are "Heroes," the bottom three are "Zeroes." I used the win expectancy chart from www.fangraphs.com to rank these players.

Heroes

Bryce Harper (WAS) .386

Harper, batting fourth for the Nats, started his night by leading off the second inning with a solo home run to get the Nats on the board (+11.0%). He hit a one-out, two-run home run in the third to give the Nats a 4-2 lead they would never relinquish (19.1%). And then, wouldn'tchaknow he topped it with his third home run of the contest in the fifth, with two outs and nobody on for a three-run Nationals lead (+7.9%). He grounded out in the seventh with one out and runners on the corners (+0.5%), scoring Ian Desmond to close his statline.

JT Realmuto (MIA) .159

Real Money batted sixth for the Fish and started off with a no-out, one-on double to left field in the second inning (+11.6%), later scoring on an Adeiny Hechavarria single. He struck out swinging for the second out of the fourth (-1.7%), then did it again for the final out of the sixth (-0.7%). He hit a one-out single with a runner on first in the eighth (+6.8%), but was eventually stranded as Tanner Roark held the line for Washington.

Ian Desmond (WAS) .124

Desmond batted second for the Nats, and reached on a one-out error in the first (+2.4%), getting erased a moment later on a Yuniel Escobar 6-4-3 double play groundout. He doubled to center with nobody out and a man on second in the third (+10.5%), grounded out to shortstop for the first out of the fifth (-1.2%) and singled to right (+0.7%) and later scored on a Bryce Harper groundout in the seventh.

Almost Heroes

Dee Gordon (MIA) .098

Donovan Solano (MIA) .072

Tanner Roark (WAS) .066

Drew Storen (WAS) .064

Denard Span (WAS) .055

Justin Bour (MIA) .043

Wilson Ramos (WAS) .032

Minimal Impact

Bryan Morris (MIA) .011

Michael Taylor (WAS) -.002

Clint Robinson (WAS) -.005

Reid Brignac (MIA) -.007

Ryan Zimmerman (WAS) -.015

Almost Zeroes

Ichiro! Suzuki (MIA) -.027

Sam Dyson (MIA) -.036

Martin Prado (MIA) -.046

Adeiny Hechavarria (MIA) -.057

Yuniel Escobar (WAS) -.058

Max Scherzer (WAS) -.072

Danny Espinosa (WAS) -.074

Zeroes

Giancarlo Stanton (MIA) -.112

Stanton, batting in his customary third spot in the order, flied out with a man on first for the second out of the opening frame (-2.7%). He struck out swinging for the second out of the third (-1.4%), then flew out to short with runners on the corners for the final out of the fifth (-5.9%). In the eighth inning, he tattooed a 3-2 Max Scherzer offering deep into the left-center field bleachers for three runs (+7.2%), but gave it all back and then some with a swinging strikeout with two on for the second out of the ninth (-8.3%).

Marcell Ozuna (MIA) -.153

The Ozone Layer, still in the cleanup spot for the Fish (although I think he should be batting sixth or seventh really), struck out swinging with a man on first to close the first inning (-2.2%). He struck out swinging again to finish the third (-1.0%), flew out to center to open the sixth (-2.1%), grounded out to third with no outs and three in in the eighth (-3.3%), and ended the game with his third swinging strikeout with two on (-6.8%).

Tom Koehler (MIA) -.445

Coca-Koehler did pretty good against most of the Nats, going six innings and striking out five. He walked one and allowed four hits  against everyone not named Bryce Harper, but then there were those three (THREE!!!) home runs.

Last 10 Games

Dee Gordon	0.685
Giancarlo Stanton	0.533
Justin Bour	0.480
Marcell Ozuna	0.403
David Phelps	0.345
Mike Dunn	0.340
Jeff Baker	0.218
Jarred Cosart	0.182
Jhonatan Solano	0.160
Dan Haren	0.145
Donovan Solano	0.089
Brad Hand	0.050
Martin Prado	0.031
Nick Masset	0.010
Sam Dyson	0.005
Adieny Hechavarria	-0.056
Mat Latos	-0.058
Reid Brignac	-0.084
AJ Ramos	-0.118
Mike Morse	-0.207
Ichiro Suzuki	-0.247
JT Realmuto	-0.266
Tom Koehler	-0.309
Steve Cishek	-0.477
Bryan Morris	-0.832

Ichthyomancy

Attendance: 31,417

MiamiSkye took the attendance with a guess of 24,444, just under 7,000 short of the actual figure. He got 1.5 for saying the starting pitchers would combine for at least 12 IP and got another for saying the Nats pitchers would get more K's than the Fish pitchers.]

Jigokusabre got one point for calling out Koehler as a Zero.

sternma got a point for calling the winner, a second for calling Ozuna a Zero, and a third for saying that Scherzer would tally at least six strikeouts (he got 10).

Gatorfan4life got a point by calling Harper a Hero.

gustavopim got a point for saying the Nats would out-strikeout the Fish.

Ichthyomancy Standings

Miami Skye	69
gustavopim	66
Jigokusabre	58
dcfish	43
Kevin Kraczkowski	39.5
Marlon D	35.5
Gatorfan4life	27.5
Bdwatson	25
Jeremy Hulme	22
tomwolf2008	19
Thomas Bennett	14
thenumber95	11
sternma	9

Miami finally gets out of the East for a four-game set at AT&T Park with the defending World Champion San Francisco Giants, starting tomorrow night at 10:15 EST. Get your picks in here or in the GameThread.