NERD Game Scores for Saturday, May 7, 2016

May 7, 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.

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Most Highly Rated Game
Boston at New York AL | 13:05 ET
Price (36.2 IP, 66 xFIP-) vs. Eovaldi (29.2 IP, 80 xFIP-)
For a number years — like when he was a Dodgers prospect and then when he was a starter for Miami and then during his first season with the Yankees, as well — for a number of years it’s seemed as though Nathan Eovaldi should prevent runs harder. There’s a strong correlation between arm speed and success, and Eovaldi possess the former in great volume. Regard: of the 316 pitchers to have recorded 100-plus innings as a starter since 2011 (when he debuted), Eovaldi has produced the fourth-highest average fastball velocity. Ahead of him? Only Noah Syndergaard, Yordano Ventura, and Gerrit Cole — in that order. Why this is relevant now is because Eolvadi, during his first five starts, has posted a strikeout rate over seven points greater than his career average. The reason, in no small part: a splitter which he’s emmploying more often — and with which he’s recording more whiffs — than ever.

Two Other Brief Notes
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Seattle at Houston starts at 19:10 ET, and can be accessed by means of this hyperlinked text.

Broadcaster Rankings
Recently, the present author began the process of process of reproducing the broadcaster rankings which appeared on this site roughly four years ago. Cast ballots for television broadcasts here; for radio broadcasts, here.

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.

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NERD Scores for May 7, 2016

Away		SP	TM	GM	TM	SP		Home	Time
David Price	BOS	10	7	8	4	10	NYA	Nathan Eovaldi	13:05
Rich Hill	OAK	6	5	6	5	6	BAL	Mike Wright	13:05
Jesse Hahn*	OAK	8	5	6	5	5	BAL	Ubaldo Jimenez	19:05
Clayton Kershaw	LAN	10	4	8	4	10	TOR	R.A. Dickey	13:07
A.J. Griffin	TEX	4	2	3	5	0	DET	Mike Pelfrey	13:10
Jeff Locke	PIT	4	5	4	7	3	STL	Adam Wainwright	14:15
Jonathan Gray	COL	10	5	8	6	9	SF	Johnny Cueto	16:05
Gio Gonzalez	WAS	3	6	5	9	4	CHN	Jason Hammel	16:05
Ian Kennedy	KC	3	3	5	6	6	CLE	Cody Anderson	16:10
Shelby Miller	AZ	0	8	3	0	4	ATL	Julio Teheran	19:10
Jimmy Nelson	MIL	3	5	4	3	4	CIN	Brandon Finnegan	19:10
Ervin Santana	MIN	4	6	5	4	7	CHA	Chris Sale	19:10
Jeremy Hellickson	PHI	5	3	3	6	0	MIA	Tom Koehler	19:10
Nate Karns	SEA	5	5	5	6	5	HOU	Dallas Keuchel	19:10
Bartolo Colon	NYN	7	7	5	5	2	SD	James Shields	20:40
Jake Odorizzi	TB	4	7	3	2	0	LAA	Jered Weaver	21:05

SP denotes pitcher NERD score.
TM denotes team score.
GM denotes overall game score.
Highlighted portion denotes game of the day.

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