NERD Game Scores for Friday, May 16, 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
Atlanta at St. Louis | 20:15 ET
Ervin Santana (40.2 IP, 68 xFIP-, 1.1 WAR) faces Lance Lynn (47.0 IP, 91 xFIP-, 0.6 WAR). The former has produced the fifth-best park-adjusted xFIP among the league’s qualified starters thus far, while also having produced the third-most linear-weight runs by means of his slider.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Atlanta or St. Louis Radio.

Two Brief Notes
Yu Darvish’s NERD Score Still Likely to Outrage Some Readers
Despite his excellent last start, he’s still recorded only the 39th-best swinging-strike rate among 107 qualified starters (after leading the league by that measure last year). That’s one reason why. Another is that he’s among the league’s slowest workers. Because the author is an idiot, however, will likely be the most commonly asserted explanation.

Mets-Nationals Is Today’s Free Game
It begins at 7:05pm ET 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.

Away		SP	Tm.	Gm.	Tm.	SP		Home	Time
Kyle Lohse	MIL	5	6	6	5	6	CHN	Jeff Samardzija	14:20
Alfredo Simon	CIN	3	4	2	2	1	PHI	Kyle Kendrick	19:05
Jon Niese	NYN	6	3	5	5	4	WAS	Tanner Roark	19:05
Sonny Gray	OAK	6	5	5	5	5	CLE	Zach McAllister	19:05
Edinson Volquez	PIT	3	8	4	5	4	NYA	David Phelps*	19:05
Max Scherzer	DET	8	5	7	2	8	BOS	Jon Lester	19:10
Drew Hutchison	TOR	8	7	7	3	6	TEX	Yu Darvish	20:05
Chris Tillman	BAL	3	3	3	3	2	KC	Jeremy Guthrie	20:10
Jose Quintana	CHA	5	3	6	7	8	HOU	Collin McHugh	20:10
Chris Young	SEA	0	4	1	3	0	MIN	Kyle Gibson	20:10
Ervin Santana	ATL	10	7	8	2	7	STL	Lance Lynn	20:15
Eric Stults	SD	4	3	4	9	3	COL	Jorge de la Rosa	20:40
Zack Greinke	LAN	8	5	7	5	6	AZ	Wade Miley	21:40
Chris Archer	TB	6	6	5	9	3	LAA	Jered Weaver	22:05
Henders. Alvarez	MIA	6	9	7	7	7	SF	Yusmeiro Petit*	22:15

To learn how Game NERD Scores are calculated, click here.
* = Fewer than 20 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.