Padres’ Snell tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 19; Strider extends Box-Toppers points lead

Padres pitcher Blake Snell 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.
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Padres pitcher Blake Snell is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, Braves pitcher Spencer Strider extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day

Snell struck out 10 over seven hitless, scoreless innings, allowing four walks, in the 2-0 win over the Rockies. Snell did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.

Snell and reliever Robert Suarez gave up no hits through eight innings, but closer Josh Hader gave up two hits in the ninth inning, ending the combined no-hit bid. Snell was lifted after 104 pitches.

Snell earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.7 for the season, 11th among all players and sixth among National League pitchers.

Snell is touted as a favorite for the NL Cy Young Award and has earned nearly half his points—7.0 Box-Toppers points—since Aug. 28, including overall Player of the Day honors (worth 2.0 points each) in three of his last four starts (also Sept. 2 and Sept. 13). However, Snell got off to a slow start in 2023, with the Padres losing nine of his first 11 starts in April and May. He did not earn his first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor until June 5. As a consequence, Snell did not keep pace in the Box-Toppers points race and while he is playing catchup now, he still is 6.4 points behind NL pitching leader Spencer Strider of the Braves (21.1) with virtually no chance of catching him by season’s end. Snell would win the Cy Young based on his September performance but since it should be a full season award, he’s likely not going to make up for his slow, yet somehow forgotten, April and May.

American League Player of the Day is Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda.

American League Player of the Day

Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda struck out eight over five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 7-0 win over the Reds.

Maeda earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 11.1 for the season, 26th among all players and 13th among AL pitchers.

Maeda becomes the 46th player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points this season. It is his fourth season with 10 or more points. He also did it:

  • In 2016 with the Dodgers, 10.0 points, 21st among NL pitchers.

  • In 2017 with the Dodgers, 10.0 points, 18th among NL pitchers.

  • In 2018 with the Dodgers, 10.7 points, 22nd among NL pitchers.

In 2022, he had no points with the Twins as he recovered from Tommy John surgery.

American League Batter of the Day is MJ Melendez of the Royals.

American League Batter of the Day

MJ Melendez of the Royals homered and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 7-6 win over the Guardians.

National League Batter of the Day is Joey Meneses of the Nationals.

National League Batter of the Day

Joey Meneses of the Nationals hit a pinch-hit, seventh-inning, three-run, go-ahead homer in the 4-3 win over the White Sox. Meneses went 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in three runs.

Meneses earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, 13th among NL batters.

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

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, Sept. 19.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 21.1
2 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 19.4
3 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 17.8
4 Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 17.7
5 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 17.1
6 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 16.7
7 Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 pi sp sea al 16.1
8 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 15.7
9 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 15.4
10 Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp phi nl 14.7
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Box-Toppers points leader

Braves pitcher Spencer Strider extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Strider (7IP 4H 3R 0BB 11K W in the 9-3 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.1 for the season. He extends his lead over second-place player, Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani (19.4), who is out for the remainder of the season. Strider also leads second-place NL pitcher, Jesus Luzardo of the Marlins (17.8).

Rankings

Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo rises from ninth to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Castillo (7IP 5H 2R 3BB 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.1 for the season. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo is Box-Toppers Player of the Game In Tuesday’s win over the Athletics.

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Notable

In addition to Strider, Castillo, Snell and Maeda, two other players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points also earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday:

  • Marlins pitcher Braxton Garrett now has 12.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023—17th overall and eighth among NL pitchers—after earning 1.0 point as Player of the Game (6IP 5H R 0BB 7K ND in the 4-3 win over the Mets).

  • Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi now has 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023—46th overall and 23rd among AL pitchers—after earning 1.0 point as Player of the Game (5IP 4H R BB 7K W in the 7-1 win over the Yankees). Kikuchi becomes the 47th player in 2023 to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 10.0 points; his previous best was 6.0 points in 2021 with the Mariners. He had 5.7 points in 2022 with the Blue Jays.

Also notable

J.D. Martinez of the Dodgers earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Tuesday.

Martinez (HR 2-2 R BI in the 3-2 win over the Tigers) was also Player of the Game Monday in the 8-3 win over the Tigers (2HR 3-4 2R 5BI), a game in which he won NL Batter of the Day honors.

Martinez earns 1.0 point for being Player of the Day Tuesday and earned 1.5 points as NL Batter of the Day Monday, giving him 6.7 for the season, 15th among NL batters.

Scoring

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

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

  • Melendez and Meneses 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).

9/19 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +13.0 `SD 2, COL 0 Blake Snell ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 0 0 0 4 10
AL +11.0 MIN 7, CIN 0 Kenta Maeda (W, 6‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 1 0 0 1 8
+8.0 ATL 9, PHI 3 Spencer Strider (W, 18‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 4 3 3 0 11
+7.0 `MIA 4, NYM 3 Braxton Garrett ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 5 1 0 0 7
BAT +5.0 KC 7, CLE 6 MJ Melendez LF 3 3 2 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+5.0 CHC 14, PIT 1 Javier Assad (W, 4‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 5 1 1 1 8
+5.0 TOR 7, NYY 1 Yusei Kikuchi (W, 10‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 4 1 1 1 7
+5.0 `TB 6, LAA 2 Taj Bradley ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 3 1 1 1 6
+4.2 TEX 6, BOS 4 Aroldis Chapman (W, 6‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.2 0 0 0 0 3
BAT +4.0 WSH 4, CHW 3 Joey Meneses PH 1 1 1 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 BAL 9, HOU 5 Austin Hays LF 5 2 2 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 ARI 8, SF 4 Ketel Marte 2B 4 1 4 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 SEA 7, OAK 2 Luis Castillo (W, 14‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 5 2 2 3 8
+2.0 LAD 3, DET 2 J.D. Martinez DH 2 1 2 1 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+1.0 MIL 7, STL 3 Tyrone Taylor LF 3 2 1 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 +/‑
Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 21.1 34.5 34.5 34.5 +7.7
Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 pi sp sea al 16.1 26.1 62.5 70.9 +6.1
Snell, Blake 3688 pi sp sd nl 14.7 27.8 80.1 89.1 +1.6
Garrett, Braxton 4341 pi sp fla nl 12.7 18.4 20.4 20.4 +7.0
Maeda, Kenta 3609 pi sp min al 11.1 11.1 44.6 64.6 +11.1
Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 pi sp tor al 10.0 15.7 27.4 27.4 +4.3
Meneses, Joey 4725 dh 1b dc nl 7.0 11.0 11.0 11.0 +3.0
Martinez, J.D. 2922 dh lad nl 6.7 11.7 43.4 66.1 +1.7
Bradley, Taj 4780 pi sp tb al 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +5.0
Marte, Ketel 3630 2b ari nl 4.5 6.5 21.0 22.0 +2.5
Melendez, MJ 4615 lf rf kc al 4.0 8.5 8.5 8.5 -0.5
Hays, Austin 4538 lf bal al 4.0 8.0 9.0 9.0 0.0
Chapman, Aroldis 2826 pi cp mr tex al 4.0 6.0 18.0 66.1 +2.0
Taylor, Tyrone 4393 lf cf rf mil nl 4.0 5.5 7.0 7.0 +2.5
Assad, Javier 4899 pir sp chi nl 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 +3.0
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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
PHI Nola, Aaron 3569 10.0 26.0 75.2 99.7
ATL Elder, Bryce 4709 8.0 12.7 12.7 12.7
MIN Ober, Bailey 4441 6.7 9.7 16.4 16.4
CIN Greene, Hunter 4651 5.7 11.7 11.7 11.7
CHW Kopech, Michael 4385 8.0 17.0 22.7 22.7
WSH Gray, Josiah 4503 5.7 10.4 11.4 11.4
BOS Bello, Brayan 4727 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
TEX Gray, Jon 3634 6.7 12.7 40.4 52.1
BAL Bradish, Kyle 4597 13.0 19.0 19.0 19.0
HOU Javier, Cristian 4290 5.0 20.7 28.7 28.7
CLE Giolito, Lucas 3900 5.0 9.0 45.1 48.1
KC Greinke, Zack 1871 2.0 6.7 48.3 224.5
SEA Kirby, George 4595 10.7 22.1 22.1 22.1
OAK Estes, Joey* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
SF Webb, Logan 4258 10.7 20.4 38.6 38.6
ARI Kelly, Merrill 4143 12.0 23.0 38.0 38.0
COL Anderson, Chase 3328 1.7 3.7 18.1 44.5
SD Lugo, Seth 3729 4.7 6.7 17.7 22.7
LAA Detmers, Reid 4513 6.7 13.7 14.7 14.7
TB Civale, Aaron 4173 6.0 11.0 28.4 28.4
NYM Senga, Kodai 4762 12.7 12.7 12.7 12.7
MIA Perez, Eury 4814 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
TOR Gausman, Kevin 3191 16.7 29.4 50.8 86.1
NYY King, Michael 4549 8.0 12.7 13.7 13.7
PIT Keller, Mitch 4230 13.0 15.0 20.0 20.0
CHC Steele, Justin 4415 11.1 16.1 19.1 19.1
MIL Houser, Adrian 4162 1.7 3.4 14.4 14.4
STL Thompson, Zack 4773 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
DET Olson, Reese 4861 5.4 5.4 5.4 5.4
LAD Miller, Bobby 4820 6.7 6.7 6.7 6.7
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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