NERD Game Scores for Friday, June 19, 2015

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
Pittsburgh at Washington | 19:05 ET
Burnett (85.2 IP, 85 xFIP-) vs. Ross (13.0 IP, 65 xFIP-)
There are a number of events on which a pitcher exerts zero influence. The tides, for example. Middle East relations. A wife who, for some reason, insists on preparing dishes with improbable quantities of cilantro despite the fact that it tastes to her spouse like the bitter tears of orphan children. In the face of all these, a pitcher is a helpless and wriggling creature. With regard to those areas over which a pitcher does possess some control, however, Washington right-hander Joe Ross has been nearly flawless over his first two career starts, producing a 12:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 13.0 innings while also inducing grounders on over 60% of batted balls against him. What one finds here today is that same Joe Ross scheduled to record his third start — in this case, against a Pittsburgh club whose odds of qualifying for the divisional series are approximately a 50-50 proposition.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Washington Radio.

Two Brief Notes
Debut Alert: Matt Wisler, RHP, Atlanta
Atlanta’s starting pitcher for Friday, officially denoted as Undecided as of Thursday night, is expected to be right-hander Matt Wisler. The 22-year-old Wisler was ranked second among San Diego prospects this offseason by Kiley McDaniel and 41st among all prospects everywhere — before, that is, he was acquired by Atlanta in the deal that sent Craig Kimbrel to the Padres. He’s produced strikeout and walk rates of 18.0% and 4.8%, respectively, this year at Triple-A over 65.0 innings — figures which represent a decline from his work at lower levels of the minor leagues.

Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features New York NL at Atlanta, starts at 19:35 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 changes here, if you’re the sort of person accustomed to making poor life decisions.

Away		SP	Tm.	Gm.	Tm.	SP		Home	Time
Justin Verlander*	DET	6	4	5	8	2	NYA	Adam Warren	19:05
A.J. Burnett	PIT	5	7	7	6	10	WAS	Joe Ross	19:05
Tyler Lyons	STL	9	5	5	1	4	PHI	Phillippe Aumont*	19:05
Mike Wright	BAL	3	6	5	9	3	TOR	Marco Estrada	19:07
Dan Haren	MIA	3	5	4	5	5	CIN	Mike Leake	19:10
Nate Karns	TB	4	5	7	8	10	CLE	Carlos Carrasco	19:10
Jacob deGrom	NYN	10	5	7	2	8	ATL	Matt Wisler*	19:35
Ed. Rodriguez	BOS	6	4	6	8	6	KC	Yohan Pino*	20:10
Kyle Hendricks	CHN	7	7	5	2	5	MIN	Phil Hughes	20:10
Colby Lewis	TEX	3	4	4	0	10	CHA	Chris Sale	20:10
T. Jungmann	MIL	4	2	4	3	5	COL	Jorge de la Rosa	20:40
Matt Shoemaker	LAA	5	6	6	4	7	OAK	Sonny Gray	21:35
James Shields	SD	8	3	6	5	9	AZ	Rubby de la Rosa	21:40
Lance McCullers	HOU	9	10	6	4	3	SEA	Roenis Elias	22:10
Chris Heston	SF	7	4	6	6	5	LAN	Mike Bolsinger	22:10

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