NERD Game Scores: An Evening with Mike Fiers
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.
Most Highly Rated Game
Milwaukee at San Francisco | 21:05 ET
Mike Fiers (35.0 IP, 78 xFIP-, 0.9 WAR) faces Jake Peavy (163.2 IP, 111 xFIP-, 1.3 WAR). Since his early August promotion back to the majors, Fiers has been excellent over four starts, recording the second-highest strikeout rate (33.3%), third-lowest park-adjusted xFIP (63 xFIP-), and second-lowest park-adjusted ERA (32 ERA-) among the league’s 116 qualified starters in August. He is, for example, the sort of pitcher a club with the fourth-best odds of qualifying for an NLDS might want starting against the club with the fifth-best odds of doing that.
Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: San Francisco Radio or Television.
A Lone, Brief Note
Regarding Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Los Angeles NL at San Diego, starts at 8:40pm ET, and can be accessed by means of this hyperlinked text.
Complete Schedule
Here’s the complete and very sortable table for all of today’s games. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and also the rest of the internet. Note that the calculations both for team and game NERD scores have changed recently to better integrate playoff odds into same. Read more about those changes here, if you’re the sort of person accustomed to making poor life decisions.
| Away | SP | Tm. | Gm. | Tm. | SP | Home | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Pineda | NYA | 7 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 6 | TOR | Drew Hutchison | 13:07 |
| Max Scherzer | DET | 8 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 10 | CHA | Chris Sale | 13:10 |
| Kyle Ryan* | DET | 6 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 7 | CHA | Chris Bassitt* | 19:10 |
| Felix Doubront | CHN | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 5 | STL | Ju’tin Masterson | 14:15 |
| Tsuyoshi Wada | CHN | 5 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 6 | STL | Ma. Gonzales* | 20:15 |
| Alfredo Simon | CIN | 4 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 5 | PIT | Vance Worley | 16:05 |
| Kyle Gibson | MIN | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | BAL | Chris Tillman | 19:05 |
| Allen Webster | BOS | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 7 | TB | Jake Odorizzi | 19:10 |
| Trevor Bauer | CLE | 6 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 5 | KC | James Shields | 19:10 |
| Jarred Cosart | MIA | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 | ATL | Aaron Harang | 19:10 |
| Jerome Williams | PHI | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | NYN | Bartolo Colon | 19:10 |
| Robbie Ross | TEX | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | HOU | Scott Feldman | 19:10 |
| Tyler Matzek | COL | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | AZ | Vidal Nuno | 20:10 |
| Zack Greinke | LAN | 8 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 7 | SD | Ian Kennedy | 20:40 |
| Mike Fiers | MIL | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 3 | SF | Jake Peavy | 21:05 |
| Jeff Samardzija | OAK | 8 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 6 | LAA | Cory Rasmus* | 21:05 |
| St. Strasburg | WAS | 10 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | SEA | Roenis Elias | 21:10 |
* = Fewer than 20 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
Ah, the long awaited debut of Ju’tin Masterson!