Astros pitcher Framber Valdez is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Thursday’s Opening Day games.
Also Thursday, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Valdez struck out six over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 3-1 win over the Angels.
Valdez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and takes the early lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings. In 2021, he earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points, 58th among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Tylor Megill struck out six over five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Nationals.
Megill earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and now ranks second in Box-Toppers season player rankings. In 2021, he earned 6.0 Box-Toppers points, 53rd among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Seth Beer of the Diamondbacks hit a game-winning, ninth-inning, three-run homer in the 4-2 win over the Padres. Beer went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in three runs.
This was Beer’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Beer made his Major League debut Sept. 10, 2021, and was playing in his sixth career game.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors in the seven games played.
Streak—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2022 Thursday.
Wainwright (6IP 5H 0R 0BB 6K W in the 9-0 win over the Pirates) earned his first points in 2006 with the Cardinals, but earned no points in 2011, missing that season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. His current 11-season streak began in 2012. (Had he not missed earning points in 2011, this would be his 17th straight season earning Box-Toppers points.)
Wainwright earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and now has 143.3 career Box-Toppers points, 30th among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 29th-ranked player, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (144.6). Wainwright ranks eighth among active, signed players in career points and third among active NL pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (248.6) and Max Scherzer of the Mets (226.3).
There were three seasons Wainwright ranked among the overall top 10 in season Box-Toppers points, all with the Cardinals.
In 2010, he had 19.7 Box-Toppers points, fourth overall and second among NL pitchers.
In 2013, he had 20.2 points, second overall and second among NL pitchers.
In 2014, he had 18.7 points, eighth overall and fourth among NL pitchers.
Wainwright had 12.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 18th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Valdez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Megill earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Beer earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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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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).| 4/7 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.2 | HOU 3, LAA 1 | Framber Valdez, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| NL | +8.0 | NYM 5, WSH 1 | Tylor Megill, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| +7.0 | STL 9, PIT 0 | Adam Wainwright, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +6.0 | CIN 6, ATL 3 | Tyler Mahle, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| +3.0 | KC 3, CLE 1 | Scott Barlow, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +2.1 | `CHC 5, MIL 4 | Kyle Hendricks | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | ARI 4, SD 2 | Seth Beer, DH | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box‑Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box‑Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box‑Toppers points.
N/A—Not applicable. No Player of the Game was chosen because the game ended in a tie.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box‑Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no‑decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
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 (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’22 | ’21‑22 | ’17‑22 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valdez, Framber 4048 | pi sp | hou al | 2.0 | 7.0 | 17.4 | 17.4 | ‑3.0 |
| Megill, Tylor 4464 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | ‑4.3 |
| Beer, Seth 4570 | dh | ari nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | +1.5 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 1.0 | 13.0 | 31.3 | 143.3 | ‑11.0 |
| Mahle, Tyler 3929 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 12.7 | 24.7 | 24.7 | ‑10.7 |
| Barlow, Scott 3981 | pi cp mr | kc al | 1.0 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | ‑4.0 |
| Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | chi nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 36.8 | 64.9 | ‑3.0 |
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