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.
▪️ Top 10 players in 2022 Box-Toppers points.
▪️ A B-T look at today’s pitching matchups.
Cardinals pitcher Jose Quintana is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani earns American League Player of the Day honors as a starting pitcher. He maintains second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, but loses his status to rank among batters because he’s now earned the overwhelming majority of his Player of the Game honors as a pitcher. And because of this, he falls from first place among AL batters in 2022 Box-Toppers points, giving the lead to Aaron Judge of the Yankees.
In addition Saturday, three other players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after each earned Player of the Game honors—Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias maintains seventh place, Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove rises to eighth place and Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff rises to 10th place.
Player of the Day—Quintana struck out six over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 1-0, 11-inning win over the Reds. Quintana did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited when the game was in a scoreless tie.
Quintana earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season, 48th among all players and 21st among National League pitchers.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2022. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Saturday, Sept. 17.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 24.0 |
| 2 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 22.7 |
| 3 | Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | chi al | 20.4 |
| 4 | Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | sf nl | 18.1 |
| 5 | Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.1 |
| 6 | Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 17.7 |
| 7 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 17.4 |
| 8 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 16.4 |
| 9 | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | pi sp | tb al | 16.4 |
| 10 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 16.1 |
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American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Mariners.
Ohtani earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 22.7 for the season, second among all players behind Astros pitcher Justin Verlander (24.0). Ohtani also ranks second among AL pitchers behind Verlander.
Ohtani had led AL batters in Box-Toppers points, but lost his status to rank among batters with his Player of the Game honor Saturday. Ohtani has now earned Player of the Game honors 16 times in 2022, 12 as a starting pitcher (earning 17.7 total points) and four as a designated hitter (earning 5.0 total points). To qualify to rank at a certain position, a player must have more than 25 percent of their Player of the Game honors at that position. Ohtani now has exactly 25 percent of his honors as a batter and so, loses his status to be ranked as a batter.
With that, Aaron Judge of the Yankees (11.2 Box-Toppers points) now leads AL batters, followed by Jose Ramirez of the Guardians (10.7).
This is the second time this season Ohtani has fallen below the qualification threshold to rank as a batter. Ohtani led AL batters in Box-Toppers points most of the season until Aug. 9, when he lost his status to be ranked among batters because he earned an overwhelming share of his Player of the Game honors as a starting pitcher (9 of 12). But he regained his status to be ranked among batters Aug. 28, when he earned Player of the Game honors as a batter, giving him four of his 14 honors as a batter, 28.6 percent. Before Saturday, he had four of 15 of his honors as a batter (26.7 percent) and still qualified to rank as a batter.
Ohtani earned 16.1 Box-Toppers points in 2021, third among AL pitchers. While Ohtani also played as both a designated hitter and a starting pitcher in 2021, he was ranked only as a pitcher that season because he earned such an overwhelming majority of his Player of the Game honors as a pitcher (nine of 12).
American League Batter of the Day—Seth Brown of the Athletics hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 8-5 win over the Astros.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.
Rankings—Three players in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias (6IP 5H 2R ER BB 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.4 for the season, maintaining seventh place among all players, fourth among NL pitchers.
Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove (6IP 4H 0R 0BB 8K W in the 2-0 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.4 for the season, eighth among all players and fifth among NL pitchers.
Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff (8IP 5H R BB 10K W in the 4-1 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.1 for the season, 10th among all players and sixth among NL pitchers.
Notable—Three other players with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points also earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
Guardians pitcher Shane Bieber (8IP 4H R 0BB 6K W in the 5-1 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.7 for the season, 16th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.
Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 8K W in the 5-1 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season, 36th among all players and 16th among NL pitchers.
Zac Gallen @Dbacks, 6th in 2022 Box-Toppers points (17.7), does not win Player of the Game honors in loss vs. SD, with -1.9 B-T game score (5.1IP 4H 2R 3BB 4K L).
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) September 18, 2022
Player of the Game—Joe Musgrove @Padres +10.0 B-T game score (6IP 4H 0R 0BB 8K W).
Details—https://t.co/CwWGVFT8bn https://t.co/dXC0Z0Y0E2 pic.twitter.com/qDXjOyI7f5
Royals pitcher Brady Singer (6IP 5H 0R BB 5K W in the 9-0 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, 40th among all players and 20th among AL pitchers.
Singer becomes the 46th player to reach 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022. It is his first season with 10.0 or more points. His previous best season was 2020 with the Royals when he had 4.0 points. He had 3.0 points with the Royals in 2021.
Scoring—Quintana earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Ohtani earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Brown earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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).Back to top
| 9/17 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +12.0 | `STL 1, CIN 0 (F/11) | Jose Quintana | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| AL | +11.0 | LAA 2, SEA 1 | Shohei Ohtani, (W 13‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| +10.0 | MIL 4, NYY 1 | Brandon Woodruff, (W 11‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| +10.0 | SD 2, ARI 0 | Joe Musgrove, (W 10‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| +9.0 | NYM 5, PIT 1 | Chris Bassitt, (W 14‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +8.2 | CLE 7, MIN 6 (F/15) | Konnor Pilkington | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +8.0 | CLE 5, MIN 1 | Shane Bieber, (W 11‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +5.0 | LAD 7, SF 2 | Julio Urías, (W 17‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| +5.0 | KC 9, BOS 0 | Brady Singer, (W 9‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +5.0 | `CHW 4, DET 3 (F/11) | Davis Martin | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +4.2 | `ATL 4, PHI 3 | Jake Odorizzi | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +4.0 | STL 5, CIN 1 | Dakota Hudson, (W 8‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| +4.0 | WSH 5, MIA 3 | Kyle Finnegan, (S 10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | OAK 8, HOU 5 | Seth Brown, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | TB 5, TEX 1 | Jose Siri, CF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | COL 3, CHC 1 | Carlos Estévez, (W 4‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | TOR 6, BAL 3 | George Springer, CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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.
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.
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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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 22.7 | 38.8 | 53.3 | 53.3 | +6.6 |
| Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 17.4 | 36.5 | 44.5 | 50.2 | -1.7 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 16.4 | 32.5 | 48.5 | 52.2 | +0.3 |
| Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 16.1 | 33.2 | 49.9 | 49.9 | -1.0 |
| Bieber, Shane 4005 | pi sp | cle al | 13.7 | 20.4 | 56.3 | 56.3 | +7.0 |
| Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | nym nl | 11.0 | 24.7 | 39.8 | 43.8 | -2.7 |
| Singer, Brady 4337 | pi sp | kc al | 10.7 | 13.7 | 17.7 | 17.7 | +7.7 |
| Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | stl nl | 9.7 | 10.7 | 46.2 | 81.4 | +8.7 |
| Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | atl nl | 8.4 | 12.4 | 42.9 | 69.0 | +4.4 |
| Springer, George 3337 | cf rf | tor al | 7.0 | 11.2 | 28.4 | 38.9 | +2.8 |
| Hudson, Dakota 4035 | pi sp | stl nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 16.4 | 16.4 | +3.0 |
| Martin, Davis 4657 | pi mr sp | chi al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Brown, Seth 4239 | 1b dh rf | oak al | 3.5 | 6.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | +0.5 |
| Siri, Jose 4546 | cf | bal al | 3.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +2.0 |
| Finnegan, Kyle 4535 | pi cp mr | dc nl | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +1.0 |
| Pilkington, Konnor 4642 | pi sp | cle al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Estevez, Carlos 3641 | pi mr cp | col nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Sunday’s 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHW | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | 6.4 | 11.4 | 18.4 | 118.2 |
| DET | Hutchison, Drew 3038 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 26.0 |
| TEX | Otto, Glenn 4584 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| TB | Springs, Jeffrey 4372 | 10.7 | 13.7 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| KC | Bubic, Kris 4413 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| BOS | Pivetta, Nick 3825 | 7.7 | 12.7 | 35.4 | 35.4 |
| MIA | Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | 18.1 | 27.8 | 37.2 | 37.2 |
| WSH | Sanchez, Anibal 2187 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 21.4 | 86.7 |
| PHI | Falter, Bailey 4473 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| ATL | Strider, Spencer 4626 | 12.4 | 12.4 | 12.4 | 12.4 |
| BAL | Kremer, Dean 4330 | 5.7 | 7.7 | 9.4 | 9.4 |
| TOR | Manoah, Alek 4424 | 10.4 | 21.1 | 21.1 | 21.1 |
| MIN | Ryan, Joe 4539 | 12.7 | 15.4 | 15.4 | 15.4 |
| CLE | Morris, Cody* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| PIT | Oviedo, Johan 4442 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| NYM | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | 8.4 | 25.1 | 85.4 | 130.5 |
| NYY | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | 15.4 | 37.8 | 102.4 | 138.3 |
| MIL | Alexander, Jason* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| OAK | Waldichuk, Ken* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| HOU | Valdez, Framber 4048 | 14.0 | 19.0 | 29.4 | 29.4 |
| CIN | Cessa, Luis 3703 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 |
| STL | Montgomery, Jordan 3814 | 9.4 | 19.1 | 26.1 | 26.1 |
| COL | Feltner, Ryan 4635 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| CHC | Assad, Javier* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SEA | Gonzales, Marco 3408 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 33.5 | 36.5 |
| LAA | Detmers, Reid 4513 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| SD | Darvish, Yu 3003 | 13.8 | 26.9 | 65.4 | 121.0 |
| ARI | Nelson, Ryne 4728 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| LAD | Heaney, Andrew 3515 | 6.0 | 11.0 | 30.1 | 34.1 |
| SF | Cobb, Alex 2916 | 6.7 | 14.1 | 26.5 | 57.9 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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