NERD Game Scores for Monday, May 25, 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.s

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Most Highly Rated Game
Washington at Chicago NL | 14:20 ET
Roark (20.1 IP, 119 xFIP-) vs. Wada (4.2 IP, 39 xFIP-)
Among pitchers who’ve (a) thrown at least 100 total innings over the last three seasons and also (b) recorded at least half their appearances in a starting capacity — among pitchers who meet both those criteria, Washington right-hander Tanner Roark has produced the fourth-greatest difference between his park-adjusted ERA and xFIP figures. Among pitchers who’ve thrown at least 200 innings and meet the other relevant criteria, Roark ranks second by that same measure. Raising the innings threshold to 250 innings places Roark atop the table — and raising it to 1000 innings eliminates every pitcher from the sample and renders the endeavor wholly meaningless.

A table expressing most of the above in mostly numeric form appears below. (Note that X-E denotes the difference between xFIP- and ERA-).

# Name Team GS% IP xFIP- ERA- X-E
1 Chris Young – – – 82.5% 199.2 135 85 50
2 Nick Martinez Rangers 86.8% 195.1 134 94 40
3 Danny Duffy Royals 86.4% 212.0 117 78 39
4 Tanner Roark Nationals 62.1% 272.2 101 70 31
5 Hector Santiago – – – 76.4% 324.1 118 89 29
6 Tyler Chatwood Rockies 100.0% 135.1 105 78 27
7 Miguel Gonzalez Orioles 95.4% 380.1 112 87 25
8 Matt Moore Rays 100.0% 160.1 110 86 24
9 Jarred Cosart – – – 100.0% 280.0 112 88 24
10 Kyle Hendricks Cubs 100.0% 126.0 103 80 23

It’s improbable but not impossible that Roark possesses some collection of skills that will allow him to continue preventing runs at his established levels while also recording fielding-independent numbers at his established levels. As PG Wodehouse’s insouciant aristocrat Psmith advises, however, one ought never to confuse the former (that is, the improbably) with the latter (the impossible).

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Chicago NL Television.

A Single, Brief Note
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Detroit at Oakland, starts at 4:05pm 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.

NERD Image 4

Away   SP Tm. Gm. Tm. SP   Home Time
Jeremy Guthrie KC 1 7 5 6 8 NYA Nathan Eovaldi 13:05
Eddie Butler COL 0 3 3 5 5 CIN Jason Marquis 13:10
Sev.ino Gonzalez PHI 4 0 4 5 7 NYN Bartolo Colon 13:10
Dallas Keuchel HOU 7 10 6 4 3 BAL Wei-Yin Chen 13:35
Joe Kelly BOS 7 5 5 2 4 MIN Ricky Nolasco 14:10
Tim Lincecum SF 3 4 4 3 5 MIL Kyle Lohse 14:10
Tanner Roark* WAS 7 5 6 7 6 CHN Tsuyoshi Wada* 14:20
Shane Greene DET 5 6 6 5 6 OAK Jesse Hahn 16:05
Phil Klein* CLE 4 7 5 3 5 TEX Shaun Marcum* 16:10
Chase Anderson AZ 4 5 6 6 9 STL Carlos Martinez 16:15
David Phelps MIA 3 5 5 7 5 PIT Charlie Morton* 19:05
Hector Noesi CHA 2 0 4 7 7 TOR Drew Hutchison 19:07
Roenis Elias SEA 5 6 6 6 6 TB Jake Odorizzi 19:10
Williams Perez* ATL 6 2 6 7 7 LAN Brett Anderson 20:10
Tyson Ross SD 8 4 5 6 3 LAA Jered Weaver 21:05

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





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

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Phillies113
8 years ago

Happy Memorial Day, everyone.