NERD Game Scores for Thursday, June 19, 2014

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
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh | 12:35 ET
Homer Bailey (84.2 IP, 93 xFIP-, 0.5 WAR) faces Jeff Locke (20.1 IP, 72 xFIP-, 0.6 WAR). The latter, who notably outperformed his mediocre fielding-independent numbers for much of last season’s first half, has produced decidedly not mediocre ones of those (see: 17 strikeouts vs. 1 walk) through three starts and 20.1 innings. According both to the present site’s PITCHf/x data and also Brooks Baseball’s, Locke has increased his sinker usage considerably (to the near exclusion of his four-seamer) while also throwing the changeup more often.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Cincinnati Radio.

Three Brief Notes
Regarding Andrew Heaney, How He’s Debuting
Celebrated and left-handed Miami prospect Andrew Heaney, ranked first overall within the Marlins system this preseason by Marc Hulet, makes his debut for the parent club tonight after recording strikeout and walk rates of 25.4% and 4.8%, respectively, over 76.2 innings between Double- and Triple-A this season.

Regarding Yohan Pino, His Debut Also
Less celebrated and more right-handed Minnesota minor-leaguer Yohan Pino makes his major-league debut tonight, as well. The 30-year-old has produced strikeout and walk rates of 25.5% and 6.7%, respectively, over 61.0 innings in a hybrid role for Triple-A Rochester.

Regarding Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Seattle at San Diego, starts at 6:40pm 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.

Away		SP	Tm.	Gm.	Tm.	SP		Home	Time
C.J. Wilson	LAA	4	6	5	5	5	CLE	Justin Masterson	12:05
Homer Bailey	CIN	8	3	8	5	10	PIT	Jeff Locke	12:35
Danny Duffy	KC	2	5	4	5	6	DET	Anibal Sanchez	13:08
Yovani Gallardo	MIL	3	7	4	6	4	AZ	Chase Anderson	15:40
Erasmo Ramirez	SEA	4	4	5	4	7	SD	Jesse Hahn*	18:40
Gavin Floyd	ATL	5	7	7	7	9	WAS	Jord. Zimmermann	19:05
Drew Hutchison	TOR	6	6	4	4	1	NYA	David Phelps	19:05
Collin McHugh	HOU	6	6	6	6	5	TB	Chris Archer	19:10
Zack Wheeler	NYN	8	2	8	7	9	MIA	Andrew Heaney*	19:10
Jose Quintana	CHA	5	2	5	4	7	MIN	Yohan Pino*	20:10
David Buchanan	PHI	6	1	4	3	3	STL	Shelby Miller	20:15
Jake Peavy	BOS	2	3	4	7	6	OAK	Scott Kazmir	22:05

To learn how Game NERD Scores are calculated, click here.
* = Fewer than 20 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.