Heroes and Zeroes: Padres 5, Marlins 3

Heroes and Zeroes is a series of articles where I use the Wins Probability Added (WPA) metric available at www.fangraphs.com to rank each player to have appeared in any given game. The three players with the highest positive impact are the "heroes," the three with the highest negative impact are the "zeroes."

Heroes

Yangervis Solarte (SD) .176

Solarte batted second for the Padres and doubled with one out in the first off Jose Urena for the first baserunner of the game (+4.1%). In the third, he hit a one-out, RBI triple to right field, scoring Will Venable and giving the Padres a 2-0 lead (+14.4%). He flew out to center to lead off the fifth (-0.4%) and flew out to second base for the second out of the seventh (-0.6%).

Craig Kimbrel (SD) .081

Kimbrel entered the ninth inning with a 5-3 lead and three outs to preserve Odrisamer Despaigne's second win over the Marlins in a week. Kimbrel got Martin Prado to line out to second (+4.2%), Derek Dietrich to hit into a 4-3 groundout (+2.6%), and strike out JT Realmuto looking at a 1-2 pitch (+1.3%).

Joaquin Benoit (SD) .080

Benoit did the same thing as Kimbrel, only one inning earlier. He got Cole Gillespie to fly out to shortstop (+4.0%), Christian Yelich to strike out on a 2-2 pitch (+2.6%), and Casey McGehee to hit into a 5-3 groundout (+1.5%).

Almost Heroes

Matt Kemp (SD) .074

Derek Norris (SD) .070

Mark Rzepczynski (SD) .064

Shawn Kelley (SD) .052

JT Realmuto (MIA) .044

Donovan Solano (MIA) .040

Chris Reed (MIA) .039

Minimal Impact

Adam Conley (MIA) .038

Derek Dietrich (MIA) .018

Justin Upton (SD) .014

Dee Gordon (MIA) .001

Jedd Gyorko (SD) -.004

Clint Barmes (SD) -.010

Will Venable (SD) -.019

Almost Zeroes

Odrisamer Despaigne (SD) -.022

Yonder Alonso (SD) -.026

Justin Bour (MIA) -.028

Alexi Amarista (SD) -.029

Adeiny Hechavarria (MIA) -.052

Casey McGehee (MIA) -.058

Cole Gillespie (MIA) -.071

Zeroes

Christian Yelich (MIA) -.087

Yelich batted third for the Marlins, and started his night with a strikeout with one out and a man on first in the first (-2.9%). He grounded out for the second out of the fourth (-0.8%), and again to open the sixth (-2.5%). He struck out again for the second out of the eighth (-2.6%).

Martin Prado (MIA) -.087

Prado batting fifth, led off the second inning by grounding out to third base (-2.5%). He led off the fifth with a ground out to shortstop (-1.2%), ended the sixth with a groundout to first base (-0.9%), and capped it off by lining out to second to lead off the ninth (-4.2%).

Jose Urena (MIA) -.295

Urena pitched five innings for the Marlins, giving up four earned runs (and one unearned) on eight hits. He struck out two batters and struck out in his only plate appearance.

Best and Worst

MIami's worst moment was Adeiny Hechavarria's fly out in the seventh inning, down by three runs with no out and two men on base (-5.2%).

San Diego's most negative event of the night was Yonder Alonso's first inning ending flyout, with a man on second (-2.9%).

Miami's most significant contribution to a possible victory was JT Realmuto's no out single with a runner on first in the seventh (+8.3%).

San Diego's most positive single-event of the game also ranked as the most impactful play for either team. It was when Yangervis Solarte tripled in Will Venable in the third inning with one out (+14.4%).

Today at 1:10 PM, the Marlins send Jose Fernandez to the mound to try and avoid a San Diego sweep. Fernandez is 15-0 in 23 home starts through his career, and can tie a major league record for consecutive home wins to begin a career. Johnny Allen and LaMarr Hoyt are currently tied with 16. The Friars send James Shields to the mound.