MANAGER

11-16
- COACHES
3-4
As of July 12

By: Elizabeth Devita

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few months, putting up some of the best numbers in the While their starting pitchers have held their own, the Blue

In comparison, Houston relievers went 16-10 and owned a

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the season, something the club had not accomplished # INFIELDERS B-T HT WT DOB

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ers as a whole had 41 wins at the midway point, which

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 Kris Bryant Anthony Rizzo
The Cubs defense was as good as it could be through the

August, the Cubs owned a .257 average on opponents

balls in play, the best in the Majors. The Cubs are inde-

preventing opponents runs. Looking at defensive runs

MANAGER
Overall ................................331-377
At Minute Maid Park ...............53-52 clear just how stellar the defense was for the Cubs in 2016
COACHES
through the middle of August. Their prorated 89 defensive
Since 2011 ..............................18-15
runs saved lead the Majors and are 11 more than the sec-
As of August 9
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By: Elizabeth Devita lied 55 DRS and the Astros had 44. But the defense in the
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on the mound played a similarly critical role in run preven- 6 Carl Edwards Jr. R/R 6'3" 170 9/3/1991
The Chicago Cubs continued to ride their wave of success tion. While the defense aided in the pitchers success, it is 28 Kyle Hendricks R/R 6'3" 190 12/7/1989
from 2015 into the 2016 season. The Cubbies kicked off important to note how well the pitching staff was able to put 30 Joe Smith R/R 6'2" 205 3/22/1984
the season with a 17-5 record in April - the best in all of balls in play that enabled productive defense. 34 Jon Lester L/L 6'4" 240 1/7/1984
baseball, which also tied for the most in an opening month 37 Travis Wood R/L 5'11" 175 2/6/1987
in franchise history with the 2008 Cubs. The momentum 38 Mike Montgomery L/L 6'5" 215 7/1/1989
41 John Lackey R/R 6'6" 235 10/23/1978
with the best defense in baseball behind them this season, 46 Pedro Strop R/R 6'1" 220 6/13/1985
with a divisional lead since 2008. The hits kept on coming 49 Jake Arrieta R/R 6'4" 225 3/6/1986
as they started July with the best record in all of baseball The starters owned a 2.70 ERA through July 1, the best in 52 Justin Grimm R/R 6'3" 210 8/16/1988
all of baseball. Though the rotations ERA increased to 3.09 starts dating back to May 22, Kendricks allowed three or 54 Aroldis Chapman L/L 6'4" 215 2/28/1988
after dropping 9 contest from June 30 July 9, it wasnt 56 Hector Rondon R/R 6'3" 230 2/26/1988
ahead on May 24 to 11 games on July 1. However, Chicago enough to knock them out of the top spot. Through the All- impressive consistency on the mound and his ability to # CATCHERS B-T HT WT DOB
saw its biggest slump heading into the All-Star Break, going Star Break, the Cubs had amassed 782 strikeouts, good limit opponents runs is indicative of his continued improve- 3 David Ross R/R 6'2" 230 3/19/1977
for third-most in the Majors. And they showed no signs of ments and success this season. Kendricks leads the rota- 40 Willson Contreras R/R 6'1" 210 5/13/1992
30-July 10. slowing down as the second half progressed. As of Aug.
47 Miguel Montero L/R 5'11" 210 7/9/1983
-
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ing July with a 10-6 record. The pitching staff lowered their
9 Javier Baez R/R 6'0" 190 12/1/1992
ERA to 2.68, which was good for the third-lowest among all
Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo have displayed not only 17 Kris Bryant R/R 6'5" 230 1/4/1992
teams and second-lowest in the National League, during
their defensive superiority throughout their young MLB 18 Ben Zobrist S/R 6'3" 210 5/26/1981
that time. The club kept the ball rolling into August, winning Through 113 games since the start of the season, Cubs
careers, but have consistently proven themselves at the 27 Addison Russell R/R 6'0" 200 1/23/1994
a season-high eight consecutive games to start the month pitchers allowed the fewest hits in all of baseball with 792
plate. The two have had an eerily similar season, leading in 44 Anthony Rizzo L/L 6'3" 240 8/8/1989
- 62 less than the Dodgers who allowed the second fewest
multiple categories. In 110 games played in 2016, the two # OUTFIELDERS B-T HT WT DOB
reach 70 wins in 2016, and through 112 games, had reached pitchers owned a 3.10 ERA through mid-August, the lowest essentially alternated in rankings. Bryant led the club with 8 Chris Coghlan L/R 6'0" 195 6/18/1985
a season-high 30 games over .500. The 2016 Cubs are a - 121 hits and Rizzos 117 ranked second on the team. Rizzo 20 Matt Szczur R/R 6'0" 200 7/20/1989
well-oiled machine. With a scorching hot offense, an unstop- led with 34 doubles, and Bryant ranked second with 26. 22 Jason Heyward L/L 6'5" 240 8/9/1989
pable defense and remarkable arms on the mound, they Bryant notched a club-best 28 homers, and Rizzo followed 24 Dexter Fowler S/R 6'5" 195 3/22/1986
team has been a 25-man battering ram that has smashed its Both starters and relievers proved themselves untouchable with 24. Rizzo led with 82 RBI and Bryants 70 RBI were 68 Jorge Soler R/R 6'4" 215 2/25/1992
way to the top of the game since day one. as the second half continued. As of Aug. 10, relievers owned good for second on the team. Rizzo owned the best batting
average .290 and Bryant owned a close second-best with
Kyle Hendricks .285. Similar to the progression of the team, Bryzzo did
not lose speed during the start to the second half. After the

- most hits on the team with 121 and 117, respectively. Rizzo
dricks owned a 2.17 ERA trailing only Clayton Kershaw
for the lowest in the Majors. He continued to make a strong
case for himself, excelling increasingly with each game. In
the month following the All-Star Break, Hendricks ranked
teammate Jason Hammel and seven other pitchers across
the league.
Coming into August, Hendricks had pitched 7.0 + innings
just twice. From Aug. 1-10, Kendricks matched that season
total, tossing a complete game on Aug. 1 vs. Miami and
tossing 7.1 innings at Oakland on Aug. 7. In that timeframe,
Kendricks was undefeated, giving up just one earned run
led the team with 82 RBI in that span, and Bryant followed
closely with 70. The two both had three homers during that
time. Bryant rode a four-game hitting streak going into the
second game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Aug. 11,
while Rizzo rode a seven-game streak. Bryants 86 runs
at that point were the most in the NL, and Rizzos 70 runs
ranked eighth. The Astros pitching staff will have to focus
intently on not giving up hits to the power duo of Bryzzo,
who clearly worked to see winning ways in 2016.
 Break was the best in the AL. Their run differential ranked
best in the AL West and fourth in the league. It became Robinson Cano Mike Zunino
clear that the Mariners would push themselves hard in the

playoff hopes.

The Astros and the Mariners faced off 13 times through the MANAGER
Overall ....................................35-44
At Minute Maid Park ...............20-22 in Houston and six in Seattle. In the seven games played
COACHES
after May 7, Seattle went 1-6 against Houston. Their only
2016............................................2-5 win in that time came on July 16 in a low-scoring 1-0 game.
As of August 15
While the Mariners and the Astros each took three of the
By: Elizabeth Devita
hand in Houston after sweeping the Mariners in early July.
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seven games played in Houston this season.
18 Hisashi Iwakuma R/R 6'3" 210 4/12/1981
place in the AL West Division. However, the team began 34 Felix Hernandez R/R 6'3" 225 4/8/1986
second half, Cano has been steady in home games. In 15
games since the All-Star Break, Cano owned a .238 batting 35 Wade LeBlanc L/L 6'3" 210 8/7/1984
series in May. Things seemed to be going well for the team, Since rejoining the team from Triple A on July 20, catcher 37 Ariel Miranda L/L 6'2" 190 1/10/1989
until rough stretches and injuries appeared to plague them Mike Zunino has been on the fast track to success. In 38 Vidal Nuno L/L 5'11" 210 7/26/1987
RBI and eight runs scored. He notched his 25th homer of
in June. The pitching staffs three wins on the road ranked his 15 starts since his recall, the team went 11-4 and the 39 Edwin Diaz R/R 6'3" 165 3/22/1994
2016 on Aug. 10 and owned a solid .294 batting average
tied for second-least with the last-place Twins for fewest 45 Drew Storen S/R 6'1" 195 8/11/1987
at that time.
road wins that month, and their 12 losses on the road were played in July, Zunino owned a .353 OBP, which ranked
the most for any team. The pitching staff appeared to strug- 50 Nick Vincent R/R 6'0" 185 7/12/1986
had played 23 games. As of Aug. 5, Zunnino notched four 54 Tom Wilhelmsen R/R 6'6" 220 12/16/1983
for the month of July. However, the pitching corps showed home runs, which ranked tied for the most on the club with Halfway through August, Seattles bullpen led the Major 65 James Paxton L/L 6'4" 235 11/6/1988
drastic improvements to start the month of August. They Nelson Cruz. Through 17 games since his recall, Zunino
eight games since Aug. 5, the bullpen posted a 0.33 ERA # CATCHERS B/T HT WT DOB
month, good for second lowest in the Majors. 3 Mike Zunino R/R 6'2" 220 3/5/1991
average against the best mark in the Majors during that 33 Chris Iannetta R/R 6'0" 230 4/8/1983
With enhanced success on the mound, the team as a whole time with 23 strikeouts and just three walks, the fewest
appeared to come back to life. Seattle split a series against # INFIELDERS B/T HT WT DOB
Zunino was also consistent defensively in July since being
Boston to start the month, and continued on to a six-game 4 Ketel Marte S/R 6'1" 165 10/12/1993
recalled, ranking third among AL catchers and seventh two week of the month, the bullpen went 4-2 with eight
winning streak after sweeping their next two series against 10 Dae-Ho Lee R/R 6'4" 250 6/21/1982
among all MLB catchers with 69 putouts. He led the AL saves. The group limited opponents to a .194 batting aver-
the Angels and the Tigers. It was the teams longest streak 15 Kyle Seager L/R 6'0" 210 11/3/1987
in putouts per 9.0 innings with 9.81, which ranked sixth age and allowed just seven walks while striking out 31 over
since winning three consecutive games from July 20-23. 22 Robinson Cano L/R 6'0" 210 10/22/1982
among all catchers in baseball. Through 11 games and 41.0 innings. In that span, the relief corps allowed just 28
As of Aug. 11, the teams 14-9 record since the All-Star 26 Adam Lind L/L 6'2" 195 7/17/1983
hits, which ranked tied for second-fewest among all team
tallied 81 putouts. relievers and was just one more than the fewest number of # OUTFIELDERS B/T HT WT DOB
Edwin Diaz 7 Seth Smith L/L 6'3" 210 9/30/82
8 Norichika Aoki L/R 5'9" 180 1/5/82
Right-handed reliever Edwin Diaz has been incredibly 12 Leonys Martin L/R 6'2" 200 3/6/88
effective for the Mariners this season. Pitching in Double 21 Franklin Gutierrez R/R 6'2" 200 2/21/83
season. In seven games at Minute Maid Park, Cano batted A in May, Diaz became one of the most dominant closers 36 Shawn O'Malley S/R 5'11" 175 12/28/87
OPS, leading his team in each of those categories. In those 32.0 innings of his career, Diaz struck out 59 batters, the # DESIGNATED HITTER B/T HT WT DOB
seven games, he notched three doubles, four homers, and - 23 Nelson Cruz R/R 6'2" 230 7/1/80
nine RBI. His four homers rank tied for most at an away tory since 1974. In July, Diaz owned a 1.54 ERA with no
saves through 11.2 innings of work. His steady improve-
nine RBI are the most at any away park this season.

Cano led the way for the Mariners with 75 hits, which ranked month, Diaz owned a low 1.29 ERA. From Aug. 5 15, Diaz
tied for fourth-most in the Major Leagues and third-most in

the road, which ranked ninth-most among AL batters. In month. Diaz held opponents to just a .091 batting average
44 road games since May 1, Cano owned a .331 batting
hits, one walk and one run while striking out 10 over 7.0
runs scored. However, most of Canos road success was innings of work.

since the second half began, Canos average fell to .200

scored. Despite his dismal road performance so far in the