NERD Game Scores for Saturday, July 09, 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
San Diego at Los Angeles NL | 19:15 ET
Perdomo (59.0 IP, 97 xFIP-) vs. McCarthy (5.0 IP, 30 xFIP-)
Among the other things its designed to do, the algorithm which informs the NERD pitching scores is designed to look favorably upon those pitchers who have been maligned by fortune — or, at the very least, who appear to have been maligned by fortune. In practice, this is accomplished by fashioning a bonus for those pitchers who’ve underperformed their fielding-independent numbers. It’s calculated by subtracting a pitcher’s xFIP- from his ERA- and dividing the result by 20 (and then capping the final outcome at a maximum of 1.0 extra points lest things become absurd).

Luis Perdomo, for his part — and in addition to recording markedly above-average velocity and swinging-strike numbers — has produced a 97 xFIP- and a 201 ERA-, giving one the impression that he has very possibly been maligned by fortune. “You idiot,” a reader is inclined to say. “Have you considered that he’s maybe one of those pitchers who allows hard contact?” Perhaps he is. The data indicate, however, that he’s allowed an average exit velocity of 90.0 mph — or, almost the exact figure conceded by Hector Santiago, famous across all lands for outperforming his fielding-independent numbers.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Los Angeles NL Television.

Two Other Brief Notes
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Arizona at San Francisco, starts at 16:05 ET, and can be accessed by means of this hyperlinked text.

Broadcaster Rankings
Recently, the present author facilitated a crowdsourcing effort to reproduce the broadcaster rankings which appeared on this site roughly four years ago. The results from that effort are published here in one easily digestible post.

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.