Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by viscount of the internet Rob Neyer, and expanded at the request of nobody, NERD scores represent an attempt to summarize in one number (and on a scale of 0-10) the likely aesthetic appeal or watchability, for the learned fan, of a player or team or game. Read more about the components of and formulae for NERD scores here.
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Most Highly Rated Game
Los Angeles at Houston | 20:10 ET
Wilson (128.0 IP, 103 xFIP-) vs. McHugh (127.0 IP, 100 xFIP-)
The entertainment value provided by a text or performance is typically a direct result of the stakes which face the characters in that same text/performance. For example: while profound in its own way, the portion of a bar mitzvah during which the young man chants his haftorah is typically an exercise in abject boredom. Here one finds a 13-year-old who, rather than awkwardly chanting Hebrew in front of his bubbe, would probably much rather be awkwardly doing something else. Were that same young man, however, to receive electric shocks of increasing intensity for every pronunciation error he made — this would facilitate much greater entertainment for those gathered. Would it be horrifying? Yes. But, as everything everywhere proves, horrifying and compelling are not mutually exclusive.
For the duration of this series, the Angels and Astros will resemble, in no small part, a young boy who, while becoming a man, is also becoming unconscious due to all the aforementioned electric shocks. The clubs are currently separated by a mere game atop the AL West and only a handful of playoff-odds percentage points. The consequences, if not tremendous, at least resemble something approaching tremendous.
Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Houston Radio.
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