NERD Game Scores: Andrew Heaney Performance Review

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
Los Angeles AL at Seattle | 16:10 ET
Heaney (20.1 IP, 81 xFIP-) vs. Walker (97.1 IP, 99 xFIP-)
Young Angels left-hander Andrew Heaney has produced, over his first three major-league starts, both a higher strikeout rate and lower walk rate than he had (before that) as a member of Triple-A Salt Lake. “Ought one expect that trend to continue?” is the sort of question a reader might reasonably ask the author, a person (the author) paid to cultivate ideas about professional baseball. “No,” is the probable answer, insofar as one ought not to expect anything — anything but disappointments proceeded by sorrows. In any case, this game represents an opportunity to observe Heaney’s virtues more closely.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Los Angeles AL Television?

Two Brief Notes
Perpetually Looping Film: Chris Sale’s Slider
White Sox left-hander Chris Sale produced the highest single-game strikeout rate and xFIP and WAR among all of Saturday’s starters. Here’s footage from one of those strikeouts — in this case, by means of a slider to Miguel Montero:

Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Arizona at New York NL, starts at 13:10 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
Rubby de la Rosa	AZ	9	5	6	5	4	NYN	Jon Niese	13:10
Johnny Cueto	CIN	8	4	5	5	3	MIA	Dan Haren	13:10
Lance McCullers	HOU	8	10	7	4	5	TB	Matt Moore*	13:10
Sonny Gray	OAK	7	4	7	7	10	CLE	Corey Kluber	13:10
Nathan Eovaldi	NYA	8	7	6	5	4	BOS	Wade Miley	13:35
Max Scherzer	WAS	10	5	6	6	5	BAL	Wei-Yin Chen	13:35
Shane Greene	DET	5	5	5	4	4	MIN	Kyle Gibson	14:10
Felix Doubront*	TOR	4	8	6	7	4	KC	Edinson Volquez	14:10
Jose Quintana	CHA	6	1	5	7	8	CHN	Jake Arrieta	14:20
Tyson Ross	SD	7	3	4	3	3	TEX	Yovani Gallardo	15:05
Chad Billingsley	PHI	2	2	3	4	5	SF	Chris Heston	16:05
Alex Wood	ATL	5	2	4	4	5	COL	Chad Bettis	16:10
Andrew Heaney	LAA	9	8	7	4	9	SEA	Taijuan Walker	16:10
Kyle Lohse	MIL	4	3	4	5	6	LAN	Brett Anderson	16:10
Tim Cooney	STL	2	5	6	8	9	PIT	Francisco Liriano	20:05

* = Fewer than 10 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.