NERD Game Scores: Stephen Strasburg Pitcher Amazing

July 1, 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.

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Most Highly Rated Game
Colorado at Washington | 19:05 ET
Christian Friedrich (10.0 IP, 117 xFIP-, -0.1 WAR) faces Stephen Strasburg (104.2 IP, 70 xFIP-, 2.4 WAR). A discerning gastronome could very probably ask reasonable questions regarding the authenticity of certain dishes which appear on the menu of Chen Yang Li, a Chinese restaurant located in Bow, NH, and patronized with some regularity by the author’s family. What no one can deny, however, is the presence on that same menu of an entree called Chicken Amazing — which name, one notes, features the word chicken plus then then word amazing. Were one to employ a similar strategy in producing a sobriquet for Washington right-hander Stephen Strasburg, a likely result might be Pitcher Amazing — which is to say a noun describing Strasburg’s job title (i.e. pitcher) plus the adjective amazing again. As noted yesterday, Strasburg is among the league’s best starters by park-adjusted xFIP (70 xFIP-), swinging-strike rate (12.0%), overall strike rate (67.2%), and average fastball velocity (94.4 mph).

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Washington Radio.

Two Brief Notes
Potential Debut: Powerful Houston Prospect Domingo Santana
According to Jason Martinez of MLB Depth Charts, Houston is expected to promote outfielder Domingo Santana to the majors before tonight’s game against Seattle. Just 21, Santana has exhibited considerable power in the minors, having recorded 61 home runs in 1420 plate appearances since the beginning of the 2012 season (roughly 24 per every 550 PA). What else he’s exhibited in some difficulty in making contact.

Regarding Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Milwaukee at Toronto, starts at 1:07pm ET, and can be accessed by means of this hyperlinked text.

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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
Marco Estrada	MIL	4	7	6	7	6	TOR	Drew Hutchison	13:07
Garrett Richards	LAA	8	6	6	2	4	CHA	Hector Noesi	17:10
Jered Weaver	LAA	3	6	2	2	0	CHA	Scott Carroll	20:10
Wade Miley	AZ	7	6	7	5	8	PIT	Jeff Locke	19:05
Chris. Friedrich*	COL	6	9	8	7	10	WAS	St. Strasburg	19:05
David Price	TB	10	7	7	3	4	NYA	Hiroki Kuroda	19:05
Nick Martinez	TEX	0	4	3	5	4	BAL	T.J. McFarland*	19:05
Brad Mills*	OAK	4	7	5	4	5	DET	Rick Porcello	19:08
Edwin Jackson	CHN	5	4	3	2	1	BOS	Clay Buchholz	19:10
D. Matsuzaka	NYN	0	2	3	7	6	ATL	Mike Minor	19:10
A.J. Burnett	PHI	1	2	4	8	7	MIA	Hen’son Alvarez	19:10
James Shields	KC	5	5	5	3	5	MIN	Ricky Nolasco	20:10
Hisashi Iwakuma	SEA	8	5	6	7	4	HOU	Jarred Cosart	20:10
Mike Leake	CIN	6	3	6	4	7	SD	Ian Kennedy	22:10
Justin Masterson	CLE	5	7	5	5	5	LAN	Josh Beckett	22:10
Marco Gonzales*	STL	6	3	5	6	5	SF	Tim Lincecum	22:15

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