NERD Game Scores for Thursday, May 5, 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
Washington at Chicago NL | 20:05 ET
Ross (22.2 IP, 105 xFIP-) vs. Hendricks (23.0 IP, 73 xFIP-)
Of the 136 starters to have recorded 20-plus innings so far this year, only five have recorded a lower average fastball velocity than Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks. Two of those five are knuckleballers. Another is Jered Weaver, whose fastball is so slow… How slow is it?… It’s so slow, one could author a slim collection of poorly conceived and executed jokes just like this one about it… And yet, what one finds is — despite Hendricks’ relative dearth of arm speed — is an equal and opposite amount of success. He induces grounders. He hardly walks anyone. He’s posted a league-average strikeout rate. Today, he also starts for the Cubs.

Two Other Brief Notes
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Arizona at Miami 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.

NERD Scores for May 5, 2016

Away		SP	TM	GM	TM	SP		Home	Time
Jerad Eickhoff	PHI	8	3	6	7	6	STL	Jaime Garcia	13:45
Michael Fulmer*	DET	9	5	7	6	5	CLE	Trevor Bauer*	18:10
Masahiro Tanaka	NYA	6	4	6	5	7	BAL	Kevin Gausman	19:05
Derek Holland	TEX	2	3	3	4	3	TOR	J.A. Happ	19:07
Robbie Ray	AZ	5	8	6	6	6	MIA	Adam Conley	19:10
Chase Anderson	MIL	3	5	3	3	1	CIN	Alfredo Simon	19:10
Joe Ross	WAS	5	6	7	9	9	CHN	Kyle Hendricks	20:05
Henry Owens*	BOS	5	6	5	4	4	CHA	Erik Johnson*	20:10
Wade Miley	SEA	7	5	6	6	5	HOU	Chris Devenski*	20:10
Jacob deGrom	NYN	7	7	6	5	4	SD	Colin Rea	22:10
Chris Rusin*	COL	4	5	4	5	3	SF	Matt Cain	22:15

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.