Royals’ Wacha tops players for Saturday, April 6; Dodgers’ Yamamoto tops NL players

Royals pitcher Michael Wacha is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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.
▪️ A B-T look at upcoming pitching matchups.
▪️ Subscribe to Box-Toppers Email Newsletter.
▪️ Buy me a coffee & support Box-Toppers.

Royals pitcher Michael Wacha is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Aaron Judge of the Yankees is Box-Toppers American League Batter of the Day, his second Player of the Game honor of 2024, and rises to fourth place in season player rankings.

Player of the Day

Wacha struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 3-0 win over the White Sox.

Wacha earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and is eighth in season player rankings.

Wacha had a +12.0 Box-Toppers game score, same as another Saturday Player of the Game winner, Angels pitcher Reid Detmers (6IP 3H R BB 12K W in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox). But Wacha won overall Player of the Day honors over Detmers because he had more innings pitched—seven vs. six.

National League Player of the Day

Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out eight over five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 4-1 win over the Cubs.

Yamamoto earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and is 31st in season player rankings.

This is Yamamoto’s Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor. Yamamoto made his Major League debut March 21 and was playing in his third career game. He played seven seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league prior to joining the Dodgers this season.

National League Player of the Day is Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

National League Batter of the Day

Marcell Ozuna of the Braves hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 9-8 win over the Diamondbacks.

National League Batter of the Day is Marcell Ozuna of the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day

Aaron Judge of the Yankees hit a home run and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-8 win over the Blue Jays.

Judge earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 2.5 for the season, rising to fourth place in season player rankings. (He also won Player of the Game honors April 3.)

American League Batter of the Day is Aaron Judge of the Yankees.

Streak

J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2024 Saturday.

Realmuto (HR 2-4 2R 3BI in the 5-2 win over the Nationals) earned his first points in 2015 with the Marlins and now has 46.7 career Box-Toppers points, first among all active catchers, ahead of Salvador Perez of the Royals (45.2). Realmuto ranks 15th among all catchers in career points since 1995.

His best season was 2021 with the Phillies when he had 7.2 Box-Toppers points, first among NL catchers. He led NL catchers in Box-Toppers points four straight seasons from 2019-2022. He had 2.5 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 10th among NL catchers.

J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2024 Saturday.

Scoring

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

  • Yamamoto earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day.

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

  • All of Saturday’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.

For additional updates, follow Box-Toppers on Twitter (X).

Buy me a coffee to support Box-Toppers. And thanks!

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).

4/6 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +12.0 KC 3, CHW 0 Michael Wacha (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 2 0 0 1 8
+12.0 LAA 2, BOS 1 Reid Detmers (W, 2‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 3 1 1 1 12
+10.0 SEA 5, MIL 3 Bryce Miller (W, 1‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 3 0 0 1 7
NL +8.0 LAD 4, CHC 1 Yoshinobu Yamamoto (W, 1‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 3 0 0 2 8
+7.0 OAK 4, DET 0 Paul Blackburn (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 3 0 0 0 4
+6.0 SD 4, SF 0 Michael King (W, 2‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 4 0 0 1 4
+5.0 `PIT 5, BAL 4 (F/11) Bailey Falter ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 1 0 0 1 1
BAT +4.0 ATL 9, ARI 8 Marcell Ozuna DH 5 2 3 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+4.0 CIN 9, NYM 6 Spencer Steer LF 3 2 2 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 PHI 5, WSH 2 J.T. Realmuto C 4 2 2 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
BAT +3.0 NYY 9, TOR 8 Aaron Judge CF 3 2 2 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 STL 3, MIA 1 Steven Matz (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 4 0 0 1 3
+3.0 CLE 3, MIN 1 Nick Sandlin (W, 2‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
+3.0 TEX 7, HOU 2 Kirby Yates (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
+2.0 TB 8, COL 6 Colin Poche (S, 1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 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.
Back to top

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 2024 (’24). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’23-24), the period 2019-2024 (’19-24) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2024 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2023 total (+/-).
Back to top

Player of the Game Pos Team ’24 ’23‑24 ’19‑24 Career +/‑
Judge, Aaron 3767 dh cf rf nyy al 2.5 14.5 41.7 57.9 -9.5
Wacha, Michael 3276 pi sp kc al 2.0 13.0 32.5 63.2 -9.0
Detmers, Reid 4513 pi sp ana al 2.0 8.7 16.7 16.7 -4.7
Blackburn, Paul 3869 pi sp oak al 2.0 6.7 10.7 13.7 -2.7
Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 pi sp lad nl 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 +1.7
Ozuna, Marcell 3190 dh atl nl 1.5 9.0 28.0 58.2 -6.0
Miller, Bryce 4797 pi sp sea al 1.0 14.1 14.1 14.1 -12.1
King, Michael 4549 pi cp mr sp sd nl 1.0 10.0 15.7 15.7 -8.0
Falter, Bailey 4473 pi sp pit nl 1.0 5.7 10.7 10.7 -3.7
Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp stl nl 1.0 5.0 27.1 49.4 -3.0
Steer, Spencer 4726 lf 3b 1b cin nl 1.0 4.0 5.0 5.0 -2.0
Realmuto, J.T. 3491 ca phi nl 1.0 3.5 26.7 46.7 -1.5
Sandlin, Nick 4440 pi mr cle al 1.0 2.7 4.7 4.7 -0.7
Yates, Kirby 3628 pi mr cp tex al 1.0 2.0 9.0 18.0 0.0
Poche, Colin 4165 pi cp mr tb al 1.0 1.0 4.0 4.0 +1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default view.
Back to top

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 2024 (’24), this year and last year (’23-24), over a six-year period (’19-24) and their career point total.
Back to top

Game Starter ’24 ’23-24 ’19‑24 Career
ARI Nelson, Ryne 4728 0.0 6.7 8.4 8.4
ATL Sale, Chris 2806 0.0 8.7 21.7 153.3
BAL Kremer, Dean 4330 0.0 9.7 21.1 21.1
PIT Gonzales, Marco 3408 0.0 0.0 22.1 36.5
PHI Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 0.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
WSH Gore, MacKenzie 4582 0.0 7.0 11.7 11.7
TOR Francis, Bowden* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
NYY Gil, Luis 4498 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0
NYM Manaea, Sean 3637 0.0 3.7 31.1 53.9
CIN Abbott, Andrew 4839 0.0 11.0 11.0 11.0
OAK Boyle, Joe 4948 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
DET Flaherty, Jack 3971 1.0 5.0 33.2 46.3
CHW Crochet, Garrett 4434 2.0 2.0 3.0 3.0
KC Marsh, Alec 4961 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
CLE McKenzie, Triston 4303 0.0 2.0 32.1 32.1
MIN Ober, Bailey 4441 0.0 8.7 18.4 18.4
SEA Hancock, Emerson* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
MIL Rea, Colin 3582 0.0 5.0 5.0 8.7
MIA Meyer, Max* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
STL Gibson, Kyle 3312 0.0 8.7 35.8 62.2
LAD Stone, Gavin 4942 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
CHC Imanaga, Shota 4960 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7
TB Pepiot, Ryan 4714 0.0 5.0 7.0 7.0
COL Hudson, Dakota 4035 0.0 1.0 16.4 17.4
SD Waldron, Matt 4946 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
SF Webb, Logan 4258 0.0 12.4 40.3 40.3
BOS Houck, Tanner 4342 1.0 3.0 14.7 14.7
LAA Silseth, Chase 4605 0.0 3.0 5.0 5.0
HOU Blanco, Ronel 4959 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
TEX Dunning, Dane 4317 0.0 4.0 13.4 13.4
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default, game-by-game view.
Back to top