Guardians’ Williams tops players for Sunday, Aug. 2, rising to 9th in player rankings

Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to ninth place in season player rankings.

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Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to ninth place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2026 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Sunday, Aug. 2.

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Jacob Misiorowski	pi sp	Brewers	17.7
2	Dylan Cease	pi sp	Blue Jays	17.4
3	Cristopher Sánchez	pi sp	Phillies	15.7
4	Cam Schlittler	pi sp	Yankees	15.7
5	Braxton Ashcraft	pi sp	Pirates	14.4
6	Jesús Luzardo	pi sp	Phillies	14.0
7	Shohei Ohtani	pi sp dh	Dodgers	13.7
8	Zack Wheeler	pi sp	Phillies	13.0
9	Gavin Williams	pi sp	Guardians	12.7
10	Taj Bradley	pi sp	Twins	12.4

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Other Player of the Game winners Sunday include Cardinals pitcher Matthew Liberatore, Reds pitcher Chase Burns, Gleyber Torres of the Tigers and Justin Crawford of the Phillies.

Player of the Day: Gavin Williams, Guardians

Williams struck out 10 over 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Diamondbacks.

Williams carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before giving up a leadoff single to Tim Tawa. His outing was ended by rain after 89 pitches in the sixth.

Williams earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.7 for the season, ninth among all players and third among American League pitchers, behind Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays (17.4 points) and Cam Schlittler of the Yankees (15.7 points).

NL Player of the Day: Matthew Liberatore, Cardinals

Liberatore struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 5-1 win over the Blue Jays. He picked up a no-decision after Toronto tied the game following his exit.

Liberatore earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points as National League Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, 16th among NL pitchers.

NL Player of the Day: Matthew Liberatore, Cardinals.

AL Batter of the Day: Gleyber Torres, Tigers

Torres went 1-for-2, drawing four walks, scoring three times and driving in two runs.

AL Batter of the Day: Gleyber Torres, Tigers.

NL Batter of the Day: Justin Crawford, Phillies

Crawford doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-0, six-inning win over the Orioles.

This was Crawford’s Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor. Crawford made his Major League debut March 26 and was playing in his 102nd career game.

NL Batter of the Day: Justin Crawford, Phillies.

Notable: Chase Burns, Reds

Burns becomes the 22nd player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2026 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday (6IP 2H R 2BB 9K W in the 10-2 win over the Pirates).

Burns earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, 22nd among all players and 12th among NL pitchers. It is his first season with 10 or more points in his first season earning points. He earned no points in his 2025 rookie season with the Reds, appearing in 13 games.

Chase Burns, Reds, becomes the 22nd player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2026 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Sunday’s Sidelights Sidebar

Box-Toppers review of the day’s top pitchers, overlooked top performers & lowest B-T game scores:

⬛ B‑T points leader Misiorowski posts best game score among non-Player of the Game winners

Debut

Everson Pereira of the White Sox also made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor (HR 2B 2-4 R 4BI in the 9-1 win over the Rays).

Pereira made his Major League debut Aug. 22, 2023, and was playing in his 77th career game.

Scoring

• Williams earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points as Player of the Day.

• Liberatore earns 1.7 points as NL Player of the Day.

• Torres and Crawford each earn 1.5 points as their league’s 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 contributes most to their team’s victory. Using standard box score statistics, we identify the Player of the Game for every MLB contest. In the regular season, winners earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point, with bonus points awarded to the top overall and league-specific players of the day. More on how Box-Toppers works.

Help us stay accurate! Spot a mistake? Contact Box-Toppers here so we can fix it.

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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).

8/2	BTG	Game	Player	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	+13.2	CLE 5, ARI 0	Gavin Williams (W, 11‑6)	‑	‑	‑	‑		5.2	1	0	0	1	10
NL	+11.0	`STL 5, TOR 1	Matthew Liberatore	‑	‑	‑	‑		6.0	1	0	0	1	7
	+9.0	CIN 10, PIT 2	Chase Burns (W, 13‑1)	‑	‑	‑	‑		6.0	2	1	1	2	9
	+8.0	COL 8, KC 1	Kyle Freeland (W, 3‑10)	‑	‑	‑	‑		9.0	5	1	1	2	8
	+7.0	LAA 3, MIL 0	Walbert Ureña (W, 7‑7)	‑	‑	‑	‑		6.0	3	0	0	3	7
	+5.0	MIA 2, NYM 0	Sandy Alcantara (W, 12‑6)	‑	‑	‑	‑		6.0	4	0	0	2	5
	+4.2	`HOU 7, TEX 3	Peter Lambert	‑	‑	‑	‑		5.2	3	2	2	2	8
	+4.1	SD 5, SF 4	Adrian Morejon (S, 2)	‑	‑	‑	‑		1.1	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	+4.0	DET 11, ATH 0	Gleyber Torres 2B	2	3	1	2		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑
	+4.0	`SEA 7, MIN 6	George Kirby	‑	‑	‑	‑		7.0	5	0	0	1	3
	+3.0	CHW 9, TB 1	Everson Pereira RF	4	1	2	4		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑
BAT	+3.0	PHI 8, BAL 0 (F/6)	Justin Crawford CF	3	2	2	2		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑
	+2.0	NYY 2, CHC 1	Jose Caballero SS	3	1	2	2		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑
	+2.0	ATL 4, WSH 2	Mike Yastrzemski RF	2	1	1	2		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑
	+1.0	BOS 8, LAD 4	Masataka Yoshida DH	4	1	2	2		‑	‑	‑	‑	‑	‑

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 2026 (’26). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’25-26), the period 2021-2026 (’21-26) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2026 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2025 total (+/-).
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Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’26	’25‑26	’21‑26	Career	+/‑
Williams, Gavin 4865	pi sp	cle al	12.7	24.4	32.1	32.1	+1.0
Burns, Chase 5301	pi sp	cin nl	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	+10.0
Alcantara, Sandy 4061	pi sp	fla nl	8.7	16.7	54.5	63.9	+0.7
Liberatore, Matthew 4662	pi sp	stl nl	7.7	13.7	20.7	20.7	+1.7
Lambert, Peter 4155	pi sp	hou al	6.7	6.7	11.7	13.7	+6.7
Yastrzemski, Mike 4203	rf lf	atl nl	6.0	10.0	19.5	21.5	+2.0
Kirby, George 4595	pi sp	sea al	5.0	16.0	56.5	56.5	-6.0
Morejon, Adrian 4298	pi mr	sd nl	5.0	11.0	13.0	15.0	-1.0
Ureña, Walbert 5350	pi sp	ana al	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	+5.0
Torres, Gleyber 3972	2b	det al	4.0	7.0	16.0	29.5	+1.0
Freeland, Kyle 3763	pi sp	col nl	3.7	7.7	28.4	48.8	-0.3
Crawford, Justin 5425	cf	phi nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	+1.5
Caballero, Jose 4968	ss rf 3b 2b	nyy al	1.0	3.0	5.0	5.0	-1.0
Yoshida, Masataka 4763	dh	bos al	1.0	1.0	8.0	8.0	+1.0
Pereira, Everson 5424	rf	chi al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	+1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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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 2026 (’26)†, last year (’25), over five years (’21-25), and their career point total.
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Game	Starter	’26	’25‑26	’21‑26	Career
WSH	Undecided	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
PHI	Nola, Aaron 3569	4.7	10.4	62.5	125.5
STL	McGreevy, Michael 5113	5.0	9.0	11.0	11.0
NYY	Schlittler, Cam 5261	15.7	23.1	23.1	23.1
PIT	Chandler, Bubba 5269	2.0	6.7	6.7	6.7
MIL	Sproat, Brandon 5324	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
SF	Webb, Logan 4258	5.0	14.0	62.6	65.3
TEX	Quantrill, Cal 4195	2.7	9.4	28.1	32.1
LAD	Wrobleski, Justin 5062	7.4	13.4	15.4	15.4
CHC	Boyd, Matthew 3550	3.0	13.7	18.7	45.5
TOR	Bieber, Shane 4005	3.0	6.0	32.4	68.3
HOU	Javier, Cristian 4290	2.0	3.7	33.4	35.4
TB	Seymour, Ian 5265	5.7	9.4	9.4	9.4
COL	Lorenzen, Michael 3479	1.0	6.0	23.7	34.2
SD	King, Michael 4549	5.0	9.4	36.8	36.8
ARI	Pfaadt, Brandon 4812	1.7	9.4	25.5	25.5

Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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