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

Chicago NL at Washington | 19:05 ET

Arrieta (65.0 IP, 72 xFIP-) vs. Gonzalez (59.0 IP, 84 xFIP-)

It’s possible that the people in American society who aren’t thinking, with at least some kind of regularity, about Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta — it’s possible that the reason for this absence in their lives is because they don’t particularly care for the sport of baseball or are working to give their children the opportunities they never had or are otherwise engaged. It’s also possible, however, that those same Americans have just never been given the opportunity to observe four of Arrieta’s curveballs in a row by means of embedded looping video. The purpose of this post at FanGraphs.com is to facilitate that opportunity for people in American society.

Regard:

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Chicago NL Television.

A Single, Brief Note

Today’s Free Game

Today’s free game features Oakland at Detroit, starts at 13:08 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.

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