Box-Toppers Toppers Box
Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
▪️ Box-Toppers points of the day’s top players.
▪️ A B-T look at today’s pitching matchups.
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole tops players in Tuesday’s four league division series playoff games:
Other Player of the Game winners in Tuesday’s league division series games:
Yordan Alvarez of the Astros.
Nick Castellanos of the Phillies.
Trea Turner of the Dodgers.
AL Division Series Game 1: Yankees 4, Guardians 1
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole struck out eight over 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk.
The Yankees take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
Cole earned 15.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 17th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.
Cole had a Box-Toppers game score of +7.1, best among all Yankees players Tuesday. Yankees top batter was first baseman Anthony Rizzo with a 0.0 game score (HR 1-4 R 2BI). Guardians starting pitcher Cal Quantrill had a -4.0 game score (5IP 4H 4R 3BB 5K L).
AL Division Series Game 1: Astros 8, Mariners 7
Yordan Alvarez of the Astros hit a walk-off three run homer, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs.
The Astros now lead the best-of-five game series, 1-0.
Alvarez earned 8.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 70th among all players and third among AL batters.
Alvarez had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0, best among all Astros players Tuesday. Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander, who led all players with 26.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, had a game-low -16.0 game score in an uncharacteristic outing for him (4IP 10H 6R BB 3K ND). Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert had a -2.9 game score (5.1IP 5H 3R 2BB 5K ND).
NL Division Series Game 1: Phillies 7, Braves 6
Nick Castellanos of the Phillies doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs.
The Phillies now lead the best-of-five series, 1-0.
Castellanos earned no Box-Toppers points in 2022, though he played in 136 games during the season. In 2021, he played in 138 games and had 11.5 Box-Toppers points, first among NL batters for the season.
Castellanos had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0, best among all Phillies players Tuesday. Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez had a -1.9 game score (3.1IP 3H R 5BB 5K ND). Braves starting pitcher Max Fried had a -13.9 game score (3.1IP 8H 6R 4ER BB 2K L).
Another Phillies pitcher, Seranthony Dominguez, had a higher game score than Castellanos but was not a candidate to earn Player of the Game honors. For pitchers to earn Player of the Game, they must pitch at least three innings, earn the win, earn the save or have a higher Box-Toppers game score while having the same or more innings pitched as the pitcher who would otherwise win Player of the Game. Dominguez had a +5.0 game score (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K ND).
NL Division Series Game 1: Dodgers 5, Padres 3
Trea Turner of the Dodgers homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in one run.
The Dodgers take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five game series.
Turner earned no Box-Toppers points in 2022. Despite playing in 160 games and 111 team wins, there was always another Dodgers player who contributed more to the team victory, winning Player of the Game honors.
Turner had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +1.0. That was the same game score of two other Dodgers players Tuesday, but Turner held the tiebreaker advantage. Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias also had a +1.0 game score (5IP 4H 3R 0BB 6K W), but in cases where pitchers and batters tie in game score, batters hold the tiebreaker advantage. Catcher Will Smith also had a +1.0 game score (2B 2-4 2R BI), but Turner ranked ahead because he hit a home run and Smith did not. Padres pitcher Mike Clevinger had a -11.8 game score (2.2IP 6H 5R 4ER 2BB 3K L).
All of Tuesday’s Player of the Game winners are listed in the chart below.
Box‑Toppers Player of the Game winners
Here is the top player from each of the day’s games listed from highest to lowest Box‑Toppers game score (BTG).Back to top
| BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +7.1 | NYY 4, CLE 1 | Gerrit Cole, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| +5.0 | HOU 8, SEA 7 | Yordan Alvarez, LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | PHI 7, ATL 6 | Nick Castellanos, RF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +1.0 | LAD 5, SD 3 | Trea Turner, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s Player of the Game winners
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2022 (’22). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’21-22), the period 2017-2022 (’17-22) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2022 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2021 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’22 | ’21‑22 | ’17‑22 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 15.4 | 37.8 | 102.4 | 138.3 | -7.0 |
| Alvarez, Yordan 4209 | dh | hou al | 8.7 | 15.7 | 19.2 | 19.2 | +1.7 |
| Castellanos, Nicholas 3349 | rf | phi nl | 0.0 | 11.5 | 28.5 | 42.2 | -11.5 |
| Turner, Trea 3730 | ss 2b | lad nl | 0.0 | 2.5 | 14.2 | 16.7 | -2.5 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
NOTE: These are player point totals as of the end of the 2022 regular season. No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.
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Wednesday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart below):
NL Division Series Game 2, Phillies lead Braves, 1-0
Phillies—Zack Wheeler, 14.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 22nd among all players, 11th among NL pitchers. Wheeler was Player of the Game in the NL Wild Card series Game 1 win over the Cardinals.
Braves—Kyle Wright, 14.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 24th overall, 12th among NL pitchers.
While both Wheeler and Wright have 14.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, Wheeler ranks ahead because he has more 2021 Box-Toppers points—21.1 vs. 0.0.
More details—Previews of NL Division Series.
NL Division Series Game 2, Dodgers lead Padres, 1-0
Padres—Yu Darvish, 16.8 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 10th among all players, seventh among NL pitchers.
Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 10.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 46th among all players and 21st among NL pitchers.
Darvish and Kershaw are among four active players among the eight current playoff teams who have more than 100 career Box-Toppers points. Kershaw leads all active players with 259.3 career points, second overall since 1995, behind Randy Johnson (282.5). Darvish has 124.0 career points, 15th among players active in 2022 and 48th-most since 1995.
The other two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points currently in the 2002 postseason (both of whom pitched Tuesday) are:
Astros pitcher Justin Verlander, 232.6 career points, third among active players, fifth-most since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, 138.3 career points, 10th among active players, 34th-most since 1995.
A Box-Toppers look at Wednesday’s Division Series round pitching matchups
A Box-Toppers look at the upcoming day’s probable pitching matchups. Teams are paired below with visiting teams on top and home teams on the bottom. Each team’s starting pitcher is shown with their Box-Toppers point total from 2022 (’22), over a two-year period (’21-22), over a six-year period (’17-22) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’22 | ’21‑22 | ’17‑22 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHI | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | 14.4 | 35.5 | 57.2 | 68.9 |
| ATL | Wright, Kyle 4349 | 14.4 | 14.4 | 15.4 | 15.4 |
| SD | Darvish, Yu 3003 | 16.8 | 29.9 | 68.4 | 124.0 |
| LAD | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | 10.7 | 24.1 | 75.6 | 259.3 |
Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
† Starter has not been officially named, but this is a likely candidate.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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Related
Box-Toppers 2022 player rankings leaders
Box-Toppers 2022 final team rankings
Box-Toppers’ NL Division Series preview: Padres vs. Dodgers, Phillies vs. Braves
Box-Toppers’ AL Division Series previews: Guardians vs. Yankees, Mariners vs. Astros