NERD Game Scores for Wednesday, May 21, 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
Arizona at St. Louis | 20:15 ET
Brandon McCarthy (55.2 IP, 72 xFIP-, 0.5 WAR) faces Michael Wacha (54.1 IP, 78 xFIP-, 1.2 WAR). While the former has conceded almost precisely five earned runs for every nine innings recorded this season, he’s produced the fielding-independent numbers of a pitcher who’d generally allow runs at about half that rate. McCarthy’s strikeout-walk differential (18.0%) is currently twice his career average while his ground-ball rate (54.1%) is also considerably higher than previously established levels.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: St. Louis Radio.

Two Brief Notes
Regarding Chase Whitley’s Changeup, Explicit Footage of It
Right-hander Chase Whitley makes his second major-league appearance for the Yankees this afternoon in Chicago. Here’s explicit footage of his changeup from last week against the Mets:

Regarding Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game hadn’t been announced as of press time, but 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
Max Scherzer	DET	8	5	6	5	5	CLE	Zach McAllister	12:05
Chris Young	SEA	0	5	3	3	6	TEX	Nick Tepesch*	14:05
Chase Whitley*	NYA	9	5	7	5	6	CHN	Jeff Samardzija	14:20
Alfredo Simon	CIN	4	3	4	4	4	WAS	Tanner Roark	16:05
Chris Tillman	BAL	3	3	4	7	4	PIT	Wandy Rodriguez	19:05
Hyun-Jin Ryu	LAN	5	6	6	2	8	NYN	Jacob deGrom*	19:10
Kyle Lohse	MIL	5	4	7	7	9	ATL	Ervin Santana	19:10
Tommy Milone	OAK	1	6	2	6	0	TB	Erik Bedard	19:10
Kyle Kendrick	PHI	2	1	6	9	10	MIA	Nathan Eovaldi	19:10
D. Hutchison	TOR	7	7	5	2	3	BOS	Clay Buchholz	19:10
Jose Quintana	CHA	5	3	3	3	2	KC	Jeremy Guthrie	20:10
Bran. McCarthy	AZ	10	6	9	3	10	STL	Michael Wacha	20:15
Matt Cain	SF	3	6	4	9	2	COL	Jhoulys Chacin*	20:40
Phil Hughes	MIN	7	4	6	5	7	SD	Tyson Ross	21:10
Collin McHugh	HOU	7	7	6	9	3	LAA	Jered Weaver	22:05

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