NERD Game Scores for June 23, 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.

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Most Highly Rated Game
Colorado at Los Angeles NL | 22:10 ET
Freeland (81.2 IP, 108 xFIP-) vs. Wood (61.2 IP, 59 xFIP-)
Navigating to FanGraphs’ WAR leaderboard for pitchers, one doesn’t find Dodgers starter Alex Wood listed among the league’s top-10 pitchers. One doesn’t find Wood’s name at all, in fact. This isn’t because Wood has pitched poorly. To the contrary, he’s been excellent. Rather, it’s because the pitching leaderboard only includes qualifiers. Indeed, after setting the innings threshold to 0, one finds Wood listed ninth by WAR — a mark he’s achieved in roughly two-thirds the innings as the pitchers on either side of him. The presence of Wood is one of this game’s multiple appealing qualities.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Los Angeles NL Television.

Another Brief Note
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game is the same game designated above 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.

NERD Scores for June 23, 2017
Away SP TM GM TM SP Home Time
Luis Castillo* CIN 7 7 7 5 9 WAS Stephen Strasburg 19:05
Yu Darvish TEX 5 5 6 8 7 NYA Masahiro Tanaka 19:05
Ubaldo Jimenez BAL 1 3 5 8 9 TB Chris Archer 19:10
John Lackey CHN 6 7 5 4 3 MIA Jose Urena 19:10
Alex Meyer LAA 5 3 5 5 5 BOS Rick Porcello 19:10
Adalberto Mejia MIN 3 5 6 7 8 CLE Trevor Bauer 19:10
Jimmy Nelson MIL 8 7 6 2 6 ATL Mike Foltynewicz 19:35
Jharel Cotton OAK 3 4 3 4 0 CHA Mike Pelfrey 20:10
Jameson Taillon PIT 8 3 5 4 4 STL Adam Wainwright 20:15
J.A. Happ TOR 9 4 5 3 3 KC Jakob Junis 20:15
Mark Leiter* PHI 4 3 6 9 7 AZ Patrick Corbin 21:40
Kyle Freeland COL 3 7 7 9 10 LAN Alex Wood 22:10
Michael Fulmer DET 7 3 6 5 8 SD Luis Perdomo 22:10
Joe Musgrove HOU 6 6 6 3 8 SEA Felix Hernandez 22:10
Seth Lugo NYN 4 5 4 2 5 SF Ty Blach 22:15
SP denotes pitcher NERD score.
TM denotes team score.
GM denotes overall game score.
Highlighted portion denotes game of the day.

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





Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.

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timmer
6 years ago

Wood can be appealing