NERD Game Scores: Largely Concerning the American West
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
Seattle at Los Angeles AL | 21:05 ET
Felix Hernandez (144.1 IP, 63 xFIP-, 5.2 WAR) faces Garrett Richards (123.1 IP, 83 xFIP-, 3.2 WAR). After years of exhibiting very excellent armspeed and reasonable control in the minor and then major leagues, the latter has produced a laudable season to date, recording strikeout and walk and ground-ball rates all on the ideal side of average. Richards’ Angels and the opposing Seattlers both currently possess better than 15% odds of qualifying for the divisional series.
Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Seattle Radio.
Two Brief Notes
A Brief Observation on Clayton Kershaw’s Talent
Seattle right-hander Felix Hernandez, starting tonight for Seattle, has recorded the highest WAR figure (5.2) among all major-league pitchers. One notes, however, that the standard WAR pitching leaderboard omits Clayton Kershaw, himself currently in the midst of a potentially historic season. This is because Kershaw, with 96.1 innings, isn’t qualified for the official MLB leaderboards. Remove the innings threshold, however, and one finds that the Dodgers left-hander is actually tied for third by WAR among all pitchers, with Yu Darvish and Phil Hughes.
Regarding Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Texas at Toronto, starts at 1:07pm 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.
| Away | SP | Tm. | Gm. | Tm. | SP | Home | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfredo Simon | CIN | 5 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 9 | NYA | Brandon McCarthy | 13:05 |
| Colby Lewis | TEX | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 9 | TOR | Marcus Stroman | 13:07 |
| Corey Kluber | CLE | 9 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 6 | DET | Drew Verhagen* | 13:08 |
| Zach McAllister | CLE | 5 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 8 | DET | Max Scherzer | 19:08 |
| Zack Greinke | LAN | 8 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 6 | STL | Joe Kelly* | 16:05 |
| Brett Anderson | COL | 2 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 5 | PIT | Charlie Morton | 19:05 |
| Matt Garza | MIL | 4 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 5 | WAS | Tanner Roark | 19:05 |
| Dallas Keuchel | HOU | 8 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 4 | CHA | Hector Noesi | 19:10 |
| Danny Duffy | KC | 4 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 9 | BOS | Rubby de la Rosa | 19:10 |
| Cole Hamels | PHI | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 3 | ATL | Aaron Harang | 19:10 |
| Tim Hudson | SF | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | MIA | Hend’son Alvarez | 19:10 |
| David Price | TB | 9 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 9 | MIN | Phil Hughes | 19:10 |
| Travis Wood | CHN | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | AZ | Wade Miley | 20:10 |
| Dillon Gee | NYN | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 8 | SD | Tyson Ross | 20:40 |
| Wei-Yin Chen | BAL | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | OAK | Jason Hammel | 21:05 |
| Felix Hernandez | SEA | 10 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 9 | LAA | Garrett Richards | 21:05 |
To learn how Game NERD Scores are calculated, click here.
* = Fewer than 20 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
Shouldn’t the WAR leaderboard not have to be qualified players since it’s a counting stat?