NERD Game Scores for July 25, 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
Cincinnati at New York AL | 19:05 ET
Castillo (35.0 IP, 85 xFIP-) vs. Montgomery (101.1 IP, 105 xFIP-)
The author’s haphazardly constructed algorithm appears to have selected this evening’s Reds-Yankees game as the day’s most appealing. Of particular note, it seems, is the participation of young Cincinnati right-hander Luis Castillo. Among the 203 pitchers who’ve recorded 20-plus innings as a starter this season, the 24-year-old rookie has produced the second-highest average fastball velocity — behind only Noah Syndergaard by that measure. His swinging-strike rate (13.3%), meanwhile, places in the 93rd percentile among that same group.

The involvement of the Yankees is also responsible for the game’s high score. The American’s League New York franchise currently possesses almost precisely a 50% chance of qualifying for the postseason according to the coin-flip methodology of this site’s playoff odds. The coin-flip methodology, while actually less accurate than the projection-based model, does appear to better reflect the dumb human mind’s sense of the league’s various postseason races.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Cincinnati Radio or New York AL TV.

Another Brief Note
Today’s Free Game
No free game had been announced at publication, but it can be accessed by means of this hyperlinked text when it become available.

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.