NERD Game Scores for Wednesday, June 15, 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
Baltimore at Boston | 19:10 ET
Gausman (60.0 IP, 93 xFIP-) vs. Wright (82.0 IP, 101 xFIP-)
At one point, Tyler Wilson was listed as Baltimore’s starting pitcher for this game. Now, he’s not. Now, Kevin Gausman is. The future outcome of this contest is likely different for it: Gausman has been more successful than Wilson in ways that suggest he’ll continue being more successful. As for the effect on the world, this is less clear. If a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, it sets off a tornado in Texas. If Kevin Gausman starts against the Red Sox instead of Tyler Wilson… one doesn’t know. That said, if the state of Texas experiences a particularly fraught week of violent storms, there’s likely to be finger-pointing in the direction of a certain Orioles right-hander.
Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Baltimore Television or Boston Radio.
Two Other Brief Notes
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features hadn’t been announced as of press time, but can be accessed by means of this hyperlinked text if and when it is announced.
Broadcaster Rankings
Recently, the present author facilitated a crowdsourcing effort to reproduce the broadcaster rankings which appeared on this site roughly four years ago. The updated results for television broadcasts are available by means of this hyperlinked text; for radio, by means of this other 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 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.
| Away | SP | TM | GM | TM | SP | Home | Time | ||
| Ivan Nova | NYA | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | COL | Chad Bettis | 15:10 |
| Clayton Kershaw | LAN | 10 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | AZ | Patrick Corbin | 15:40 |
| Justin Nicolino | MIA | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | SD | Luis Perdomo* | 15:40 |
| Jimmy Nelson | MIL | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | SF | Johnny Cueto | 15:45 |
| Jason Hammel | CHN | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | WAS | Stephen Strasburg | 16:05 |
| Marco Estrada | TOR | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | PHI | Jeremy Hellickson | 19:05 |
| Kevin Gausman | BAL | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | BOS | Steven Wright | 19:10 |
| Anthony DeSclafani* | CIN | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | ATL | Bud Norris | 19:10 |
| Jeff Locke | PIT | 2 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 10 | NYN | Noah Syndergaard | 19:10 |
| Nate Karns | SEA | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | TB | Drew Smyly | 19:10 |
| Collin McHugh | HOU | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | STL | Adam Wainwright | 19:15 |
| Mike Pelfrey | DET | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 8 | CHA | Chris Sale | 20:10 |
| Corey Kluber | CLE | 8 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | KC | Ian Kennedy | 20:15 |
| Tyler Duffey | MIN | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | LAA | Hector Santiago | 22:05 |
| Derek Holland | TEX | 1 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | OAK | Sonny Gray | 22:05 |
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.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
You should never miss a Kershaw start, not if you call yourself a baseball fan.