Giants’ Snell tops players Sunday, Sept. 22, Imanaga, Snell rise in top 10 player rankings

Giants pitcher Blake Snell is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh place in season player rankings.

Box-Toppers Toppers Box

Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.
▪️ Players of the Game
▪️ B-T points of day’s top players
▪️ Top 10 players in 2024
▪️ Sunday’s sidelights sidebar
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers

Giants pitcher Blake Snell is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Sunday, Sept. 22:
  Player Pos Team BTP
1 Zack Wheeler pi sp Phillies 21.4
2 Dylan Cease pi sp Padres 21.1
3 Shota Imanaga pi sp Cubs 20.7
4 Tarik Skubal pi sp Tigers 19.1
5 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 19.1
6 Luis Gil pi sp Yankees 17.4
7 Blake Snell pi sp Giants 15.7
8 Framber Valdez pi sp Astros 15.4
9 Sean Manaea pi sp Mets 15.4
10 Nestor Cortes pi sp Yankees 15.4
Back to top

Also Sunday, Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga becomes the third player to reach 20 Box-Toppers points in 2024 after earning Player of the Game honors, maintaining third place in season player rankings.

In addition, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, who leads players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (21.4) started Sunday but did not win Player of the Game honors in the Phillies loss to the Mets, leaving the door open for one of Box-Toppers’ top three players to win Player of the Year honors with one week to go in the season.

Player of the Day

Snell struck out nine over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Royals.

Snell earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 15.7 for the season, seventh among all players and fifth among National League pitchers.

Remarkably, Snell has more Box-Toppers points now in 2024 than he did in his 2023 NL Cy Young Award-winning season. In both seasons he got off to slow starts. He did not earn his first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor in 2023 until June 5. But in 2024, a season in which he has more Box-Toppers points, he did not earn his first Player of the Game honor until July 9, more than halfway through the season.

Interestingly, Snell is not considered a contender for NL Cy Young in 2024, despite having a better season than 2023 from a Box-Toppers perspective. Conversely, though Snell was the overwhelming, nearly unanimous choice for NL MVP in 2023, from a Box-Toppers perspective, he got off to far too slow of a start and while he did well after June and played catch-up as the season went on, he only finished sixth among NL pitchers (12th overall), 6.4 points behind Spencer Strider of the Braves, who led NL pitchers with 21.1 points.

Snell also now has 104.8 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 82nd among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his 2.0 points Sunday, he passes Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” career points list. (Moyer began his career in 1986, prior to the start of Box-Toppers tracking. Box-Toppers estimates he would have about 128 career points if his entire career were tracked.) Snell now trails 81st-ranked player, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (105.0). (Wheeler also started Sunday but did not earn Player of the Game honors as the Phillies lost to the Mets.)

Snell ranks 14th among active, signed players in career points, ninth among active NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day is Triston Casas of the Red Sox.

American League Player of the Day

Triston Casas of the Red Sox hit three home runs, including two three-run homers, in the 8-1 win over the Twins. Casas went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in seven runs.

Casas earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, 63rd among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day is Rhys Hoskins of the Brewers.

National League Batter of the Day

Rhys Hoskins of the Brewers doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-9 win over the Diamondbacks.

Hoskins earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, 47th among NL batters.

American League Batter of the Day

There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Triston Casas.

Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga maintains third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Rankings

Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga maintains third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Imanaga (7IP 6H 0R 0BB 4K W in the 5-0 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.7 for the season. He trails Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (21.4) and Padres pitcher Dylan Cease (21.1) and also ranks third among NL pitchers behind them both.

Imanaga becomes the third player this season to reach 20 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 20 points in his first season in the Major Leagues.

Imanaga also leads all rookies in 2024 Box-Toppers points, ahead of Yankees pitcher Luis Gil (15.4), who leads AL rookies and Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (13.0), second among NL rookies, who also won Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, who leads Box-Toppers season player rankings, started Sunday but did not win Player of the Game honors.

Box-Toppers Player of the Year race

Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, who leads Box-Toppers season player rankings with 21.4 Box-Toppers points, started Sunday but did not win Player of the Game honors. That leaves the door open for two other players to pass him for 2024 Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors in the final week of the season. It also means the race for Box-Toppers top player for 2024 will not be decided at least until next Saturday, the next-to-last day of the season.

Wheeler (7IP 7H 2R BB 8K L) had a +3.0 Box-Toppers game score, but the Phillies lost to the Mets, 2-1. Player of the Game was Mets closing pitcher Edwin Diaz (2IP H 0R 2BB 4K Sv) with a +3.0 game score.

Two pitchers still have a realistic chance of passing Wheeler for the Box-Toppers points lead with one more start in the final week of the season:

  • Second-ranked Dylan Cease of the Padres (21.1) could pass Wheeler by winning 1.0 point as Player of the Game. He’s scheduled to start Wednesday against the Dodgers.

  • Third-ranked Shota Imanaga of the Cubs (20.7) could pass Wheeler by winning 1.0 point as Player of the Game. He’s scheduled to start Sunday, the final day of the season, against the Reds.

Wheeler has one more scheduled start Saturday against the Nationals to add to his 21.4-point total. Wheeler would secure overall Player of the Year honors, no matter what anyone else does, if he wins 1.7 points as NL Player of the Day honors or better.

The players who are fourth and fifth in player rankings, Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal and Braves pitcher Chris Sale, both with 19.1 Box-Toppers points in 2024, both trail Wheeler by 2.3 points and would need more than one appearance to pass him. Skubal is scheduled to start Tuesday against the Rays. Sale is scheduled to start Wednesday against the Mets. It is likely the final start of the season for both.

Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes now has 13.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Notable

Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes now has 13.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Skenes (5IP 2H 0R 0BB 9K W in the 2-0 win over the Reds), with his 1.0 points Sunday, now ranks 19th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.

He ranks third among rookies and second among NL rookies, behind Cubs pitcher Shota Imanga (20.7), who also earned Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Skenes had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +12.0, the same as Giants pitcher Blake Snell. But Snell beat Skenes for overall Player of the Day because he had more innings pitched—six vs. five. As a result, Snell earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points with his +12.0 game score while Skenes earned 1.0 with his, even though Skenes had a higher game score than AL Player of the Day winner Triston Casas (+9.0), who earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points.

Padres pitcher Yu Darvish now has 139.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 33rd among all players since 1995.

Sunday’s sidelights sidebar

Top pitching matchup

▪️Blake Snell, Giants
13.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 11th
▪️Seth Lugo, Royals
14.1 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 10th
Result—SF 2, KC 0
Snell is Player of the Game with +12.0 B-T game score (6IP 2H 0R BB 9K W).
Lugo had +5.0 B-T game score in loss (7IP 3H 2R 0BB 5K L).
Snell earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points as overall Player of the Day, giving him 15.7 for the 2024, rising to 7th overall. Lugo drops out of the top 10, falling from 10th to 11th place (14.1 points).

High scores, no points

Highest Box-Toppers game scores for the day among players who did not earn Player of the Game honors:
▪️+9.0—Sean Burke, White Sox (6IP 2H R BB 8K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. SD.
Player of the Game—Yu Darvish, Padres (6.1IP 3H 2R 0BB 9K ND) with +8.1 game score.
▪️+5.0—Alex Bregman, Astros (HR SF 3-4 3R 3BI)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. LAA.
Player of the Game—Zach Neto, Angels (2HR 2B 3-5 2R 6BI) with +6.0 game score.
▪️+5.0—Seth Lugo, Royals (7IP 3H 2R 0BB 5K L)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. SF.
Player of the Game—Blake Snell, Giants (6IP 2H 0R BB 9K W) with +12.0 game score.

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores

Out of 479 total players Sunday, 147 pitchers
-17.0—Pablo López, Twins (4IP 9H 7R BB 3K L vs. BOS)
-16.8—Frankie Montas, Brewers
-13.0—Joey Estes, Athletics
-12.9—Josh Hader, Astros
-11.8—Cole Irvin, Twins

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters

Out of 332 total batters Sunday
-5.0—Lawrence Butler, Athletics 0-5 2K
-5.0—Xavier Edwards, Marlins 0-5 2K
-5.0—Brent Rooker, Athletics 0-5 K
-5.0—Eric Wagamann, Angels 0-5 K
-4.0—Hunter Renfroe, Royals 0-4 4K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.

Also notable

Padres pitcher Yu Darvish now has 139.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 33rd among all players since Box-Toppers player tracking began in 1995.

Darvish (6.1IP 3H 2R 0BB 9K ND in the 4-2 win over the White Sox) with his 1.0 point Sunday, passes two players on the “all-time” career points list—Madison Bumgarner (139.1) and Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom (139.2). He now trails 32nd-ranked player Jake Peavy (141.8). Passing deGrom, Darvish now ranks sixth among active, signed players in career points. He ranks third among active NL pitchers in career points, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (272.4) and Chris Sale of the Braves (172.4).

Darvish now has 8.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 32nd among NL pitchers.

Scoring

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

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

  • Hoskins earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day.

  • All of Sunday’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).

Your support via Buy Me a Coffee keeps Box-Toppers percolating. Thanks for your contributions!

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).
9/22 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +12.0 SF 2, KC 0 Blake Snell (W, 5‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 2 0 0 1 9
  +12.0 PIT 2, CIN 0 Paul Skenes (W, 11‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.0 2 0 0 0 9
AL +9.0 BOS 8, MIN 1 Triston Casas 1B 4 3 3 7   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +8.1 `SD 4, CHW 2 Yu Darvish ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.1 3 2 2 0 9
  +6.0 LAA 9, HOU 8 Zach Neto SS 5 2 3 6   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +6.0 STL 2, CLE 1 Andre Pallante (W, 8‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 1 1 1 2 4
  +5.0 CHC 5, WSH 0 Shota Imanaga (W, 15‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 6 0 0 0 4
  +5.0 `TB 4, TOR 3 Shane Baz ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 4 1 1 1 6
  +4.2 NYY 7, OAK 4 Luke Weaver (S, 4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.2 0 0 0 0 3
  +4.0 LAD 6, COL 5 Blake Treinen (W, 7‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 0 0 0 0 3
  +3.0 TEX 6, SEA 5 Leody Taveras CF 4 3 3 1   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
BAT +3.0 MIL 10, ARI 9 Rhys Hoskins 1B 4 2 2 3   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.0 DET 4, BAL 3 Kerry Carpenter RF 3 2 2 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.0 NYM 2, PHI 1 Edwin Díaz (S, 20) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   2.0 1 0 0 2 4
  +3.0 ATL 5, MIA 4 Pierce Johnson (W, 6‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 0 0 0 0 2
  +2.0 BOS 9, MIN 3 Romy Gonzalez 3B 4 1 1 4   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
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 +/‑
Imanaga, Shota 4960 pi sp chi nl 20.7 20.7 20.7 20.7 +20.7
Snell, Blake 3688 pi sp sf nl 15.7 30.4 68.6 104.8 +1.0
Skenes, Paul 5005 pi sp pit nl 13.0 13.0 13.0 13.0 +13.0
Darvish, Yu 3003 pi sp sd nl 8.7 15.7 65.7 139.7 +1.7
Pallante, Andre 4656 pi sp stl nl 8.7 8.7 10.7 10.7 +8.7
Neto, Zach 4821 ss ana al 8.0 10.5 10.5 10.5 +5.5
Carpenter, Kerry 4711 dh det al 4.0 5.5 8.5 8.5 +2.5
Diaz, Edwin 3690 pi cp nym nl 4.0 4.0 20.7 45.7 +4.0
Hoskins, Rhys 3909 1b dh mil nl 4.0 4.0 18.0 22.0 +4.0
Weaver, Luke 3719 pi cp nyy al 4.0 4.0 16.0 29.7 +4.0
Baz, Shane 4560 pi sp tb al 3.0 3.0 4.7 4.7 +3.0
Johnson, Pierce 5049 pi mr atl nl 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 +3.0
Casas, Triston 4752 1b bos al 2.7 8.2 9.2 9.2 -2.8
Gonzalez, Romy 4817 1b 3b ph bos al 2.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 +1.5
Taveras, Leody 4687  cf tex al 2.0 4.0 6.5 6.5 0.0
Treinen, Blake 3495 pi mr cp lad nl 2.0 2.0 11.0 23.0 +2.0
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 Monday’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
CHC Pearson, Nate 4834 1.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
PHI Nola, Aaron 3569 13.4 25.4 69.5 115.1
BOS Houck, Tanner 4342 12.4 14.4 26.1 26.1
TOR Bassitt, Chris 3413 7.7 27.8 65.6 71.6
SEA Miller, Bryce 4797 13.7 26.8 26.8 26.8
HOU Brown, Hunter 4729 12.0 22.1 23.1 23.1
SF Birdsong, Hayden 5063 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
ARI Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 1.0 14.0 35.4 68.2
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