Answer: Denard Span.

By one definition, at least.

If FanGraphs has one overriding purpose, it’s not, as some readers might think, to render everyone dateless. Rather, it’s to constantly ask — and attempt to answer — questions about baseball. And one of the most basic questions we ask is, “How much is [insert player’s name] worth?”

The answers are often surprising. Like, for example, two years ago, when Wins Above Replacement suggested that Ben Zobrist was the second-most valuable position player in baseball. Or how, by that same metric, we learn who’s been the real MVP in Philadelphia for the better part of the last decade.

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Zack Greinke holds a press conference in front of a forest fire.

This edition of One Night Only contains:

1. Expanded previews for six games — including two with Charlie Blackmon.

2. Pitcher and Team NERD scores for every one of this weekend’s games — now arranged by time and hopefully more accurate.

3. Hella aplomb.

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Last week, I submitted for the readership’s consideration a first attempt at NERD scores for position players. In this post, I submit a second iteration with more variables, as suggested by a number of readers.

For those unfamiliar with NERD, allow me to explain briefly. NERD is an attempt to issue a score (0-10) to, in this case, every position player with more than 100 PA, on the basis of how interesting or watchable that player might be to the learned baseball fan.

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Episode Seventy-Seven
In which the platoon is employed.

Headlines
Pseudonymity — Pronounced Almost Correctly!
The Twins — How They’re bad!
Physical Insecurities — Noted!

Featuring
Bill, The Platoon Advantage
The Common Man, Also The Platoon Advantage

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

Audio on the flip-flop. (Approximately 50 min play time.)

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Who watches the Blackmon?

This edition of One Night Only contains:

1. An expanded preview of tonight’s Dodger-Rockies game.

2. An in-particular examination of Jhoulys Chacin’s increased ground-ball rate.*

*The same Jhoulys Chacin who, in turns out, isn’t pitching tonight. I give the reader my solemn vow that (a) he really was listed as the probable for Colorado when I ran the numbers last night and (b) there are still some interesting things about his ground-ball rate, even if they’re not relevant to the present game.

Also, Juan Nicasio — who is pitching — is also an interesting case and will suffice.

3. Brief previews of three more games: Boston at New York (AL), Arizona at Pittsburgh, and Oakland at Chicago (AL).

4. Pitcher and Team NERD scores for every one of tonight’s games.

5. Some total throw away-type lines.

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Look into the eyes of a Cubs fan.

This edition of One Night Only contains:

1. An experiment. Instead of selected previews, the author has briefly previewed every single game.

2. Also, per usual, Pitcher and Team NERD scores for every one of tonight’s games.

3. A pioneer’s spirit.

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Charlie Blackmon in his natural habitat.

This edition of One Night Only contains:

1. Expanded previews for three games: Rubby de la Rosa’s first-ever start (at Philadelphia), Marlin Brad Hand’s debut (against the Braves), and Charlie Effing Blackmon’s maybe debut (at San Diego).

2. Brief, but no less charming, previews for four (!) other games: Chicago (NL) at Cincinnati, New York (NL) at Milwaukee, Toronto at Kansas City, and Tampa Bay at Los Angeles (AL).

3. Pitcher and Team NERD scores for every one of tonight’s games.

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Felipe Paulino makes his second start for Kansas City tonight.

This edition of One Night Only contains:

1. Expanded previews for three games: Chicago Nationals at Cincinnati, Toronto at Kansas City, and Clay Fight 2011.

2. Pitcher and Team NERD scores for every one of tonight’s games.

3. Moxie?

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This edition of One Night Only contains:

1. Expanded previews for, like, six or a hundred games — hard to tell.

2. Expressly not Pitcher and Team NERD scores for every one of this weekend’s games — because it hurt my ulnar claw to type all that junk.

3. Frequent appeals to the Wonderful Terrific Monds Player NERD scores JUST UNVEILED TODAY!!!!111OMG1.

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This is a post introducing and explaining NERD scores for position players. I’m including the results first and then the background, methodology — all that junk — second.

Curious as to what NERD is? The short answer is: it’s a number, on a 0-10 scale, designed to express the “watchability” of position players for those of the sabermetric persuasion.

For more information, consult the index right after the results.

The Results
Here are the current top-20 position players by NERD:

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