NERD Game Scores for July 26, 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 | 13:05 ET
Bailey (27.1 IP, 113 xFIP-) vs. Severino (120.2 IP, 72 xFIP-)
The author’s haphazardly constructed algorithm seems — as was the case yesterday, as well — to have selected a Reds-Yankees contest as the day’s most appealing. As was also the case yesterday, the involvement of the Yankees themselves is largely responsible for that. Few, if any clubs, are playing games of greater consequence right now. According to the coin-flip methodology — which seems to best reflect how the dumb human mind operates — the Yankees currently possess a 57% chance of qualifying for the postseason. So, nearly even.

The presence of scheduled starter Luis Severino is also of some consequence. Among qualified pitchers, he’s recorded the highest average fastball velocity, at 97.6 mph. He also appears among the league’s run-prevention leaders by basically every measure.

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

Another Brief Note
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Atlanta at Arizona, starts at 15:40 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.