NERD Game Scores for Monday, July 25, 2016

Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by sabermetric nobleman 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. Read more about the components of and formulae for NERD scores here.

Most Highly Rated Game
St. Louis at New York NL | 19:10 ET
Martinez (114.1 IP, 92 xFIP-) vs. Syndergaard (111.1 IP, 59 xFIP-)
Among the league’s 93 qualified starters, Carlos Martinez and Noah Syndergaard have recorded the third-highest and actual highest average fastball velocities. Who’s produced the second-highest fastball velocity? Click here to learn his identity. Alternatively, click here to learn your own identity by way of Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: New York NL Television.

Two Other Brief Notes
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Oakland at Texas, starts at 20:05 ET, and can be accessed by means of this hyperlinked text.

Debuts!
Today marks the debut — or, at least, probable debut — of no fewer than three top prospects: Houston infielder Alex Bregman, Colorado outfielder David Dahl, and Arizona right-hander Braden Shipley, a triumvirate which ranked eighth, 16th, and 63rd, respectively, on Baseball America’s midseason top-100 prospect list. Lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen and computer-math prospect analyst Chris Mitchell addressed Bregman in separate pieces today. Posts regarding the other two will appear tomorrow.

Complete Schedule
Here’s the complete and very sortable table for all of today’s games. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and also 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.