Neither the author, nor this doctor in post-apocalyptic London, know precisely what to tell you.

Featured Game
Red Sox (10) at Texas (8) | 20:05 ET
• Each of today’s three most highly rated games comes with a caveat.
• For example: if you watch Braves-Cubs, you have to watch the Cubs.
• And also: if you watch Diamondbacks-Nationals, you have to watch John Lannan pitch.
• Continuing on: if you watch Astros-Giants, you have to watch the Giant offense.
• Honestly, I’ll probably watch Red Sox-Rangers — on account of Ian Kinsler and Jacoby Ellsbury and and the AL West race and some other reasons.

MLB.TV Audio Feed: Anything But Rangers Television.

Also Playing
Here’s the complete schedule for all of today’s games, with our very proprietary watchability (NERD) scores for each one. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and RotoWire. The average NERD Game Score for today is 5.0.

The following Game Scores include the new and improved playoff-odds adjustment, which you can learn about in your brain by clicking here.

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With its stunning views and trademark architecture, Santorini would really impress Alexei Ramirez.

Featured Games (With an Ess)
Chicago Americans (3) at Los Angeles Americans (5) | 22:05 ET
San Diego (6) at San Francisco (3) | 22:15 ET
• The West Coast appears to be the best coast in terms of watching baseball tonight.
• With a win last night — and a Ranger loss — the Angels are 3.5 back now in the AL West.
• With a loss last night — and a Diamondback win — the Giants are 2.0 games back in the NL West.
• The White Sox — eh, they have the advantage of being able to make October travel plans.
• Like to the beautiful Greek island of Santorini, for example.

MLB.TV Audio Feed: White Sox Television and Giants Radio.

Also Playing
Here’s the complete schedule for all of today’s games, with our very proprietary watchability (NERD) scores for each one. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and RotoWire. The average NERD Game Score for today is 5.3.

Read the rest of this entry »

What Matt Cain would look like with just a single, metal leg. And no head. Or arms.

Featured Game
San Diego (6) at San Francisco (3) | 22:15 ET
• Matt Cain has continued his trend this year of inducing lower-than-average BABIPs (.267) and HR/FBs (3.6%).
• He’s also, this season, posting what would be a career best strikeout differential (i.e. K%-BB%) of 13.8%.
• So, that’s in terms of Matt Cain.
• In terms of the Giants, who’re a game behind Arizona now, here’re their playoffs odds per Cool Standings and Our Mortal Enemy, respectively: 38.8% and 77.4%.
• And here are their odds per my wife, who’s watched precisely three innings of baseball this year: 47.0%.

MLB.TV Audio Feed: Giants Radio.

Also Playing
Here’s the complete schedule for all of today’s games, with our very proprietary watchability (NERD) scores for each one. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and RotoWire. The average NERD Game Score for today is 5.8.

The following Game Scores include the new and improved playoff-odds adjustment, which you can learn about in your brain by clicking here.

Read the rest of this entry »

Say huh?

Like a good neighbor, the Leaderboards of Pleasure are there… to borrow money from you and drink all of your fermented beverages and make totally unsupportable claims.

Looking over this week’s boards, we find:

• First of all, that the author has taken the liberty of adjusting the calculation of the Underrated Player leaderboards ever so slightly — hopefully to allow the fake WAR (FANT) scale to more accurately reflect the scale of actual, real-live WAR.

• That, in so doing, Peter Bourjos leaps to the top of the list — something (i.e. leaping) he does in real life with some frequency, as well.

And:

• That, immediately upon passing the 100-plate appearance threshold, Desmond Jennings debuts at fourth overall on the Player NERD leaderboard. Drink deeply of his stat line and find yourself drunk with nerd pleasure: 122 PA, .320/.412/.592 (.389 BABIP), 13-17 SBA, 1.3 WAR.

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Tampa Bay’s Desmond Jennings will use his sunbeam superpower to unsettle Justin Verlander.

Featured Game
Detroit (2) at Tampa Bay (7) | 19:10 ET
• Justin Verlander, first among AL pitchers in SIERA (2.75) and WAR (6.2), pitches tonight for a Detroit team that improved its playoff odds either to 69.1% or 79.2% last night, depending on which methodology you prefer.
• Owing to how the center-field camera at Tropicana Field is one of the league’s better ones, tonight represents an opportunity to get all familiar-like with Verlander’s stuff.
• Apropos said stuff, here’s what Verlander throws according to Pitch F/x: fastball (45.6%), curveball (18.8%), changeup (18.2%), slider (8.6%), two-seamer (8.8%).
• Per pitch-type runs (which buckets four- and two-seam fastballs together), literally all those pitches are worth more than a run per 100 thrown.
• Literally literally. Not fake literally.

MLB.TV Audio Feed: Tampa Bay Television.

Also Playing
Here’s the complete schedule for all of today’s games, with our very proprietary watchability (NERD) scores for each one. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and RotoWire. The average NERD Game Score for today is 5.3.

Read the rest of this entry »

Winston Churchill, were he alive, would be confounded by Luis Valbuena.

Featured Game
Cleveland (6) at Detroit (2) | 13:05 ET
• Rookie Jason Kipnis, in case you hadn’t heard, was placed on the 15-DL on Friday.
• With Orlando Cabrera gone, that leaves 25-year-old semi-enigma Luis Valbuena to pick up the majority of second-base starts.
• Luis Valbuena, Triple-A: 883 PA, .302/.388/.470.
• Luis Valbuena, Major Leagues: 791 PA, .223/.283/.340.
• Semi-enigma!

MLB.TV Audio Feed: Cleveland Radio?

Also Playing
Here’s the complete schedule for all of today’s games, with our very proprietary watchability (NERD) scores for each one. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and RotoWire. The average NERD Game Score for today is 5.6.

The following Game Scores include the new and improved playoff-odds adjustment, which you can learn about in your brain by clicking here.

Read the rest of this entry »

Friday night, Angel outfield prospect Mike Trout hit the second home run of his very short career. That Trout has any home runs at all at his age places him into a pretty exclusive club.

Though Trout is technically 20 years old — having celebrated his birthday on August 7th — he’s currently in his age-19 season (the cutoff being July 1st, or roughly halfway through the season).

Over the last 25 years, only 10 major leaguers have hit a home run before their respective age-20 seasons. Below is that list of players, including how many homers each one hit in his age-19 season and also each player’s career WAR per 650 plate appearances:

Obviously, these players didn’t go on to have (almost uniformly) excellent careers because they hit a home run at age 19. Rather, the mere fact that each was given the opportunity to play at that age is indicative of the sort of skills each possessed.

In either case, it’s excellent company that Trout is keeping at the moment.

Search made possible by BR’s Play Index.

This stuff is probably less impressive than Arizona débutante Wade Miley’s.

Featured Game
Arizona (9) at Atlanta (4) | 19:10 ET
• Left-hander Wade Miley, 24, makes his major-league debut tonight in place of the recently acquired — and even more recently injured — Jason Marquis.
• Which, one weird thing about Miley is how he posted considerably better numbers at Triple-A this season (54.1 IP, 9.28 K/9, 2.65 BB/9, 0.66 HR/9, 2.98 FIP) than he did at Double-A (75.1 IP, 5.50 K/9, 3.35 BB/9, 0.72 HR/9, 4.25 FIP).
• This, despite the fact that both the league and the park in which the Double-A Mobile BayBears play is pitcher-friendlier than the equivalents for Triple-A Reno.
• In his scouting report on Miley from back in February, Prospect Maven Marc Hulet suggests that Miley’s strikeout numbers have generally lagged behind his stuff.
• And by “stuff” I’m assuming Hulet means his pitches.

MLB.TV Audio Feed: Braves Radio, I guess?

Also Playing
Here’s the complete schedule for all of today’s games, with our very proprietary watchability (NERD) scores for each one. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and RotoWire. The average NERD Game Score for today is 5.4.

The following Game Scores include the new and improved playoff-odds adjustment, which you can learn about in your brain by clicking here.

Read the rest of this entry »

One of these things is decidedly not like the others.

Featured Game
Cleveland (6) at Detroit (2) | 19:05 ET
• The recently added playoff-odds adjustment continues to bring considerable joy to the author.
• Because without it, I mean, this game would come out as probably a 6 by NERD.
• That would, of course, pretty seriously undervalue what I’ll call the Drama Factor of this game.
• That’s different, of course, than Drama Factor, the book by Haitian-American author Wanda Toby, who, per Amazon, is “driven to write by the passion of creation.”
• Which passion, interestingly, is the same one I feel when I see Modern Family’s Sofía Vergara.

MLB.TV Audio Feed: Blerg?

Also Playing
Here’s the complete schedule for all of today’s games, with our very proprietary watchability (NERD) scores for each one. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and RotoWire. The average NERD Game Score for today is 4.9.

The following Game Scores include the new and improved playoff-odds adjustment, which you can learn about in your brain by clicking here.

Read the rest of this entry »

Episode Eighty-Three
In which the guest has made history.

Headlines
The Most Interesting Things Regarding Jeff Maier — Discussed!

Featuring
The Jeffrey Maier You’re Thinking About

Finally, you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio on the flip-flop. (Approximately 35 min play time.)

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