NERD Game Scores: Yordano Ventura Pitching Event

July 4, 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
Kansas City at Cleveland | 19:05 ET
Yordano Ventura (88.1 IP, 87 xFIP-, 1.8 WAR) faces Josh Tomlin (64.1 IP, 84 xFIP, 0.8 WAR). The former has recorded not only the highest average fastball velocity among qualified starters, but also the sixth-fastest working pace among that same group. The latter, having typically survived off of his capacity to limit walks, has produced a strikeout rate thus far (21.9%) precisely 50% greater than his career average to date.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Cleveland Radio.

A Single, Other Brief Note
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Kansas City at Cleveland, 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.

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Away		SP	Tm.	Gm.	Tm.	SP		Home	Time
Jason Hammel	CHN	7	4	5	6	4	WAS	Tanner Roark	11:05
M. Gonzalez	BAL	1	6	4	2	6	BOS	Jon Lester	13:35
Chase Whitley	NYA	5	3	4	3	4	MIN	Kyle Gibson	15:10
Marcus Stroman	TOR	9	7	6	7	2	OAK	Tommy Milone	16:05
R. Hernandez	PHI	1	2	4	4	8	PIT	Gerrit Cole	17:05
Matt Cain	SF	4	5	4	4	3	SD	Eric Stults	18:40
Y. Ventura	KC	10	5	8	6	7	CLE	Josh Tomlin	19:05
Alex Cobb	TB	7	6	6	4	5	DET	Drew Smyly	19:08
Kyle Lohse	MIL	4	7	5	3	5	CIN	Alfredo Simon	19:10
Roenis Elias	SEA	5	5	7	2	10	CHA	Chris Sale	19:10
Yu Darvish	TEX	7	4	5	3	4	NYN	Jon Niese	19:10
Nathan Eovaldi	MIA	8	7	6	3	4	STL	Lance Lynn	19:15
Josh Collmenter	AZ	2	6	5	7	8	ATL	Ervin Santana	19:35
Clay. Kershaw	LAN	10	5	7	9	4	COL	Jair Jurrjens*	20:10
Dallas Keuchel	HOU	8	7	6	6	4	LAA	C.J. Wilson	21:05

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

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11 years ago

Today as we celebrate our nation’s anniversary, let us all take a moment for Jair Jurrjens, who is making his 2014 debut pitching at Coors Field.

Against Clayton Kershaw.

Against all odds.

Mike Green

Reply to tz

Kershaw has made 15 career starts in Coors. He’s 6-3 with a 5.03 ERA. Interestingly, he’s made only 9 starts in Petco (ERA 2.22) and 10 starts in AT&T (ERA 0.78). The career ERA+ may undersell him…

Jurrjens does have the odds against him, but even if he fails, there’s probably a good establishment that he can go to and watch a soccer game to ease his pain.

James

The same Rockies team Kershaw no hit just two weeks ago.