NERD Game Scores: Yet Another Houston Astros Debut 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 Chicago AL | 20:10 ET
Velasquez (Debut) vs. Quintana (67.1 IP, 96 xFIP-)
Outfielder Preston Tucker, ranked 18th among Astros prospects by Kiley McDaniel this past offseason, recorded his debut for Houston on May 7 and has since produced a batting line about 20% better than league average. Right-hander Lance McCullers made his debut about 10 days later, and has proceeded to record one of the best fielding-independent pitching marks among all starters in the meantime. With regard to shortstop Carlos Correa, he first appeared for the parent club just two days. Regardless, he’s already recorded more home runs than nine qualified hitters and more stolen bases than 39 of that same group.

In light of the above, the reader should not be surprised to learn that, today, yet another Houstonian is expected to debut for the club. Right-hander Vincent Velasquez was ranked third among Astros prospects by Kiley McDaniel this preseason and 75th among all prospects everywhere. According to McDaniel, he sits at 91-95 mph — and, indeed, skewed towards the higher end of that range during the Arizona Fall League last year, according to Brooks Baseball. He’s struck out over a third of opposing batters over five starts at Double-A Corpus Christi.

The human brain, which is marvelous but also feeble, is inclined to suppose that, merely because the debuts to have preceded Velasquez’s — that because those debuts have amounted to nothing but great success, so will this new player’s. That, obviously, isn’t really the case: Velasquez’s performance is dependent almost exclusively on Vincent Velasquez’s own capacities. That said, his capacities appear to be pretty substantial. Substantial capacities, in conclusion, is what Vincent Velasquez possesses.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Houston Radio.

A Single, Brief Note
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features San Francisco at New York NL, starts at 19:10 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
Jerome Williams	PHI	4	1	3	5	3	CIN	Jon Moscot*	12:35
Tom Koehler	MIA	2	5	4	8	4	TOR	Scott Copeland*	12:37
Gio Gonzalez	WAS	7	6	7	6	7	NYA	Nathan Eovaldi	13:05
Carlos Martinez	STL	9	5	6	3	6	COL	Chad Bettis	15:10
Rick Porcello	BOS	5	4	4	4	4	BAL	Wei-Yin Chen	19:05
Kyle Lohse	MIL	4	3	5	7	6	PIT	Charlie Morton	19:05
Jake Arrieta	CHN	9	6	6	5	5	DET	Shane Greene	19:08
Jered Weaver	LAA	3	7	5	5	7	TB	Erasmo Ramirez	19:10
Tyson Ross	SD	8	3	5	2	4	ATL	Williams Perez	19:10
Tim Hudson	SF	4	5	6	6	10	NYN	Matt Harvey	19:10
Taijuan Walker	SEA	8	5	7	8	5	CLE	Trevor Bauer	19:10
Vin. Velasquez*	HOU	10	10	7	0	6	CHA	Jose Quintana	20:10
Edinson Volquez	KC	4	7	4	2	3	MIN	Kyle Gibson	20:10
Yovani Gallardo	TEX	3	4	4	4	6	OAK	Jesse Hahn	22:05
J.my Hellickson	AZ	2	5	5	7	6	LAN	Brett Anderson	22:10

* = Fewer than 10 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.