Starting pitchers for each game are paired together in the chart—for example, the Brewers’ Corbin Burnes faces the Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks in Chicago in one opener and the Mets’ Tylor Megill faces the Nationals’ Patrick Corbin in Washington in the next game.
The chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. For example, clicking the 2021 BTPs column will show Gerrit Cole has the most 2021 Box-Toppers points among opening game starters. Refresh page to restore chart to the default game-by-game view.
| Team | Starter | 2021 BTPs |
Rank | 17‑21 BTPs |
Rank | Career BTPs |
Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brewers | Corbin Burnes | 18.1 | 5 | 28.8 | 71 | 28.8 | 801 |
| Cubs | Kyle Hendricks | 4.0 | 228 | 35.8 | 41 | 63.9 | 234 |
| Mets | Tylor Megill | 6.0 | 150 | 6.0 | 605 | 6.0 | 2318 |
| Nationals | Patrick Corbin | 6.7 | 118 | 48.8 | 18 | 81.3 | 139 |
| Guardians | Shane Bieber | 6.7 | 111 | 42.6 | 29 | 42.6 | 473 |
| Royals | Zack Greinke | 8.7 | 69 | 61.7 | 7 | 217.8 | 5 |
| Pirates | JT Brubaker | 4.0 | 258 | 4.0 | 769 | 4.0 | 2706 |
| Cardinals | Adam Wainwright | 12.0 | 29 | 30.3 | 65 | 142.3 | 30 |
| Reds | Tyler Mahle | 11.7 | 32 | 23.7 | 106 | 23.7 | 978 |
| Braves | Max Fried | 11.8 | 30 | 28.5 | 76 | 28.5 | 809 |
| Astros | Framber Valdez | 5.0 | 175 | 15.4 | 247 | 15.4 | 1370 |
| Angels | Shohei Ohtani | 16.1 | 12 | 30.6 | 62 | 30.6 | 746 |
| Padres | Yu Darvish | 13.1 | 20 | 51.6 | 14 | 107.2 | 70 |
| Diamondbacks | Madison Bumgarner | 10.0 | 46 | 29.7 | 68 | 135.4 | 33 |
| Red Sox | Nathan Eovaldi | 14.1 | 16 | 27.8 | 80 | 53.6 | 338 |
| Yankees | Gerrit Cole | 22.4 | 2 | 87.0 | 2 | 122.9 | 45 |
| White Sox | Lucas Giolito | 11.4 | 36 | 39.1 | 34 | 39.1 | 536 |
| Tigers | Eduardo Rodriguez | 10.0 | 47 | 43.5 | 26 | 54.2 | 327 |
| Athletics | Frankie Montas | 12.4 | 28 | 30.8 | 60 | 30.8 | 735 |
| Phillies | Aaron Nola | 10.7 | 38 | 65.0 | 5 | 73.7 | 178 |
| Orioles | John Means | 9.0 | 61 | 18.0 | 189 | 18.0 | 1203 |
| Rays | Shane McClanahan | 4.7 | 209 | 4.7 | 729 | 4.7 | 2625 |
| Dodgers | Walker Buehler | 16.7 | 10 | 53.9 | 12 | 53.9 | 331 |
| Rockies | Kyle Freeland | 7.0 | 105 | 27.4 | 84 | 27.4 | 850 |
| Mariners | Robbie Ray | 17.7 | 6 | 51.1 | 15 | 61.8 | 258 |
| Twins | Joe Ryan | 2.7 | 362 | 2.7 | 984 | 2.7 | 2755 |
| Marlins | Sandy Alcantara | 9.7 | 51 | 19.1 | 174 | 19.1 | 1149 |
| Giants | Logan Webb | 15.5 | 14 | 18.2 | 186 | 18.2 | 1196 |
| Rangers | Jon Gray | 4.0 | 232 | 32.4 | 53 | 39.4 | 530 |
| Blue Jays | Jose Berrios | 9.4 | 57 | 49.9 | 17 | 49.9 | 382 |
Starting a new baseball season means putting your best foot forward, which for teams usually means putting your best pitcher on the mound to start the first game of the season.
However, only four of Box-Toppers’ top-ranked pitchers in 2021 are starting their team’s first game of 2022. (See the chart elsewhere on this page Opening day starters’ Box-Toppers points.)
Box-Toppers’ overall top-ranked player, Max Scherzer of the Mets, is nursing a right hamstring issue and hopes to pitch in the second game of the season. Scherzer led all players in 2021 with 25.1 Box-Toppers points, starting the season with the Nationals before being traded to the Dodgers. He signed a free-agent deal in the offseason to join the Mets.
In his place, Tylor Megill will start for the Mets against the Nationals Thursday. Megill earned 6.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 53rd among National League pitchers and 150th among all players.
Teams open the 2022 season Thursday and Friday this week. Here are the four opening game starting pitchers who were among the top 10 in Box-Toppers points for 2021:
Gerrit Cole, whose 22.4 Box-Toppers points ranked second overall and first among American League pitchers, is slated to start for the Yankees Friday in their opening game against the Red Sox.
Corbin Burnes, whose 18.1 Box-Toppers points ranked fifth overall and fourth among NL pitchers, is slated to start Thursday for the Brewers in their opening game against the Cubs.
Robbie Ray, whose 17.7 Box-Toppers points with the Blue Jays ranked sixth overall and second among AL pitchers, is slated to start Friday for the Mariners in their opening game against the Twins.
Walker Buehler, whose 16.7 Box-Toppers points ranked 10th overall and eighth among NL pitchers, is slated to start Friday for the Dodgers in their opening game against the Rockies.
In addition to Scherzer, here are Box-Toppers’ remaining top 10 ranked pitchers for 2021 who are not starting a 2022 opening game:
Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, 21.1 Box-Toppers points, third overall and second among NL pitchers. Wheeler has had shoulder soreness during spring training and is slated to start next week. In his place, the Phillies start Aaron Nola (10.7 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 22nd among NL pitchers) in their opener Friday against the Athletics.
Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias, 19.1 Box-Toppers points, fourth overall and third among NL pitchers. Urias is expected to start later in the week, but another Box-Toppers top 10 player, Buehler, is the Dodgers opening game starter.
Rockies pitcher German Marquez, 17.4 Box-Toppers points, seventh overall and fifth among NL pitchers, is slated to start in the Rockies’ second game on Saturday. Kyle Freeland (7.0 Box-Toppers points, 41st among NL pitchers) is the Rockies opening game starter Friday against the Dodgers.
Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff, 17.1 Box-Toppers points, eighth overall and sixth among NL pitchers, is slated to start the Brewers’ second game Friday. He ranks behind Brewers’ Thursday starter Corbin Burnes (18.1 Box-Toppers points).
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom, 16.7 Box-Toppers points, ninth overall and seventh among NL pitchers, is the Mets’ second-ranked starter behind Scherzer (25.1). But deGrom is out for at least April because of a problem with his right shoulder blade. That means neither of the Mets’ top 10 players will pitch in the team’s opening game, leaving the duty to Tylor Megill (6.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021).
The chart elsewhere on this page (Opening day starters’ Box-Toppers points) shows all of the 30 teams’ opening game starting pitchers, grouped by default with the team and starter they face in that opener either Thursday or Friday. In addition, each pitcher’s 2021 Box-Toppers point total and overall ranking is shown. Also shown are each pitcher’s Box-Toppers point total over 2017-21 and their rank in that time span, plus each pitcher’s career Box-Toppers point total and their rank among all players in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers player tracking began.
While the chart is set by default to show game-by-game matchups of opening game starters for each team, the chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. For example, clicking the 2021 BTPs column will show Gerrit Cole has the most 2021 Box-Toppers points among opening game starters (you may need to click twice to sort from highest-to-lowest values). Refresh page to restore chart to the default game-by-game view.
A few notes:
Opening game starting pitchers had between 2.7 and 22.4 Box-Toppers points in 2021, ranking from 362nd to second. There were 799 players who earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2021.
From 2017-21, starters had between 2.7 and 87.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking from 984th to second. There are 1,561 players who earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point from 2017-21.
In career points since 1995, starters have between 2.7 and 217.9 Box-Toppers points, ranking from 2,755th to fifth. Since 1995, 4,569 players have earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Gerrit Cole, who leads all starters with 22.4 Box-Toppers points in 2021, also leads starters over 2017-21 with 87.0 Box-Toppers points. That ranks second among all players over that span (first among AL pitchers) behind only Scherzer (94.6).
Two other opening game starters also rank in the top 10 in Box-Toppers points over 2017-21: Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (65.0 points, fifth overall) and Royals pitcher Zack Greinke (61.7 points, seventh overall).
Royals pitcher Zack Greinke has the most career Box-Toppers points among opening game starters with 217.8, fifth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Greinke ranks third among active players in career points behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (248.6) and Scherzer (226.3).
Twins pitcher Joe Ryan is the lowest-ranked opening game starter with 2.7 career Box-Toppers points earned in 2021. That’s 362nd in 2021, 984th over 2017-21 and 2,755th since 1995. Ryan, who still has rookie status, earned his 2.7 points in five starts in 2021. He starts agains the Mariners Friday.
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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