NERD Game Scores: Presenting the Highest-Leverage Baseball
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
San Francisco at Milwaukee | 14:10 ET
Jake Peavy (137.0 IP, 111 xFIP-, 1.0 WAR) faces Wily Peralta (138.0 IP, 99 xFIP-, 0.7 WAR). This is the third game in a series that’s featured the two clubs currently playing the highest-leverage games in the league. San Francisco won last night, although only modestly — because the Dodgers also won — only modestly improved their odds of qualifying for the divisional series from 48.3% to 48.7%. The Milwaukees, meanwhile, despite occupying first place in the NL Central, currently possess a worse chance of reaching the divisional series than either the Cardinals or Pirates per the methodology employed by the present site.
Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Basically All of Them.
Two Brief Notes
Status Update: Javier Baez
In his second game as a major-leaguer, Cubs prospect Javier Baez played second base and recorded zero of the following in four plate appearances: walks, strikeouts, home runs, and/or hits (box).
Regarding Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Miami at Pittsburgh, starts at 7:05pm 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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacob deGrom | NYN | 8 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 10 | WAS | J. Zimmermann | 12:35 |
| Rick Porcello | DET | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | NYA | Shane Greene | 13:05 |
| Jake Peavy | SF | 3 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 7 | MIL | Wily Peralta | 14:10 |
| Kyle Hendricks | CHN | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | COL | Yohan Flande | 15:10 |
| Collin McHugh | HOU | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | PHI | Rob. Hernandez | 19:05 |
| Brian Flynn* | MIA | 6 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 2 | PIT | Edinson Volquez | 19:05 |
| Miguel Gonzalez | BAL | 1 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 3 | TOR | J.A. Happ | 19:07 |
| T.J. House | CLE | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 7 | CIN | Homer Bailey | 19:10 |
| Bran. Workman | BOS | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 5 | STL | Ad. Wainwright | 19:15 |
| Jeremy Guthrie | KC | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | AZ | Vidal Nuno | 21:40 |
| Hyun-Jin Ryu | LAN | 8 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 4 | LAA | C.J. Wilson | 22:05 |
| Yohan Pino | MIN | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | OAK | Jon Lester | 22:05 |
| Scott Carroll | CHA | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | SEA | Roenis Elias | 22:10 |
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.
Pshaw, it’s Mike Trout’s birthday and all baseball articles should hang some verbal bunting. Trout gets too little attention.