Braves’ Fried tops players Friday, Sept. 27; Ohtani bursts to 1st among NL batters

Braves pitcher Max Fried is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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▪️ Top 10 players in 2024
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Braves pitcher Max Fried is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers rises to first place among National League batters in 2024 Box-Toppers points (11.0) after earning NL Batter of the Day honors, making a meteoric rise from completely outside the top 10 among NL batters until Sept. 19 and earning 6.0 of his 11.0 points for the season in a 13-day explosion.

Player of the Day

Fried struck out nine over 8 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 3-0 win over the Royals.

Fried earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season, most among Friday’s Player of the Game winners and 17th in season player rankings, ninth among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day is Rays pitcher Taj Bradley.

American League Player of the Day

Rays pitcher Taj Bradley struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox.

Bradley earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.1 for the season, 26th overall and 12th among AL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day is Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Friday, Sept. 27:
  Player Pos Team BTP
1 Zack Wheeler pi sp Phillies 21.4
2 Tarik Skubal pi sp Tigers 21.1
3 Dylan Cease pi sp Padres 21.1
4 Shota Imanaga pi sp Cubs 20.7
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 Bryce Miller pi sp Mariners 15.7
9 George Kirby pi sp Mariners 15.4
10 Framber Valdez pi sp Astros 15.4
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National League Batter of the Day

Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-4 win over the Rockies.

Ohtani earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season, 39th overall and rising from fourth to first place among NL batters, passing previous leader Willy Adames of the Brewers (10.5), who falls to second place.

Ohtani’s burst to 1st among NL batters

Ohtani’s rise to first among NL batters in 2024 has been meteoric. Though with his 50-home-run, 50-stolen-base season, he has been touted most of the season as the unquestioned, unanimous favorite for NL Most Valuable Player, his Box-Toppers point total wasn’t reflecting that until now.

On Aug. 29, he had 4.0 Box-Toppers points, outside the top 10 NL batters and fifth among NL designated hitters. He’s since earned 7.0 points in the past month, which by itself would currently rank 11th among NL batters.

On Aug. 30, Ohtani earned Player of the Game honors, giving him 5.0 Box-Toppers points. He was still outside the top 10 NL batters in Box-Toppers points and, in fact, had so few points and was so irrelevant to Box-Toppers leading players that he wasn’t even mentioned in the Box-Toppers daily narrative.

On Sept. 15, Ohtani earned Player of the Game honors, giving him 6.0 points for the season, rising to 14th among NL batters and getting a mention in the daily narrative only because he ranked so low in Box-Toppers season player rankings despite being considered the favorite for NL MVP.

On Sept. 19, Ohtani recorded the second-highest Box-Toppers game score for a batter in the 30-season history of Box-Toppers tracking (+14.0), with three homers, two doubles, going 6-for-6, scoring four times and driving in 10 runs. He earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points as NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.5 for the season and for the first time in 2024, rose into the top 10 among NL batters, ranking sixth.

On Sept. 20, Ohtani earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day, earning 1.0 point, giving him 8.5 for 2024, fifth among NL batters.

On Sept. 25, Ohtani earned 1.0 point as Player of the Game, giving him 9.5 for 2024, rising to fourth among NL batters, but just 1.0 point behind then-leader Willy Adames of the Brewers (10.5).

With Friday’s NL Batter of the Day honor giving him 1.5 more points, Ohtani has now earned 6.0 of his 11.0 points in 13 days, a pace that would give him more than 72 points over a full season. (The record for most points in a season is 33.7 by pitcher Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks in both 2000 and 2022. The record for most points by a batter in a season is 20.8 by Lance Berkman of the Astros in 2006.)

While Ohtani’s rise has been meteoric, his effort to the top was made easier because he didn’t have that large of a hill to climb. The leading NL batter for 2024, Adames, was set to have the lowest Box-Toppers point total to lead any category in the 30 years of player tracking. The previous low was 10.7 by Nolan Arenado, who led NL batters in 2016. Ohtani was able to rise from below the top 10 and shoot through the ranks quickly because NL batters had so few points in 2024. And while the 11.0 points Ohtani now has ensures there won’t be a new record set for the lowest point total to lead a category, 11.0 would be the second-lowest to lead any category in a regular-length season since 1995.

Ohtani passes 10 Box-Toppers points for 2024

Ohtani becomes the 56th player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2024 and the fifth batter. It is his fourth season and fourth in a row with 10 or more points. His best season was 2022 with the Angels when he had 24.7 points, second overall and second among AL pitchers. (Ohtani did not qualify to rank among batters in 2022 Box-Toppers points, although he earned 5.0 of his points as designated hitter.) In 2023, Ohtani earned 19.4 points with the Angels, third overall, second among AL pitchers and first among AL batters. (Ohtani qualified to rank among both pitchers and batters in 2023, splitting his Box-Toppers point between the two, earning 9.7 as a pitcher and 9.7 as a batter.)

Ohtani’s previous seasons with 10 or more points were all bolstered by his pitching. His best previous season as a batter was 2023 with his 9.7 points. This season, he has surpassed that, earning all 11.0 points as a batter. He has been unable to pitch this season after undergoing elbow surgery at the end of the 2023 season.

Five batters now have 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season, meaning that 2024 will not set a new record for fewest batters to reach 10 in a season. In 2022, only four batters reached 10 points, the record-low. This season now is tied for the second-fewest batters with 10 points with three other seasons in which only five batters had 10—2014, 2018 and 2021. (From 1995 to 2009, an average of 23 batters each season had 10 or more Box-Toppers points. Since 2010, the average is seven.)

American League Batter of the Day

There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because no AL batter earned Player of the Game honors in the 15 games completed.

Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2024.

Streak

Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2024 Friday.

deGrom (4IP 4H R 0BB 5K ND in the 5-2 win over the Angels) earned his first points in 2014 with the Mets and now has 140.2 career Box-Toppers points, 33rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 1.0 point Friday, he passes Padres pitcher Yu Darvish (139.7) on the “all-time” career points list and now trails 32nd-ranked player, Jake Peavy (141.8). Passing Darvish, deGrom ranks sixth among active players in career points, fourth among active AL pitchers.

deGrom’s best season was 2015 with the Mets, when he earned 22.4 Box-Toppers points, third overall and third among NL pitchers. In 2023, deGrom earned 7.7 Box-Toppers points with the Rangers, 41st among AL pitchers. deGrom’s 2023 season was cut short after undergoing elbow surgery. As of his final Player of the Game honor of 2023 on April 28, deGrom’s 7.7 points led Box-Toppers season player rankings. deGrom was making his third start in 2024 Friday after recovery from elbow surgery.

Xavier Edwards of the Marlins earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Friday.

Friday’s sidelights sidebar

Top pitching matchup

▪️Brady Singer, Royals
10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 53rd
▪️Max Fried, Braves
11.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 33rd
Result—ATL 3, KC 0
Fried was Player of the Game (8.2IP 3H 0R 2BB 9K W) with +12.2 B-T game score.
Singer had 0.0 B-T game score in loss (6IP 4H 2R 3BB 5K L).
Fried earns 2.0 B-T points as overall Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 in 2024, rising to 17th.

High scores, no points

Highest Box-Toppers game scores for the day among players who did not earn Player of the Game honors:
▪️+5.0—Garrett Crochet, White Sox (4IP 4H 0R BB 6K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. DET.
Player of the Game—Brant Hurter, Tigers (4IP 2H R 0BB K W) with +1.0 game score.
▪️+4.0—Stone Garrett, Nationals (HR 2B 3-4 2R 3BI)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. PHI.
Player of the Game—Teammate Trevor Williams (5IP 3H 0R 2BB 5K W) with +5.0 game score.
▪️+4.0—Nick Martinez, Reds (8IP 5H R 0BB 3K L)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. CHC.
Player of the Game—Jameson Taillon, Cubs (7IP 4H 0R 2BB 2K W) with +3.0 game score.

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores

Out of 442 total players Friday, 132 pitchers
-17.9—Cal Quantrill, Rockies (3.1IP 7H 6R 2BB 0K L vs. LAD)
-17.0—Ranger Suárez, Phillies
-15.8—Landen Roupp, Giants
-15.8—Sean Manaea, Mets
-14.0—José Berríos, Blue Jays

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters

Out of 310 total batters Friday
-5.0—Matt Carpenter, Cardinals 0-5 3K
-5.0—Josh Smith, Rangers 0-5 3K
-5.0—Heliot Ramos, Giants 0-5 2K
-5.0—Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres 0-5 K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.

Notable

Xavier Edwards of the Marlins earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Friday.

Edwards (3-3B 4-6 2R 4BI in the 15-5 win over the Blue Jays) was also Player of the Game in Thursday’s 8-6, 13-inning win over the Twins (2B 2-4 3R BI). That was his Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor.

Also notable

In addition to Fried, Bradley and Ohtani, three other players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points in 2024 also earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Cardinals closing pitcher Ryan Helsley (1IP H 0R 0BB 2K Sv in the 6-3 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.0 for the season, 30th overall, 14th among NL pitchers and first among NL closing pitchers, ahead of second-place Alexis Diaz of the Reds (6.0).

  • Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo (5IP 3H 0R BB 8K W in the 2-0 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season, 36th overall and 18th among AL pitchers.

  • Astros pitcher Ronel Blanco (5IP H 0R 2BB 3K W in the 5-2 win over the Guardians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, 48th overall and 24th among AL pitchers. Blanco becomes the 57th player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2024. It is his first season with 10 or more points in his first season earning points.

A note on players with 10 points

There are now 57 players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points in 2024, which is the third-most in a season since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. The only seasons with more are 2001 (67) and 2014 (58). In 2001, 27 of the 67 players with 10 points were batters, while 40 were pitchers. In 2014, just five of the 58 players with 10 points were batters, while 53 were pitchers. The 52 pitchers with 10 points in 2024 is the second-highest number of pitchers to reach that mark, behind only the 53 in 2014.

Scoring

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

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

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

  • All of Friday’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).
9/27 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +12.2 ATL 3, KC 0 Max Fried (W, 11‑10) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   8.2 3 0 0 2 9
AL +9.0 TB 2, BOS 1 Taj Bradley (W, 8‑11) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 3 0 0 1 7
  +9.0 SEA 2, OAK 0 Bryan Woo (W, 9‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.0 3 0 0 1 8
BAT +5.0 LAD 11, COL 4 Shohei Ohtani DH 5 2 4 4   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +5.0 WSH 9, PHI 1 Trevor Williams (W, 6‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.0 3 0 0 2 5
  +5.0 HOU 5, CLE 2 Ronel Blanco (W, 13‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.0 1 0 0 2 3
  +4.2 BAL 7, MIN 2 Cade Povich (W, 3‑9) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.2 2 0 0 1 2
  +4.0 MIA 15, TOR 5 Xavier Edwards SS 6 2 4 4   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +4.0 PIT 4, NYY 2 Bryan Reynolds LF 3 2 2 3   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.0 MIL 8, NYM 4 Brice Turang 2B 4 3 3 1   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.0 CHC 1, CIN 0 Jameson Taillon (W, 12‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 4 0 0 2 2
  +3.0 `TEX 5, LAA 2 Jacob deGrom ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   4.0 4 1 1 0 5
  +2.0 STL 6, SF 3 Ryan Helsley (S, 49) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 1 0 0 0 2
  +1.1 `SD 5, ARI 3 Jason Adam (H, 31) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.1 1 0 0 0 1
  +1.0 DET 4, CHW 1 Brant Hurter (W, 6‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   4.0 2 1 1 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 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 (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’24 ’23‑24 ’19‑24 Career +/‑
Fried, Max 4011 pi sp atl nl 13.4 22.4 65.9 66.9 +4.4
Bradley, Taj 4780 pi sp tb al 12.1 17.1 17.1 17.1 +7.1
Helsley, Ryan 4589 pi cp stl nl 12.0 16.0 22.0 22.0 +8.0
Woo, Bryan 4842 pi sp sea al 11.7 20.4 20.4 20.4 +3.0
Ohtani, Shohei 3933 dh lad nl 11.0 30.4 77.7 85.7 -8.4
Blanco, Ronel 4959 pi sp hou al 10.7 10.7 10.7 10.7 +10.7
Taillon, Jameson 3658 pi sp chi nl 8.0 13.4 33.1 59.5 +2.6
Williams, Trevor 3792 pi sp dc nl 6.0 11.7 22.4 35.4 +0.3
Reynolds, Bryan 4169 lf pit nl 5.5 13.2 31.2 31.2 -2.2
Hurter, Brant 5099 pi mr det al 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +5.0
Povich, Cade 5029 pi sp bal al 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 +4.0
Adam, Jason 4256 pi mr cp sd nl 3.0 9.4 13.4 13.4 -3.4
Edwards, Xavier 5122 ss fla nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp tex al 1.0 8.7 62.6 140.2 -6.7
Turang, Brice 4779 2b ph mil nl 1.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 -1.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’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.
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Game Starter ’24 ’23‑24 ’19‑24 Career
PIT Skenes, Paul 5005 13.0 13.0 13.0 13.0
NYY Gil, Luis 4498 17.4 17.4 18.4 18.4
CHW Burke, Sean* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
DET Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
CIN Lowder, Rhett 5107 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
CHC Hendricks, Kyle 3386 4.7 9.7 37.8 78.3
MIA Curry, Xzavion 4875 1.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
TOR Rodriguez, Yariel 4979 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
PHI Wheeler, Zack 3204 21.4 36.1 81.6 105.0
WSH Gore, MacKenzie 4582 7.0 14.0 18.7 18.7
STL Pallante, Andre 4656 8.7 8.7 10.7 10.7
SF Snell, Blake 3688 15.7 30.4 68.6 104.8
TB Baz, Shane 4560 3.0 3.0 4.7 4.7
BOS Crawford, Kutter 4660 5.7 11.4 15.4 15.4
HOU Verlander, Justin 2112 2.0 14.4 68.9 247.0
CLE Lively, Ben 3903 5.0 6.0 6.0 8.0
BAL Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
MIN Matthews, Zebby* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
NYM Quintana, Jose 3040 10.0 10.0 32.8 93.1
MIL Koenig, Jared 4755 3.0 3.0 4.0 4.0
KC Lugo, Seth 3729 14.1 20.5 29.5 38.5
ATL Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 10.8 11.8 32.3 40.0
LAD Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.4
COL Senzatela, Antonio 3760 0.0 0.0 6.0 13.0
SD Vasquez, Randy 4841 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
ARI Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 1.0 14.0 35.4 68.2
TEX Heaney, Andrew 3515 9.0 20.4 41.8 56.5
LAA Canning, Griffin 4134 4.7 10.7 22.4 22.4
OAK Estes, Joey 5000 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7
SEA Hancock, Emerson 4985 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
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