NERD Game Scores for Sunday, May 8, 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
Boston at New York AL | 20:05 ET
Wright (32.1 IP, 105 xFIP-) vs. Severino (25.2 IP, 91 xFIP-)
Given both the width and also the breadth of the world — and all the possibilities contained within it — there’s a non-zero chance that someone on this earth has declared that “The only thing less appealing than watching one Red Sox-Yankees game is watching two Red Sox-Yankees games in a row.” Of course, such a statment is necessarily false. Because, regard: if one were to compose a list of unappealing things and yet omit a number of the more serious dermatological conditions — many of which Job himself would regard as a bit far-fetched — then one would have composed a flawed list. Moreover, one is forced to concede that a contest featuring by Steven Wright (a knuckleballer who’s experienced success this year so far) and Luis Severino (who’s produced one of the highest average fastball velocities) — that such a contest possesses some merit.

Two Other Brief Notes
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Arizona at Atlanta starts at 13:35 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.

NERD Scores for May 8, 2016

Away		SP	TM	GM	TM	SP		Home	Time
Ross Stripling	LAN	5	4	4	4	3	TOR	Marco Estrada	13:07
Edinson Volquez	KC	5	3	5	6	4	CLE	Josh Tomlin	13:10
Junior Guerra*	MIL	10	5	7	3	7	CIN	John Lamb*	13:10
Aaron Nola	PHI	10	3	6	7	2	MIA	Justin Nicolino	13:10
Martin Perez	TEX	2	3	3	4	4	DET	Justin Verlander	13:10
Patrick Corbin	AZ	5	8	5	0	6	ATL	Mike Foltynewicz*	13:35
Kendall Graveman	OAK	8	5	6	5	4	BAL	Chris Tillman	13:35
Tyler Duffey	MIN	5	6	5	4	6	CHA	Jose Quintana	14:10
Hisashi Iwakuma	SEA	2	5	4	6	4	HOU	Collin McHugh	14:10
Gerrit Cole	PIT	7	5	7	7	7	STL	Michael Wacha	14:15
Tanner Roark	WAS	5	6	7	9	8	CHN	Jake Arrieta	14:20
Matt Andriese*	TB	7	7	5	2	3	LAA	Nick Tropeano	15:35
Eddie Butler*	COL	6	4	6	6	6	SF	Jeff Samardzija	16:05
Matt Harvey	NYN	6	7	5	5	4	SD	Andrew Cashner	16:40
Steven Wright	BOS	8	7	7	4	9	NYA	Luis Severino	20:05

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.