NERD Game Scores: Climax for a Carlos Frias Story

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 NL at San Francisco | 22:15 ET
Frias (18.2 IP, 83 xFIP-) vs. Hudson (45.1 IP, 102 xFIP-)
In the foreword to his anthology of fantastic literature Black Water, editor Alberto Manguel suggests that the definitive and also most appealing characteristic of that genre is its capacity for surprise — the capacity for surprise one finds, for example, in I. A. Ireland’s Climax for a Ghost Story, which brief story not only appears in Manguel’s anthology but also right here in its entirety:

“How eerie!” said the girl, advancing cautiously. “–And what a heavy door!” She touched it as she spoke and it suddenly swung to with a click.

“Good Lord!” said the man. “I don’t believe there’s a handle inside. Why, you’ve locked us both in!”

“Not both of us. Only one of us,” said the girl, and before his eyes she passed straight through the door, and vanished.

Ireland’s brief work not only illustrates the best of fantastic literature, but also serves as a means by which to better understand Dodgers right-hander Carlos Frias. Because Frias is the man in the story, is why. But in addition to the man, he’s also the girl. And in addition to those two, he’s also — and this is most unnerving — he’s also the door.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: San Francisco Radio or Television.

Two Brief Notes
Imminent Debut Alert: Ceciliani and Garcia
The purpose of this brief note is to report how Atlanta’s Adonis Garcia and the New York Mets’ Darrell Ceciliani — to report how each of them either have been or will soon be promoted to the majors according to Roster Resource. Garcia, 30, is a third baseman who defected from Cuba in 2011. He’s not a top prospect, per se, but does appear to possess at least average contact skills.. Ceciliani, currently within his age-25 season, has recorded over 80% of his minor-league starts in center field — and all of his 2015 starts in center with Triple-A Las Vegas. Of Ceciliani, lead prospect analyst Kiley McDaniel wrote at the end of December that he’s a “grinder with good instincts [who] could be [a] nice reserve outfielder that finds ways to contribute.”

Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Arizona at Miami, starts at 7:10pm 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
Ricky Nolasco	MIN	2	3	5	6	7	PIT	Francisco Liriano	19:05
Nathan Eovaldi	NYA	7	6	7	5	8	WAS	Gio Gonzalez	19:05
Taijuan Walker	SEA	7	6	5	5	3	BAL	Miguel Gonzalez	19:05
Hector Santiago	LAA	3	5	4	7	2	TOR	Aaron Sanchez	19:07
Jimmy Nelson	MIL	7	3	6	5	6	DET	Anibal Sanchez	19:08
J.my Hellickson	AZ	2	6	3	5	2	MIA	Tom Koehler	19:10
Michael Wacha	STL	6	5	5	6	4	NYN	Jon Niese	19:10
Erasmo Ramirez	TB	5	5	5	3	5	ATL	Mike Foltynewicz	19:10
Yovani Gallardo	TEX	3	4	3	4	2	BOS	Wade Miley	19:10
Johnny Cueto	CIN	8	5	7	6	8	KC	Yordano Ventura	20:10
Trevor Bauer	CLE	6	6	5	0	6	CHA	Jose Quintana	20:10
Sonny Gray	OAK	7	6	6	10	2	HOU	Rob.o Hernandez	20:10
Aaron Harang	PHI	4	0	3	3	4	COL	Chad Bettis*	20:40
Jason Hammel	CHN	7	6	7	4	8	SD	James Shields	22:10
Carlos Frias	LAN	10	8	7	4	5	SF	Tim Hudson	22:15

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