Blog
Source: MLB.com
Both American League Division Series begin Saturday.
The Detroit Tigers face the Cleveland Guardians in one best-of-five game series and the Kansas City Royals face the New York Yankees in the other. The top two AL seeds, the Yankees (first) and the Guardians (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played this week.
Read MorePirates pitcher Paul Skenes is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, rising to lead National League pitchers. In addition, Aaron Judge of the Yankees bolsters his lead among American League batters in 2024 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreMarlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Luzardo struck out five over 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and four walks, in the 2-1 win over the Mets.
Read More
Box-Toppers’ top-ranked AL rookie, Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners (left), also won AL Rookie of the Year honors. Michael Harris II of the Braves (middle) won NL Rookie of the Year honors over Box-Toppers’ top NL rookie, Spencer Strider of the Braves (right).
Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners, Box-Toppers’ choice for 2022 American League Rookie of the Year, was also voted winner of the honor by baseball writers Monday.
But Michael Harris II of the Braves, who won the National League Rookie of the Year honor, was not among Box-Toppers’ top three choices for top NL rookie. Braves pitcher Spencer Strider, Box-Toppers’ choice for top NL rookie, finished second in voting.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ top-ranked players are, for the most part, finalists for 2022 major postseason awards, as announced by baseball writers Monday.
In five of the six major awards, the Box-Toppers points leader for 2022 in that category is among the three finalists for the awards, which will be announced next week.
Read More
Box-Toppers’ choices for major postseason awards: American League Most Valuable Player—Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, National League Most Valuable Player—Pete Alonso of the Mets, AL Cy Young Award—Justin Verlander of the Astros and NL Cy Young Award—Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins.
Aaron Judge of the Yankees is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked American League batter in 2022. But Shohei Ohtani of the Angels is Box-Toppers’ choice for AL Most Valuable Player.
Box-Toppers cast votes for postseason honors for Ohtani, Justin Verlander, Sandy Alcantara and Pete Alonso, among others, in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) balloting, completed at the end of the regular season, prior to the start of postseason play.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Luis Garcia tops players in Saturday’s four league division series playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Saturday’s league division series games: Padres closing pitcher Josh Hader, Phillies pitcher Noah Syndergaard and Guardians closing pitcher Eli Morgan.
Read MoreBoth American League Division Series begin Tuesday.
The Houston Astros face the Seattle Mariners in one best-of-five game series and the New York Yankees face the Cleveland Guardians in the other. The top two AL seeds, the Astros (first) and the Yankees (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played over the weekend.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Cristian Javier is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Pete Alonso of the Mets extends his lead among National League batters and now has the most Box-Toppers points for any batter in a single season since 2017 and the eighth-most for any batter in a single season from 2010 forward.
Read MoreAngels pitcher Michael Lorenzen is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Lorenzen struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 6-2 win over the Marlins.
Read MoreBox-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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.