Diamondbacks’ Kelly tops players for Thursday, Aug. 24; Rays’ Adam tops AL players

Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
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▪️ Top 10 players in 2023 Box-Toppers points.
▪️ A B-T look at upcoming pitching matchups.
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Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Kelly struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 3-2 win over the Reds. Kelly did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Reds tied the game after he exited.

Kelly exited with cramping in his right leg after 86 pitches. He was on the injured list earlier this season with a leg blood clot.

Kelly earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season, 24th among all players and 11th among National League pitchers.

Kelly had the season’s fourth-best Box-Toppers game score by a Player of the Game winner Thursday (+18.0), behind only these three:

  • +19.0 by Braves pitcher Spencer Strider on April 24 (8IP 2H 0R 0BB 13K W in the 11-0 win over the Marlins).

  • +18.0 by Yankees pitcher Domingo German on June 28 (CG 0H 0R 0BB 9K W in the 11-0 perfect game win over the Athletics).

  • +18.0 by Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert on Aug. 8 (7IP H 0R 0BB 12K W in the 2-0 win over the Padres).

While Kelly’s +18.0 game score is the same as German’s and Gilbert’s, Kelly’s ranks below those two on tiebreakers. He had fewer innings pitched than German (seven vs. nine) and Kelly did not pick up the win in his game while Gilbert did in his.

Kelly becomes the 26th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his second season and second straight season with 10 or more points. He had 11.0 in 2022 with the Diamondbacks, 20th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day is Rays pitcher Jason Adam.

American League Player of the Day

Rays pitcher Jason Adam struck out five over two scoreless and hitless middle relief innings, allowing no walks, in the 5-3 win over the Rockies.

Adam earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season, 40th among AL pitchers and first among AL middle relievers.

American League Batter of the Day is Wilyer Abreu of the Red Sox.

American League Batter of the Day

Wilyer Abreu of the Red Sox homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 17-1 win over the Astros.

This was Abreu’s Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor. Abreu made his Major League debut Aug. 22 and was playing in his third career game.

National League Batter of the Day is Mookie Betts of the Dodgers.

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, Aug. 24.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 18.4
2 Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 17.4
3 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 15.1
4 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 14.7
5 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 13.7
6 Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 13.7
7 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 13.4
8 Lopez, Pablo 4028 pi sp min al 13.4
9 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 13.4
10 Miller, Bryce 4797 pi sp sea al 13.1
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National League Batter of the Day

Mookie Betts of the Dodgers doubled and went 5-for-5, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 6-1 win over the Guardians.

Betts earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, fifth among NL batters.

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Notable

Cubs pitcher Julian Merryweather earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Thursday.

Merryweather (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K ND in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Pirates) was also Player of the Game Wednesday in the 6-4 win over the Tigers (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W).

Merryweather’s path to earning Player of the Game honors Thursday was not straightforward. For pitchers to earn Player of the Game honors, they need to pitch at least three innings or earn the win or the save. Closing pitcher Adbert Alzolay was top candidate for Player of the Game given those circumstances (1IP 0H R 0BB 0K Sv) with a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0. (All Cubs batters had negative game scores Thursday). But if a pitcher has the same or more innings pitched as the player who otherwise would be Player of the Game, that pitcher can also qualify for the honor. Merryweather had the same one inning pitched as Alzolay and also had a higher Box-Toppers game score (+2.0), giving him Player of the Game honors without earning a win or save or pitching three innings.

Merryweather now has 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023—including 2.0 in the past two days—63rd among NL pitchers and sixth among NL middle relievers.

Scoring

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

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

  • Abreu and Betts each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter 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.

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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).

8/24 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +18.0 `ARI 3, CIN 2 Merrill Kelly ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 1 0 0 0 12
AL +7.0 TB 5, COL 3 Jason Adam (W, 4‑2) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 2.0 0 0 0 0 5
BAT +5.0 BOS 17, HOU 1 Wilyer Abreu CF 5 2 4 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+5.0 LAD 9, CLE 3 Ryan Pepiot (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 4.0 3 1 1 0 6
+4.0 OAK 8, CHW 5 Shea Langeliers 4 2 2 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+4.0 MIN 7, TEX 5 Josh Winder (W, 2‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 3.0 0 0 0 2 3
BAT +3.0 LAD 6, CLE 1 Mookie Betts RF 5 1 5 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 WSH 6, NYY 5 Alex Call CF 3 2 2 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 BAL 5, TOR 3 Kyle Gibson (W, 13‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 8.0 6 3 3 1 8
+2.0 `CHC 5, PIT 4 (F/10) Julian Merryweather ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 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 +/‑
Kelly, Merrill 4143 pi sp ari nl 10.0 21.0 36.0 36.0 -1.0
Gibson, Kyle 3312 pi sp bal al 7.7 16.7 42.2 61.2 -1.3
Betts, Mookie 3404 rf 2b lad nl 7.0 18.7 43.8 61.0 -4.7
Adam, Jason 4256 pi cp mr tb al 6.4 9.4 10.4 10.4 +3.4
Merryweather, Julian 4366 pi mr chi nl 4.0 4.0 6.0 6.0 +4.0
Pepiot, Ryan 4714 pi mr sp lad nl 2.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 0.0
Call, Alex 4732 cf dc nl 2.0 3.5 3.5 3.5 +0.5
Abreu, Wilyer 4911 cf bos al 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 +1.5
Winder, Josh 4588 pi mr sp min al 1.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 -3.0
Langeliers, Shea 4715 ca oak al 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
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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
HOU Valdez, Framber 4048 9.0 25.0 40.4 40.4
DET Manning, Matt 4550 1.7 4.7 5.7 5.7
NYY Cole, Gerrit 3232 9.0 24.4 104.4 147.3
TB Eflin, Zach 3679 9.0 12.7 35.5 40.5
WSH Adon, Joan 4580 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
MIA Garrett, Braxton 4341 10.7 16.4 18.4 18.4
COL Freeland, Kyle 3763 5.7 11.7 33.1 39.1
BAL Irvin, Cole 4140 3.0 10.7 18.4 18.4
STL Mikolas, Miles 3034 5.7 17.8 32.5 35.2
PHI Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
CHC Hendricks, Kyle 3386 4.0 8.7 40.8 72.6
PIT Keller, Mitch 4230 9.0 11.0 16.0 16.0
CLE Bibee, Tanner 4792 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7
TOR Bassitt, Chris 3413 13.4 24.4 53.2 57.2
LAA Sandoval, Patrick 4357 2.0 10.0 13.0 13.0
NYM Senga, Kodai 4762 10.7 10.7 10.7 10.7
LAD Lynn, Lance 2992 4.7 14.4 53.9 118.5
BOS Crawford, Kutter 4660 4.7 8.7 8.7 8.7
OAK Neal, Zach 3700 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0
CHW Cease, Dylan 4231 7.0 27.4 43.8 43.8
SD Darvish, Yu 3003 7.0 23.8 62.4 131.0
MIL Woodruff, Brandon 3868 2.0 22.8 55.6 56.6
TEX Dunning, Dane 4317 3.0 7.4 12.4 12.4
MIN Gray, Sonny 3259 8.4 20.5 54.7 95.9
CIN Greene, Hunter 4651 3.0 9.0 9.0 9.0
ARI Pfaadt, Brandon 4812 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
KC Singer, Brady 4337 5.0 16.7 23.7 23.7
SEA Miller, Bryce 4797 13.1 13.1 13.1 13.1
ATL Strider, Spencer 4626 17.4 30.8 30.8 30.8
SF Webb, Logan 4258 9.0 18.7 36.9 36.9
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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