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.
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola tops players in Friday’s three league division series playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Friday’s league division series games:
Padres closing pitcher Josh Hader.
Guardians closing pitcher Emmanuel Clase.
NL Division Series Game 3: Phillies 9, Braves 1
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola struck out six over six innings, allowing one run (none earned), five hits and two walks.
The Phillies take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five game series.
Nola earned 16.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 13th overall, ninth among NL pitchers.
Nola is the first player to earn Player of the Game honors for a second time this postseason. He was also Player of the Game in the NL Wild Card Game 2 win over the Phillies on Saturday.
Nola had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0, best among all Phillies players Friday. Designated hitter Bryce Harper had the highest game score among Phillies batters, +3.0 (HR 2B 2-4 2R 3BI). Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider had a -8.9 game score (2.1IP 3H 5R 2BB 4K L).
NL Division Series Game 3: Padres 2, Dodgers 1
Padres closing pitcher Josh Hader struck out two over a scoreless, hitless ninth inning, walking none and earning the save.
The Padres take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five game series.
Hader earned 6.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 129th among all players, 47th among NL pitchers and third among NL closers. Hader last earned regular season Player of the Game honors on July 12, when he was still with the Brewers. He had not earned any Box-Toppers points since being traded to the Padres on Aug. 1.
Hader had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, best among all Padres players Friday. Padres starting pitcher Blake Snell had a +2.1 game score (5.1IP 5H R 2BB 6K W). Padres top batter center fielder Trent Grisham had a 0.0 game score (HR 2-4 R BI). Dodgers starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin had a -4.9 game score (1.1IP 4H R BB K L).
One other Padres reliever, Luis Garcia, also had a +3.0 game score Friday (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K ND), the same as Hader. But because Hader earned the save, he edged Garcia out for Player of the Game honors.
AL Division Series Game 2: Guardians 4, Yankees 2 (F/10)
Guardians closing pitcher Emmanuel Clase struck out two over 2 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk and picking up the win.
The Guardians tie the best-of-five game series, 1-1.
Clase earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 423rd among all players, 111th among AL pitchers and 24th among AL closing pitchers. He was also Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the 2022 All-Star Game.
Clase had a Box-Toppers game score Friday of +2.1. No Guardians batter had a positive game score; the best was -1.0 by shortstop Amed Rosario (HR 2-5 R BI). Guardians starting pitcher Shane Bieber had a +0.2 game score (5.2IP 5H 2R 3BB 7K ND). Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes had a -5.0 game score (5IP 6H 2R 3BB 3K ND).
One Guardians relief pitcher, Trevor Stephan, had a +5.0 game score (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 4K ND), higher than Clase’s. But to be considered for Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors, a pitcher must either have at least three innings pitched, 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. While Stephan had a higher game score, he had fewer innings pitched than Clase.
All of Friday’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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +4.0 | PHI 9, ATL 1 | Aaron Nola, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| +3.0 | SD 2, LAD 1 | Josh Hader, (S 2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| +2.1 | CLE 4, NYY 2 (F/10) | Emmanuel Clase, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 16.0 | 26.7 | 81.0 | 89.7 | +5.3 |
| Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | sd nl | 6.0 | 10.0 | 42.4 | 42.4 | +2.0 |
| Clase, Emmaniuel 4225 | pi cp | cle al | 2.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -1.0 |
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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Saturday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart below):
NL Division Series Game 4, Phillies lead Braves, 2-1
Braves—Charlie Morton, 10.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 51st among all players and 23rd among NL pitchers.
Phillies—Noah Syndergaard, 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 335th among all players, 96th among NL pitchers.
More details—Previews of NL Division Series.
AL Division Series Game 3, Astros lead Mariners, 2-0
Astros—Lance McCullers, 5.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 156th among all players, 55th among AL pitchers.
Mariners—George Kirby, 11.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 41st overall, 19th among AL pitchers.
More details—Previews of AL Division Series.
AL Division Series Game 3, Yankees at Guardians, series tied, 1-1
Yankees—Luis Severino, 6.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 109th among all players, 42nd among AL pitchers.
Guardians—Triston McKenzie, 15.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 15th overall, sixth among AL pitchers. McKenzie was Player of the Game in the AL Wild Card series Game 2 win over the Blue Jays.
More details—Previews of AL Division Series.
NL Division Series Game 4, Padres lead Dodgers, 2-1
Dodgers—Tyler Anderson, 12.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 32nd among all players, 15th among NL pitchers.
Padres—Joe Musgrove, 17.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, ninth among all players, sixth among NL pitchers. Musgrove was Player of the Game in the NL Wild Card series Game 3 win over the Mets.
A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATL | Morton, Charlie 2503 | 10.4 | 23.1 | 66.4 | 94.1 |
| PHI | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 25.4 | 52.5 |
| HOU | McCullers, Lance 3488 | 5.4 | 14.1 | 36.9 | 49.7 |
| SEA | Kirby, George 4595 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 |
| NYY | Severino, Luis 3567 | 6.7 | 7.7 | 48.5 | 53.5 |
| CLE | McKenzie, Triston 4303 | 15.7 | 26.1 | 30.1 | 30.1 |
| LAD | Anderson, Tyler 3656 | 12.7 | 19.7 | 33.4 | 35.4 |
| SD | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | 17.4 | 33.5 | 49.5 | 53.2 |
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