Whether it’s the mosh pit at home plate or the Gatorade bath in front of the dugout, it seems the Cubs come up with a different hero in almost every victory.
But one player has quietly piled up enough clutch hits to lead the majors in a key metric.
Anthony Rizzo is tops in win probability added, an advanced statistic that measures how much a player’s at-bat helps his team win. Briefly explained, a home run with the score tied is more valuable than a dinger in a 15-0 blowout.
Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo has some pretty good MVP credentials - he leads MLB in one pretty impressive stat: http://t.co/ZvLFXaMqy8
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 9, 2015
Rizzo’s 6.69 WPA puts him ahead of the Reds’ Joey Votto (6.26) and Pirates’ Andrew McCutcheon (5.05).
Rizzo is hitting .349 in 86 at-bats with the score within two runs in the seventh inning or later. He is 10-for-17 with runners in scoring position under those parameters, which indicates he has been fantastic in the highest of high-leverage situations.
Kyle Schwarber (2.02) is sixth in the majors and Dexter Fowler (1.51) is 10th in WPA.
