Giants’ Junis tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 15; Rangers’ Montgomery tops AL players

Giants pitcher Jakob Junis is Tuesday’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.
▪️ Subscribe to Box-Toppers Email Newsletter.

Giants pitcher Jakob Junis is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Junis struck out seven over four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 7-0 win over the Rays. Junis did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he did not pitch the required five innings for a starter to earn the win. Also, he exited with the game in a scoreless tie.

Junis earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, 164th among all players and 53rd among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day

Rangers pitcher Jordan Montgomery struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run, six hits and no walks, in the 7-3 win over the Angels.

Montgomery earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 8.4 for the season, 20th among AL pitchers.

It is his first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor since being acquired from the Cardinals prior to the Aug. 1 trade deadline.

American League Player of the Day is Rangers pitcher Jordan Montgomery.

American League Batter of the Day

Teoscar Hernandez of the Mariners homered, doubled and went 5-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 10-8, 10-inning win over the Royals.

American League Batter of the Day is Teoscar Hernandez of the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day

Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals homered and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 6-2 win over the Athletics.

National League Batter of the Day is Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals.

Notable

Padres pitcher Michael Wacha has the most 2023 Box-Toppers points among Tuesday’s 15 Player of the Game winners.

Wacha (5IP 3H 0R BB 5K W in the 10-3 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.0 for the season, 29th among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.

This was Wacha’s first appearance since being out for six weeks with shoulder inflammation. He last earned Player of the Game honors June 14, when his 8.0 Box-Toppers points ranked eighth overall.

Padres pitcher Michael Wacha is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Tuesday’s win over the Orioles.

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 Tuesday, Aug. 15.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 18.4
2 Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 15.4
3 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 14.7
4 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 13.4
5 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 13.1
6 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 12.4
7 Lopez, Pablo 4028 pi sp min al 12.4
8 Miller, Bryce 4797 pi sp sea al 12.1
9 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 11.7
10 Burnes, Corbin 4029 pi sp mil nl 11.7
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Debut

White Sox pitcher Gregory Santos made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Santos (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K Sv in the 5-3 win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut April 22, 2021, and was playing in his 55th career game.

Scoring

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

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

  • Hernandez and Arenado each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.

  • All of Tuesday’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).

8/15 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +8.0 `SF 7, TB 0 Jakob Junis ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 4.0 2 0 0 1 7
AL +7.0 TEX 7, LAA 3 Jordan Montgomery (W, 8‑10) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 6 1 1 0 9
+7.0 `TOR 2, PHI 1 Yusei Kikuchi ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 4 1 1 0 7
+6.0 ATL 5, NYY 0 Bryce Elder (W, 9‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 1 0 0 3 3
+6.0 CLE 3, CIN 0 Logan T. Allen (W, 6‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 4 0 0 3 7
+6.0 LAD 6, MIL 2 Bobby Miller (W, 7‑2) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 1 1 1 1 4
+6.0 SD 10, BAL 3 Michael Wacha (W, 9‑2) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 3 0 0 1 5
+4.2 CHW 5, CHC 3 Gregory Santos (S, 4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.2 0 0 0 0 3
BAT +4.0 SEA 10, KC 8 (F/10) Teoscar Hernández RF 5 1 5 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.1 `PIT 7, NYM 4 Bailey Falter ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.1 4 1 1 1 5
+3.0 BOS 5, WSH 4 John Schreiber (W, 2‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
BAT +2.0 STL 6, OAK 2 Nolan Arenado 3B 5 1 4 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 MIN 5, DET 3 Matt Wallner LF 4 1 1 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 HOU 6, MIA 5 Ryan Pressly (S, 28) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
+2.0 ARI 8, COL 5 Kevin Ginkel (W, 6‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
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 +/‑
Wacha, Michael 3276 pi sp sd nl 9.0 17.4 32.5 59.2 +0.6
Montgomery, Jordan 3814 pi sp tex al 8.4 17.8 28.5 34.5 -1.0
Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 pi sp tor al 8.0 13.7 25.4 25.4 +2.3
Elder, Bryce 4709 pi sp atl nl 7.0 11.7 11.7 11.7 +2.3
Allen, Logan T. 4789 pi sp cle al 6.7 6.7 6.7 6.7 +6.7
Miller, Bobby 4820 pi sp lad nl 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +5.0
Arenado, Nolan 3306 3b stl nl 4.0 11.0 35.0 64.9 -3.0
Junis, Jakob 3857 pi mr sp sf nl 4.0 9.0 17.0 20.0 -1.0
Ginkel, Kevin 4830 pi mr ari nl 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 +4.0
Pressly, Ryan 3186 pi cp hou al 3.0 9.0 16.0 22.0 -3.0
Wallner, Matt 4824 rf lf min al 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 +2.5
Hernandez, Teoscar 3713 rf sea al 1.5 7.0 20.5 23.7 -4.0
Falter, Bailey 4473 pi sp pit nl 1.0 5.0 6.0 6.0 -3.0
Schreiber, John 4598 pi mr cp bos al 1.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 -1.0
Santos, Gregory 4904 pi cp chi al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Wednesday’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
DET Olson, Reese 4861 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7
MIN Maeda, Kenta 3609 7.7 7.7 41.2 61.2
PIT Oviedo, Johan 4442 6.7 9.7 10.7 10.7
NYM Megill, Tylor 4464 3.0 8.7 14.7 14.7
ARI Cecconi, Slade* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
COL Gomber, Austin 3985 1.0 4.0 18.7 18.7
TB Civale, Aaron 4173 4.0 9.0 26.4 26.4
SF Walker, Ryan* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
CLE Syndergaard, Noah 3472 0.0 3.0 22.4 52.5
CIN Abbott, Andrew 4839 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0
HOU Verlander, Justin 2112 6.0 32.0 84.6 238.6
MIA Luzardo, Jesus 4282 13.1 17.1 29.2 29.2
OAK Blackburn, Paul 3869 3.0 7.0 9.0 10.0
STL Liberatore, Matthew 4662 3.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
BOS Paxton, James 3280 5.0 5.0 36.1 60.9
WSH Gore, MacKenzie 4582 6.0 10.7 10.7 10.7
PHI Nola, Aaron 3569 8.0 24.0 73.2 97.7
TOR Gausman, Kevin 3191 14.7 27.4 48.8 84.1
NYY Vasquez, Randy* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
ATL Morton, Charlie 2503 5.0 15.4 63.7 99.1
LAA Detmers, Reid 4513 5.7 12.7 13.7 13.7
TEX Gray, Jon 3634 6.7 12.7 40.4 52.1
CHW Clevinger, Mike 3707 5.0 11.4 44.5 58.9
CHC Assad, Javier 4899 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
SEA Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 9.4 19.4 55.8 64.2
KC McArthur, James* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
BAL Kremer, Dean 4330 6.7 14.4 18.1 18.1
SD Snell, Blake 3688 7.7 20.8 73.1 82.1
MIL Miley, Wade 3006 3.0 4.0 26.4 66.5
LAD Kershaw, Clayton 2494 10.1 20.8 62.6 269.4
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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