NERD Game Scores for May 30, 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
Chicago NL at San Diego | 22:10 ET
Butler (14.0 IP, 121 xFIP-) vs. Lamet (5.0 IP, 66 xFIP-)
San Diego right-hander Dinelson Lamet made his major-league debut last Thursday and was excellent in pretty much all the ways one could expect a pitcher to be excellent. He produced an 8:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio against 20 batters (box). He conceded just a lone run. He sat in the mid-90s with his fastball. He recorded whiff rates of roughly 20% with both his slider and changeup. (League average for both is typically around 15%.) He merits attention and considerable attention, is the point.

Here’s an example of both the fastball and changeup — to strike out Michael Conforto in the first and fifth innings, respectively:

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Chicago NL Television.

Another Brief Note
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Los Angeles NL at St. Louis, starts at 19:05 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.