Brewers’ Burnes tops players for Thursday, July 20; Strider extends NL pitching lead

Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
▪️ Box-Toppers points of the day’s top players.
▪️ Top 10 players in 2023 Box-Toppers points.
▪️ A B-T look at upcoming pitching matchups.
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Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fifth in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2023. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Thursday, July 20.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 dh pi sp ana al 13.9
2 Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 12.7
3 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 12.4
4 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 12.0
5 Burnes, Corbin 4029 pi sp mil nl 11.7
6 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 11.1
7 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 10.7
8 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp nym nl 10.4
9 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 10.1
10 Bautista, Felix 4668 pi cp bal al 10.0
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Also Thursday, Braves pitcher Spencer Strider rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, extending his lead among National League pitchers, after earning Player of the Game honors.

Plus, two other pitchers rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors Thursday: Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt rises to third place and Orioles closing pitcher Felix Bautista rises to 10th place.

Player of the Day

Burnes struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the Phillies.

Burnes earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season, rising from 10th to fifth place in season player rankings, second place among National League pitchers, behind Spencer Strider of the Braves (12.7).

Burnes becomes the ninth player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his third season and third straight season with 10 or more points. In 2021, he had 18.1 points with the Brewers, fifth overall and fourth among NL pitchers. In 2022, he had 15.4 points with the Brewers, 10th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day

Mariners pitcher George Kirby struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 5-0 win over the Twins.

Kirby earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, ninth among AL pitchers.

AL & NL Batters of the Day

There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Thursday because no batters won Player of the Game honors in the 10 games players. Pitchers won Player of the Game honors in all games.

American League Player of the Day is Mariners pitcher George Kirby.

Strider

Braves pitcher Spencer Strider rises from third to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, extending his lead among NL pitchers, after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Strider (6IP 4H 4R BB 13K ND in the 7-5 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.7 for the season. He trails overall leader Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (13.9) and leads NL pitchers ahead of Corbin Burnes of the Brewers (11.7), who was Thursday’s overall Player of the Day.

Braves pitcher Spencer Strider is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s win over the Diamondbacks.

Bassitt

Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt rises from fourth to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Bassitt (6IP 4H 0R BB 5K W in the 4-0 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season, trailing Ohtani (13.9) and Strider (12.7). Bassitt ranks second among AL pitchers behind Ohtani. Bassitt also passes teammate Kevin Gausman (12.0) to become the Blue Jays’ highest-ranked player.

Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s win over the Padres.

Bautista

Orioles closing pitcher Felix Bautista rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

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Bautista (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers and first among AL closing pitchers, ahead of Michael King of the Yankees (5.0).

Since 1998, there have only been three times in which a primary closing pitcher has finished a season among the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points: Eric Gagne of the Dodgers did it twice, in 2003 (19.0 points, fifth place) and 2004 (19.7 points, third place) and Josh Hader of the Brewers did it in 2019 (17.7 points, eighth place).

Bautista becomes the 10th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 10 points after earning 5.0 in 2022 with the Orioles in his only previous season earning points, in which he was sixth among AL closing pitchers.

Orioles closing pitcher Felix Bautista is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s win over the Rays.

Scoring

  • Burnes earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.

  • Kirby earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.

  • All of Thursday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart) 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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

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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).

7/20 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +15.0 MIL 4, PHI 0 Corbin Burnes (W, 9‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 8.0 2 0 0 1 10
AL +13.0 SEA 5, MIN 0 George Kirby (W, 9‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 4 0 0 0 10
+11.0 CIN 5, SF 1 Andrew Abbott (W, 5‑2) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 8.0 1 0 0 2 6
+6.0 DET 3, KC 0 Michael Lorenzen (W, 5‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 3 0 0 1 3
+6.0 TOR 4, SD 0 Chris Bassitt (W, 10‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 4 0 0 1 5
+6.0 `ATL 7, ARI 5 Spencer Strider ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 4 4 4 1 13
+5.0 STL 7, CHC 2 Steven Matz (W, 1‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 3 1 1 1 6
+5.0 BAL 4, TB 3 (F/10) Felix Bautista (W, 5‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 2.0 0 0 0 0 3
+3.0 HOU 3, OAK 1 J.P. France (W, 5‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 6 1 1 1 5
+2.2 CHW 6, NYM 2 Michael Kopech (W, 4‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.2 2 1 1 4 5
MLB—Overall Box‑Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box‑Toppers points.
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 2023 (’23). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’22-23), the period 2018-2023 (’18-23) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2023 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2022 total (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’23 ’22‑23 ’18‑23 Career +/‑
Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 12.7 26.1 26.1 26.1 -0.7
Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 12.4 23.4 52.2 56.2 +1.4
Burnes, Corbin 4029 pi sp mil nl 11.7 27.1 55.9 55.9 -3.7
Bautista, Felix 4668 pi cp bal al 10.0 15.0 15.0 15.0 +5.0
Kirby, George 4595 pi sp sea al 8.7 20.1 20.1 20.1 -2.7
Abbott, Andrew 4839 pi sp cin nl 8.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 +8.0
Kopech, Michael 4385 pi sp chi al 7.0 16.0 21.7 21.7 -2.0
Lorenzen, Michael 3479 pi sp det al 5.7 9.7 14.2 20.2 +1.7
Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp stl nl 2.0 7.4 29.8 46.4 -3.4
France, J.P. 4811 pi sp hou al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Friday’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 2023 (’23), over a two-year period (’22-23), over a six-year period (’18-23) and their career point total.
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Game Starter ’23 ’22‑23 ’18‑23 Career
STL Flaherty, Jack 3971 3.0 4.0 44.3 44.3
CHC Steele, Justin 4415 6.4 11.4 14.4 14.4
BAL Bradish, Kyle 4597 7.0 13.0 13.0 13.0
TB Eflin, Zach 3679 5.0 8.7 31.5 36.5
COL Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
MIA Garrett, Braxton 4341 9.7 15.4 17.4 17.4
SD Lugo, Seth 3729 1.7 3.7 14.7 19.7
DET Olson, Reese 4861 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
KC Marsh, Alec* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
NYY Schmidt, Clarke 4581 1.0 5.4 5.4 5.4
SF Wood, Alex 3246 3.0 10.0 28.0 63.1
WSH Irvin, Jake 4805 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
ARI Henry, Tommy 4829 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7
CIN Lively, Ben 3903 1.0 1.0 1.0 3.0
NYM Senga, Kodai 4762 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7
BOS Crawford, Kutter 4660 2.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
PHI Suarez, Ranger 4228 3.7 8.7 18.7 18.7
CLE Williams, Gavin 4865 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
LAD Gonsolin, Tony 4211 3.7 15.1 27.5 27.5
TEX Heaney, Andrew 3515 6.7 14.7 37.8 42.8
ATL Soroka, Mike 3956 0.0 0.0 14.4 14.4
MIL Peralta, Freddy 3965 6.7 14.1 45.5 45.5
CHW Lynn, Lance 2992 1.0 10.7 50.2 114.8
MIN Ryan, Joe 4539 7.0 21.7 24.4 24.4
PIT Oviedo, Johan 4442 3.7 6.7 7.7 7.7
LAA Ohtani, Shohei 3933 13.9 38.6 69.2 69.2
HOU Valdez, Framber 4048 7.0 23.0 38.4 38.4
OAK Sears, JP 4627 2.0 7.0 7.0 7.0
TOR Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 7.0 12.7 24.4 24.4
SEA Miller, Bryce 4797 9.4 9.4 9.4 9.4
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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