The new Wild Card round of Major League Baseball’s postseason begins Friday with four best-of-three series. Here is a Box-Toppers look at the eight teams competing in the four Wild Card round series.
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Padres’ Darvish tops players for Sunday, Sept. 18; Marlins’ Alcantara rises to 4th
Padres pitcher Yu Darvish is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara regains the Box-Toppers points lead among National League pitchers, rising to fourth place overall, after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreYankees’ Cole tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 7, rising to 9th in player rankings
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to ninth in season player rankings.
Cole struck out 14 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, five hits and two walks, in the 7-1 win over the Twins.
Read MoreBraves’ Strider tops players for Thursday, Sept . 1, with highest game score of 2022
Braves pitcher Spencer Strider is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, recording the highest Box-Toppers game score for any Player of the Game winner in 2022.
Strider struck out 16 over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Rockies.
Read MoreMets’ deGrom tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 31; Padres’ Musgrove rises to 6th
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MorePhillies’ Nola tops players for Thursday, Aug. 25; Rays’ Rasmussen tops AL players
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Nola pitched a complete-game, five-hit shutout, striking out 11 and walking none, in the 4-0 win over the Reds.
Read MoreMets’ deGrom tops players for Saturday, Aug. 13; Astros’ McCullers tops AL players
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
deGrom struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Phillies.
Read MoreGuardians’ McKenzie tops players for Sunday, Aug. 7; Mets’ deGrom tops NL players
Guardians pitcher Triston McKenzie is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
McKenzie struck out eight over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 1-0 win over the Astros.
Read MoreBlue Jays’ Gausman tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 2; Braves’ Strider tops NL players
Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Gausman struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 3-1 win over the Rays.
Read MoreCardinals’ Wainwright tops players for Wednesday, July 27; Angels’ Junk tops AL players
Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Wainwright struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 6-1 win over the Blue Jays.
Read MoreAstros’ Javier tops players for Saturday, June 25; Fried, Burnes rise in top 10 list
Astros pitcher Cristian Javier is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors—Braves pitcher Max Fried rises to seventh place and Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes rises to ninth.
Read MoreMarlins’ Alcantara tops players for Thursday, June 2; Yankees’ Cortes rises to lead player rankings
Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fourth in season player rankings.
Also Thursday, Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors, passing previous leader Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, who held the top spot for nearly a month.
Read MoreMarlins’ Alcantara tops players for Saturday, May 28; Mariners’ Gilbert tops AL players
Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Alcantara struck out 14 over eight innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Braves.
Read MoreRays’ Kluber tops players for Wednesday, May 4, rising to 4th in player rankings
Rays pitcher Corey Kluber is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.
Kluber struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 3-0 win over the Athletics. Kluber did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Read MoreDodgers’ Kershaw tops players for Wednesday, April 13, with 7 perfect innings
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Kershaw struck out 13 over seven perfect innings—allowing no hits, runs, walks or baserunners of any kind—in the 7-0 win over the Twins. However, he was pulled after seven innings and 80 pitches in his first start of the season. Reliever Alex Vesia gave up the only hit to the Twins in the eighth inning.
Read MoreA Box-Toppers look at each team’s 2022 opening game starting pitcher
Starting a new baseball season means putting your best foot forward, which for teams usually means putting your best pitcher on the mound to start the first game of the season.
However, only four of Box-Toppers’ top-ranked pitchers in 2021 are starting their team’s first game of 2022.
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Dodgers top Box-Toppers 2022 preseason team rankings; White Sox top AL teams
The Los Angeles Dodgers are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2022 preseason rankings. They also ended 2021 as Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Oakland Athletics saw the biggest decline.
Read MoreMets’ deGrom, White Sox’ Giolito top players in Tuesday’s spring training games
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Tuesday’s spring training games.
deGrom struck out five over two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Astros. deGrom did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
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While Box-Toppers stat reflects the decline of batters, they still dominate WAR
Looking at the top 10 players in the Wins Above Replacement (WAR) statistic for each of the past 25 seasons, gives the impression batters are holding steady as the dominant force in baseball.
Yet, in recent years, batters are striking out more and hitting for lower batting averages against pitchers who are holding batters down and stealing their lunch money. Looking at the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points for each of the past 25 seasons provides a more accurate reflection of the game—one in which batters performed well and even dominated through about 2009, until pitchers’ announced their presence with authority from 2010 on.
Read More6 of top 10 strikeout leaders also among Box-Toppers’ top 10 players for 2021
Six of the 10 top strikeout leaders in 2021 were also among the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points for the season.
Blue Jays pitcher Robbie Ray led all players with 248 strikeouts. He ranked sixth overall in Box-Toppers points with 17.7, second among American League pitchers. Ray won the AL Cy Young Award.
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