NERD Game Scores for Monday, June 8, 2015

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
Houston at Chicago AL | 20:10 ET
McCullers (24.0 IP, 71 xFIP-) vs. Sale (66.0 IP, 71 xFIP-)
Houston right-hander Lance McCullers entered the 2015 season as a pitcher who, despite the possession of conspicuous talent, also possessed a career walk rate of nearly 12% over roughly 230 professional innings. That none of those innings had been recorded above High-A suggested that the 21-year-old would benefit from further development. Indeed, while evaluating the Astros prospects, Kiley McDaniel estimated McCullers would assume a regular major-league role only in 2017. McCullers has not only assumed a role with the Astros two years earlier than that, he’s produced merely a 6.1% walk rate while so doing — which is to say, almost precisely half his cumulative minor-league figure. Is this proof that miracles exist? Perhaps, but only if — as gravel-throated American comedian Kyle Kinane suggests in the following video — only if the threshold for what constitutes a miracle is duly lowered.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Houston Radio.

Two Brief Notes
Debut Alert: Carlos Correa, SS, Houston
Late-breaking news from the internet reveals that those observing the Houston-Chicago game discussed above will also likely have the pleasure of witnessing the debut of Astros shortstop Carlos Correa. The 20-year-old Correa was ranked first among Houston prospects this offseason by Kiley McDaniel and fifth among all prospects everywhere. He’s been fantastic this season in his first exposure both to Double- and Triple-A pitching, recording better-than-average walk and strikeout rates while also producing a .265 ISO.

Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features San Diego at Atlanta, starts at 19:10 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. Note that the calculations both for team and game NERD scores have changed recently to better integrate playoff odds into same. Read more about those changes here, if you’re the sort of person accustomed to making poor life decisions.

Away		SP	Tm.	Gm.	Tm.	SP		Home	Time
Jimmy Nelson	MIL	6	3	5	7	5	PIT	A.J. Burnett	19:05
Brad Hand	MIA	2	5	4	8	2	TOR	Marco Estrada	19:07
Cole Hamels	PHI	7	1	4	5	4	CIN	Mike Leake	19:10
Ian Kennedy	SD	5	3	4	2	6	ATL	Shelby Miller	19:10
Lance McCullers	HOU	10	10	8	0	10	CHA	Chris Sale	20:10
Jason Vargas	KC	2	7	4	3	5	MIN	Phil Hughes	20:10
John Lackey	STL	4	4	4	3	6	COL	David Hale	20:40
Ru. de la Rosa	AZ	9	6	7	7	4	LAN	Mike Bolsinger	22:10

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