NERD Game Scores for July 18, 2017

Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by sabermetric forefather 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.

How are they calculated? Haphazardly, is how. An explanation of the components and formulae which produce these NERD scores is available here. All objections to the numbers here are probably justified, on account of how this entire endeavor is absurd.

Most Highly Rated Game
Arizona at Cincinnati | 19:10 ET
Ray (106.0 IP, 86 xFIP-) vs. Romano (8.0 IP, 125 xFIP-)
The author’s haphazardly constructed algorithm indicates that no single game on today’s schedule is demonstrably more promising than the others. As for this contest between the D-back and Reds, it has received the honored designation of Most Highly Rated largely because of the dumb author’s own interest in young, right-hander Sal Romano. Not unlike other Reds starter Luis Castillo, Romano entered the season with something less than universal praise as a prospect. Also like Castillo, however, he features a plus fastball. Consider: over two starts, Romano has recorded an average fastball velocity of 96.3 mph. That mark would place him fifth among the league’s 71 qualifiers.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Arizona Radio.

Another Brief Note
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Seattle at Houston, starts at 20:10 ET, and can be accessed by means of this hyperlinked text.

Complete Schedule
Here’s the complete and also sortable table for all of today’s games. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and the rest of the internet. Note that calculations both for team and game NERD scores feature adjustment for postseason odds that increases as season progresses. Read more about those adjustments here and here.