One Night Only: Game Previews, June 28th-30th
There’s no reason to fear change.
This edition of One Night Only contains:
1. Previews for six games, all of them (i.e. the previews) aimed equally at the heart and the head.
2. Pitcher and Team NERD scores for every game between Tuesday and Thursday.
3. This Programming Note:
What you see here, reader, is a three-day, working-week edition of One Night Only. I understand that this (a) represents a change and also that (b) change is frightening; how-ev-er, it’s the opinion of this author that games might (I say might!) be sufficiently previewed in two weekly (i.e. a Tuesday and Friday one) editions, thus freeing same author (in this case, Carson Cistulli) to more ably divert his attentions to other baseball-related splendors*.
*Like, for example, the stupid-excellent interview with Grant Brisbee of McCovey Chronicles that’ll be appearing at this site later today.
Because we’re looking into the future, of course, it’s possible that the slate of games for Thursday will change in the interim. As such, I will likely revisit this post over the course of its relevance — and will invite the readership to utilize the comments section to chastise me duly for failing to do same.
We’re in this together, reader. Not in a sexy way, necessarily. But also: sort of in a sexy way.
Tuesday, June 28th
Cleveland (10) at Arizona (10) | 21:40 ET
• Resolve: Daniel Hudson (10) has the slingiest of deliveries among major-league pitchers today.
• Confession: I don’t really know who the other candidates would be.
• What I’m saying is, is that Daniel Hudson’s delivery is effing slingy.
• What’s that, you’re a person who needs “video proof”?
• Abraca-effing-dabra:
Atlanta (5) at Seattle (2) | 22:10 ET
• Pitching matchup: Tommy Hanson (8) versus Michael Pineda (10).
• Some things about Pineda (with ranks among qualifiers): 12.4% SwStr (1), 95.1 mph average (2).
• Also, his strike percentage (68.4%) is third — behind only Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee.
• Ideal Son-in-Law Matchup: Dustin Ackley versus…
• Versus no one, is the answer.
Wednesday, June 29th
Cincinnati (7) at Tampa Bay (5) | 12:10 ET
• What a lot of people don’t know is that James Shields (9) is actually on Kanye West’s smash-hit song “Monster.”
• Except instead of singing, Shields actually just points to the numbers from his last three starts.
• Which: 27 IP, 24 K, 4 BB, 27 GB on 65 batted-balls (41.5%), ca. 1.75 FIP, ca. 2.87 xFIP.
Los Angeles Nationals (3) at Minnesota (0) | 13:10 ET
• It’s likely (likely, I say) that the Twins NERD score will benefit greatly from the return of Joe Mauer.
• Because, regard, Twin catchers this season: .182/.230/.258.
• That’s just a 41 OPS+ relative only to other major-league catchers, per Baseball Reference.
• Oh, other thing: Rubby De La Rosa (9) pitches.
• He’s got the highest average fastball velocity (96.2 mph) of pitchers with 20-plus innings as a starter — a.k.a. a full mph higher than Justin Verlander, Felipe Paulino, and Michael Pineda.
Thursday, June 30th
Boston (7) at Philadelphia (3) | 13:05 ET
• I’d like to apologize to Chase Utley for what I said above about Dustin Ackley being the ideal son-in-law.
• But what I’d like to say is, is you’re older than me, Chase Utley, and you should stay away from my daughter, regardless of how “born” or “unborn” she is.
• Pitching matchup: Jon Lester (6) at Cole Hamels (10).
Chicago Americans (1) at Colorado (7) | 15:10 ET
• I don’t actually advocate looking directly at/into either Aaron Cook or the Chicago White Sox.
• Really, this is just an excuse to Charlie Blackmon Watch.
• Which: 67 PA, .277/.299/.292 (.305 BABIP), .286 wOBA, 68 wRC+.
• Egads, Charlie Blackmon.
• Just go out there and be a Charlie Blackmon, okay.
Also Playing
These games are very likely playing at some kind of sporty channel near you. (Pitching probables and game times from MLB.com.)
Tuesday:
| Away | SP | Tm. | Gm. | Tm. | SP | Home | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Vogelsong | SF | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | CHN | Doug Davis | 14:20 |
| Josh Beckett | BOS | 6 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 10 | PHI | Cliff Lee | 19:05 |
| Zack Greinke | MIL | 10 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 3 | NYA | Freddy Garcia | 19:05 |
| R.A. Dickey | NYN | 8 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | DET | Rick Porcello | 19:05 |
| Kyle Lohse | STL | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 6 | BAL | Zach Britton | 19:05 |
| Kevin Correia | PIT | 3 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 3 | TOR | Jo-Jo Reyes | 19:07 |
| Johnny Cueto | CIN | 6 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 10 | TB | David Price | 19:10 |
| Barry Zito* | SF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | CHN | Rodrigo Lopez* | 20:05 |
| C.J. Wilson | TEX | 5 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 9 | HOU | Jordan Lyles | 20:05 |
| Ted Lilly | LAN | 6 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 | MIN | Brian Duensing | 20:10 |
| Gavin Floyd | CHA | 5 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 2 | COL | Jason Hammel | 20:40 |
| Josh Tomlin | CLE | 6 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | AZ | Daniel Hudson | 21:40 |
| Javier Vazquez | FL | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | OAK | Gio Gonzalez | 22:05 |
| Felipe Paulino | KC | 9 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 2 | SD | Clayton Richard | 22:05 |
| Jason Marquis | WAS | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 3 | LAA | Joel Pineiro | 22:05 |
| Tommy Hanson | ATL | 8 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 10 | SEA | Michael Pineda | 22:10 |
Wednesday:
| Away | SP | Tm. | Gm. | Tm. | SP | Home | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edinson Volquez | CIN | 7 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 9 | TB | James Shields | 12:10 |
| Rubby De La Rosa | LAN | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 7 | MIN | Scott Baker | 13:10 |
| Bruce Chen | KC | 2 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 7 | SD | Tim Stauffer | 15:35 |
| Derek Lowe | ATL | 6 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 9 | SEA | Fel. Hernandez | 15:40 |
| Carlos Carrasco | CLE | 6 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 5 | AZ | Zach Duke | 15:40 |
| John Lackey | BOS | 2 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | PHI | Vance Worley | 19:05 |
| Shaun Marcum | MIL | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 | NYA | A.J. Burnett | 19:05 |
| Chris Capuano | NYN | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | DET | Phil Coke | 19:05 |
| Chris Carpenter | STL | 8 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | BAL | C. Jakubauskas | 19:05 |
| Jor. Zimmermann | WAS | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 7 | LAA | Dan Haren | 19:05 |
| Paul Maholm | PIT | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 10 | TOR | Brandon Morrow | 19:07 |
| Tim Lincecum | SF | 9 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 7 | CHN | Ryan Dempster | 20:05 |
| Colby Lewis | TEX | 4 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | HOU | Brett Myers | 20:05 |
| Mark Buehrle | CHA | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 6 | COL | Ub. Jimenez | 20:40 |
| Ricky Nolasco | FL | 8 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 5 | OAK | Gra. Godfrey* | 22:10 |
Thursday:
| Away | SP | Tm. | Gm. | Tm. | SP | Home | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jon Lester | BOS | 6 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 10 | PHI | Cole Hamels | 13:05 |
| Randy Wolf | MIL | 4 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | NYA | CC Sabathia | 13:05 |
| Mike Pelfrey | NYN | 3 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 10 | DET | Justin Verlander | 13:05 |
| Matt Cain | SF | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | CHN | Carlos Zambrano | 14:20 |
| Jake Peavy | CHA | 8 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 3 | COL | Aaron Cook | 15:10 |
| Chris Volstad | FL | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | OAK | Guillermo Moscoso | 15:35 |
| Jake Westbrook | STL | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | BAL | Brian Matusz | 19:05 |
| Jeff Karstens | PIT | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 | TOR | Carlos Villanueva | 19:07 |
| Matt Harrison | TEX | 4 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 5 | HOU | Wandy Rodriguez | 20:05 |
NERD represents an attempt to anticipate the watchability of a game for the baseballing enthusiast.
To learn more about Pitcher NERD, click here and scroll down a little.
To learn more about Team NERD, click here.
To learn how Game NERD Scores are calculated, click here.
* = Fewer than 20 IP, NERD of 5 (or 10 for debuts)
Pitching probables and game times from MLB.com.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
I see a game NERD of 9!
Mega-Game 2.0?
Mega Game 2: Return of Mega Game!
Nonono.
Mega Game 2: Return of Electric Boogaloo (Or How I learned to Ignore the Fact That It’s Clevland Versus Arizona and Just Love the Game)
Feel free to leave out the hypothetical parantheticals.
+1 for the Doc Strangelove reference while still being relevant.
The Diamondbacks have been involved in both Mega Games this year thanks to their nifty 10 tNERD. As a D-backs fan, I’m waiting for NERD scores to give me a game that I wouldn’t ordinarily be watching.