NERD Game Scores: Ongoing Houston-Cleveland Series Event
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 Cleveland | 19:10 ET
Straily (4.2 IP, 75 xFIP-) vs. Bauer (97.1 IP, 109 xFIP-)
This represents the third consecutive day on which the Houston-Cleveland game has been recognized as the day’s most compelling. Please note that it is not the author’s intention to endorse either club, specifically. Indeed, what one finds here isn’t the product of the author’s own judgment, at all, but rather of a series of algorithms designed to measure the likely aesthetic appeal of a game. And consider: have algorithms ever led people astray? Do algorithms harbor hurtful biases that hurt people? Was it an algorithm which bestowed upon Rob Carroll and not the present author the academic excellence award in fifth grade in Ms. Jones’ class, and then the author’s parents were like, “You let Rob beat you? Rob Carroll? Why do you even bother living?” No, is the answer in all three cases.
Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Cleveland Radio.
Other Brief Note
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Cincinnati at Washington, 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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ubaldo Jimenez | BAL | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | MIN | Tommy Milone | 13:10 |
| Julio Teheran | ATL | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | MIL | Mike Fiers | 14:10 |
| Anibal Sanchez | DET | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | SEA | J.A. Happ | 15:40 |
| Jacob deGrom | NYN | 10 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | SF | Jake Peavy | 15:45 |
| Michael Lorenzen | CIN | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | WAS | Gio Gonzalez | 19:05 |
| Scott Kazmir | OAK | 6 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 6 | NYA | CC Sabathia | 19:05 |
| Andrew Cashner | SD | 7 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 6 | PIT | Charlie Morton | 19:05 |
| Dan Straily* | HOU | 7 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 5 | CLE | Trevor Bauer | 19:10 |
| Tom Koehler | MIA | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | BOS | Rick Porcello | 19:10 |
| J.my Hellickson | AZ | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | TEX | Matt Harrison* | 20:05 |
| Michael Wacha | STL | 8 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | CHN | Jason Hammel | 20:05 |
| Chris Archer | TB | 10 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 3 | KC | Jeremy Guthrie | 20:10 |
| Drew Hutchison | TOR | 7 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 4 | CHA | John Danks | 20:10 |
| Matt Shoemaker | LAA | 5 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 4 | COL | Chris Rusin | 20:40 |
| Adam Morgan | PHI | 5 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 10 | LAN | Clayton Kershaw | 22:10 |
* = Fewer than 10 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
Carson, it’s time to get rid of your Rob Carroll voodoo dolls.