NERD Game Scores for Wednesday, June 24, 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 Los Angeles AL | 15:35 ET
McCullers (40.1 IP, 81 xFIP-) vs. Shoemaker (72.2 IP, 100 xFIP-)
The haphazardly constructed algorithm used by the author to measure watchability indicates that today’s Astros-Angels game is of some interest in no small part due to the Houston ball club’s unusual combination of youth and strength. The Astros feature simultaneously the lowest average batter age and also the highest park-adjusted home-run rate among all major-league teams — greater than two standard deviations from the mean in each case. Of shortstop Carlos Correa, one might reasonably say that he possesses youth and strength. Of George Springer, one might say the same thing. With regard to Evan Gattis, meanwhile, one is inclined to make a different sort of observation — namely, that he resembles a 19th century longshoreman. A longshoreman not just with a troubled past, but also a troubled present.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Houston Radio.

Two Brief Notes
Gratuitous Looping Video: Carlos Correa’s Fourth Home Run
Young and strong Houston shortstop Carlos Correa recorded his fourth home run of the season on Tuesday. What follows is video footage of that same home run at multiple speeds and at multiple field sizes.

Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, starts at 19:05 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
Buck Farmer	DET	7	4	7	6	10	CLE	Carlos Carrasco	12:10
Marco Estrada	TOR	3	8	5	6	4	TB	Nate Karns	12:10
Cole Hamels	PHI	8	1	6	8	5	NYA	Ivan Nova*	13:05
Chris Sale	CHA	10	1	5	3	4	MIN	Phil Hughes	13:10
Lance McCullers	HOU	9	10	8	7	5	LAA	Matt Shoemaker	15:35
Shelby Miller	ATL	6	2	5	6	5	WAS	Jo. Zimmermann	19:05
Mike Leake	CIN	4	5	7	8	10	PIT	Gerrit Cole	19:05
Bud Norris	BAL	4	5	5	4	7	BOS	Clay Buchholz	19:10
Jaime Garcia	STL	6	5	5	5	5	MIA	Mat Latos	19:10
Mike Bolsinger	LAN	5	6	6	7	7	CHN	Kyle Hendricks	20:05
Kend’ll Graveman	OAK	4	4	4	3	3	TEX	Wan. Rodriguez	20:05
Bartolo Colon	NYN	6	4	5	3	5	MIL	Jimmy Nelson	20:10
Allen Webster	AZ	1	5	4	3	8	COL	David Hale	20:40
Danny Duffy	KC	3	7	4	4	4	SEA	Roenis Elias	22:10
Ian Kennedy	SD	6	3	3	5	0	SF	Ryan Vogelsong	22:15

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