NERD Game Scores: Big Ongoing New York Area Drama Event
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
Washington at New York NL | 20:08 ET
Zimmermann (128.2 IP, 104 xFIP-) vs. Syndergaard (86.2 IP, 80 xFIP-)
As he’s done in each of the two previous editions of this same daily exercise, what the author has done in this edition of it is to alter indiscriminately the NERD score of a game between playoff-contending division rivals to better reflect the consequences of that game’s result — and the opportunity for drama facilitated by those consequences. The division rivals in question are Washington and New York’s National League club, and I’ve taken the liberty of increasing the haphazardly derived score of their game from 7 to 8, thus creating a tie between that particular encounter and the one scheduled between the Angels and Dodgers (itself a promising matchup).
Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: New York NL Television.
Two Brief Notes
Programming Note
Please note that the author will be utilizing some of his contractually negotiated paid vacation time this next week. Both he and the NERD scores return on Monday, August 10.
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Detroit at Baltimore starts at 13:35 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 adjustments here and here.
| Away | SP | Tm. | Gm. | Tm. | SP | Home | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edinson Volquez | KC | 4 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 8 | TOR | R.A. Dickey | 13:07 |
| Charlie Morton | PIT | 5 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 6 | CIN | Key. Sampson* | 13:10 |
| James Shields | SD | 7 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 10 | MIA | Jose Fernandez | 13:10 |
| Julio Teheran | ATL | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | PHI | Adam Morgan | 13:35 |
| Daniel Norris | DET | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 | BAL | Ubaldo Jimenez | 13:35 |
| Jake Odorizzi | TB | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | BOS | Wade Miley | 13:35 |
| Robbie Ray | AZ | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | HOU | Collin McHugh | 14:10 |
| Clayton Richard | CHN | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | MIL | Kyle Lohse | 14:10 |
| Ivan Nova | NYA | 1 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 6 | CHA | Jeff Samardzija | 14:10 |
| Hisashi Iwakuma | SEA | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | MIN | Mike Pelfrey | 14:10 |
| Yohan Flande* | COL | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | STL | Jaime Garcia | 14:15 |
| Mike Leake | SF | 5 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | TEX | Martin Perez | 15:05 |
| Trevor Bauer | CLE | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 7 | OAK | Sonny Gray | 16:05 |
| Cory Rasmus* | LAA | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 6 | LAN | Mat Latos | 16:10 |
| Jor. Zimmermann | WAS | 6 | 7 | 8^ | 7 | 10 | NYN | No. Syndergaard | 20:08 |
* = Fewer than 10 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.
^ = Author has altered score indiscriminately.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
No NERD scores for an entire week? Brutal.
Bring back the guest NERD posters with their special guest arbitrary NERD formulas!