NERD Game Scores for Friday, August 29, 2014
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 | 22:15 ET
Wily Peralta (162.0 IP, 99 xFIP-, 0.7 WAR) faces Ryan Vogelsong (150.0 IP, 108 xFIP-, 1.1 WAR). Despite a 1.5-game lead over the latter, Milwaukee currently possesses almost the exact precise chance of winning the NL Central as St. Louis, featuring odds of 44.5% (according to the methodology used by FanGraphs) against the Cardinals’ figure of 44.3%. The Giants, meanwhile, are among a small group of clubs whose odds of making the divisional series continue to hover around 50%. Not grounds for Highest Possible Drama, the aforementioned circumstances, but at least Reasonably High Drama.
Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: San Francisco Radio or Television.
Two Brief Notes
Debut Alert: The Mets’ Dilson Herrera
Middle-indfielder Dilson Herrera, acquired by the Mets in the trade that sent Marlon Byrd to the Pirates last year, has been promoted to the major leagues to replace the injured Daniel Murphy on the 25-man roster. Just 20 years old, Herrera has exhibited offensive promise at Double-A this season, recording walk and strikeout rates of 10.4% and 18.7%, respectively, while hitting 10 home runs and slashing .340/.406/.560 (.389 BABIP) in 278 plate appearances.
Regarding Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Colorado at Arizona, starts at 9:40pm 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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Leake | CIN | 6 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 2 | PIT | Edinson Volquez | 19:05 |
| Trevor May* | MIN | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | BAL | Miguel Gonzalez | 19:05 |
| Chris Capuano | NYA | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | TOR | Mark Buehrle | 19:07 |
| Anth. Ranaudo* | BOS | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | TB | Chris Archer | 19:10 |
| David Buchanan | PHI | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 8 | NYN | Jacob deGrom | 19:10 |
| Tom Koehler | MIA | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ATL | Ervin Santana | 19:35 |
| Danny Salazar | CLE | 8 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 4 | KC | Jason Vargas | 20:10 |
| Justin Verlander | DET | 3 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 1 | CHA | Scott Carroll | 20:10 |
| Scott Baker | TEX | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | HOU | Br. Oberholtzer | 20:10 |
| Kyle Hendricks | CHN | 6 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 3 | STL | Shelby Miller | 20:15 |
| Chris. Bergman | COL | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | AZ | Josh Collmenter | 21:40 |
| Jon Lester | OAK | 7 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 2 | LAA | Jered Weaver | 22:05 |
| Dan Haren | LAN | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 7 | SD | Andrew Cashner | 22:10 |
| Jo. Zimmermann | WAS | 9 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 10 | SEA | Felix Hernandez | 22:10 |
| Wily Peralta | MIL | 7 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 2 | SF | Ryan Vogelsong | 22:15 |
To learn how Game NERD Scores are calculated, click here.
* = 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.