NERD Game Scores for Monday, June 1, 2015

Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by viscount of the internet 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
New York AL at Seattle | 22:10 ET
Pineda (64.1 IP, 63 xFIP-) vs. Hernandez (70.2 IP, 67 xFIP-)
The reason faux science has identified tonight’s Yankees-Mariners contest as Monday’s most compelling one is not a product of how the starter for the former of those clubs was previously employed by the latter of them, but mostly just of how that first starter (Michael Pineda) and also his opponent (Felix Hernandez) have produced among the league’s best numbers by an assortment of measures. That Pineda not only was employed by the Mariners, however, but also traded by them (for a player who currently resides at Triple-A) certainly establishes a foundation for a revenge narrative. Although, the extent of Pineda’s vengeance is likely to skew mild, resembling less the slaughter of numerous Trojan soldiers by a grieving Achilles and more just a solid athletic performance on a Monday night.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Seattle Radio.

Two Brief Notes
Debut Report: Yankee Ramon Flores
The purpose of this brief entry is note how Yankees outfield prospect Ramon Flores recently recorded his major-league debut. Just 23 years old, Flores has produced excellent plate-discipline numbers throughout his career in affiliated baseball. Nor was this season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre an exception. In 185 plate appearances with that same club, Flores posted walk and strikeout rates of 12.4% and 15.1%, respectively. If there’s something less than overwhelming enthusiasm for Flores’s accomplishments relative to age and level, it’s a product both of his position (corner outfield) and that he has possibly, according to Kiley McDaniel, reached his upside.

Regarding Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Toronto at Washington, starts at 7:05pm ET, and can be accessed by means of this hyperlinked text.

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 the calculations both for team and game NERD scores have changed recently to better integrate playoff odds into same. Read more about those changes here, if you’re the sort of person accustomed to making poor life decisions.

Away		SP	Tm.	Gm.	Tm.	SP		Home	Time
R.A. Dickey	TOR	8	8	6	5	4	WAS	Jo. Zimmermann	19:05
Jason Hammel	CHN	8	6	6	5	5	MIA	Jose Urena*	19:10
Mike Pelfrey	MIN	2	2	4	5	7	BOS	Clay Buchholz	19:10
Ubaldo Jimenez	BAL	6	5	6	10	5	HOU	Brett Oberholtzer	20:10
Mike Fiers	MIL	5	3	4	6	3	STL	Jaime Garcia	20:10
Clayt’n Kershaw	LAN	10	7	5	3	0	COL	Kyle Kendrick	20:40
Alex Wood	ATL	4	2	3	6	2	AZ	Archie Bradley	21:40
Alex Colome	TB	6	5	6	6	6	LAA	Garrett Richards	22:05
Jacob deGrom	NYN	10	5	7	3	8	SD	Andrew Cashner	22:10
Michael Pineda	NYA	10	7	8	6	8	SEA	Felix Hernandez	22:10
Gerrit Cole	PIT	10	7	6	5	1	SF	Ryan Vogelsong	22:15

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