Astros’ 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.

Box-Toppers Toppers Box

Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.
▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
▪️ Box-Toppers points of the day’s top players.
▪️ Top 10 players in 2022 Box-Toppers points.
▪️ A B-T look at today’s pitching matchups.

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.

Player of the Day—Javier pitched seven no-hit innings as part of a three-pitcher combined no-hitter in the 3-0 win over the Yankees. Javier struck out 13  and allowed one walk.

Javier earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, 39th among all players and 16th among American League pitchers.

Javier had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +19.0, which is the second-highest for a Player of the Game winner in 2022, behind only the +20.0 game score by Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw on April 13 (7IP 0H 0R 0BB 13K W in the 7-0 win over the Twins). Javier’s +19.0 game score ranks just ahead of the +18.0 game score by Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday (8IP 2H 0R BB 13K W in the 5-0 win over the Royals).

Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas is Saturday’s Box-Toppers NL Player of the Day.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, in the 5-3 win over the Cubs. Mikolas did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Cubs tied the game after he exited.

Mikolas earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, 29th among NL pitchers.

Tony Kemp of the Athletics is Saturday’s Box-Toppers AL Batter of the Day.

American League Batter of the Day—Tony Kemp of the Athletics hit a home run and two doubles, going 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 9-7 win over the Royals.

J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies is Saturday’s Box-Toppers NL Batter of the Day.

National League Batter of the Day—J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies homered and went 1-for-3, scoring twice and driving in one run, in the 4-2 win over the Padres.

Braves pitcher Max Fried is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the Dodgers.

Rankings—Two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earn Player of the Game honors Saturday:

Braves pitcher Max Fried (6.2IP 6H 2R BB 9K ND in the 5-3 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, rising from ninth to seventh place overall, second among NL pitchers, behind Joe Musgrove of the Padres (11.4).

Fried becomes the seventh player to reach 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022. It is his third season with 10.0 or more points. He had 10.0 in 2019 with the Braves, 22nd among NL pitchers and 11.8 in 2021 with the Braves, 19th among NL pitchers.

Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the Blue Jays.

Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes (7.2IP 5H 3R 2BB 9K W in the 5-4 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.4 for the season, ninth among all players and fourth among NL pitchers.

Rays pitcher Corey Kluber is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the Pirates.

Notable—Rays pitcher Corey Kluber now has 122.1 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Kluber (5.1IP 5H 2R 0BB 6K ND in the 6-5 win over the Pirates) rises to 46th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when player tracking began. With his 1.0 point Saturday, he passes Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (122.1) on the “all-time” list. Though both Kluber and deGrom have the same career point total, Kluber ranks higher because he has more 2022 points—8.0 vs. 0.0. Passing deGrom, Kluber now ranks 13th among active players in career points, fifth among active AL pitchers.

Kluber’s 8.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022 is 16th overall, eighth among AL pitchers.

Twins pitcher Chris Archer is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the Rockies.

Also notable—Twins pitcher Chris Archer earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the first time since 2018 Saturday.

Archer (5IP H 0R BB 5K W in the 6-0 win over the Rockies) last earned Player of the Game honors Sept. 25, 2018, when he was with the Pirates. From 2013 to 2018, he averaged 10.5 points per season and in 2015, earned 16.0 points with the Rays, seventh among AL pitchers, but earned no points in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

In 2020, Archer underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome and did not play that season. He battled injury in 2021 with limited appearances with the Rays.

Jorge Mateo of the Orioles is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the White Sox.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2022. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Saturday, June 25.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 13.0
2 Musgrove, Joe 3705 pi sp sd nl 11.4
3 Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp hou al 11.0
4 McClanahan, Shane 4399 pi sp tb al 10.7
5 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 10.4
6 Cease, Dylan 4231 pi sp chi al 10.0
7 Fried, Max 4011 pi sp atl nl 10.0
8 Alcantara, Sandy 4061 pi sp fla nl 9.7
9 Burnes, Corbin 4029 pi sp mil nl 9.4
10 Alonso, Pete 4118 1b nym nl 9.2
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Debut—Jorge Mateo of the Orioles made his Box-Toppers Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Mateo (HR 2B 2-3 3R BI in the 6-2 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut Aug. 13, 2020, and was playing in his 177th career game.

Scoring—Javier earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Mikolas earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Kemp and Realmuto each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart below) 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).
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6/25 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +19.0 HOU 3, NYY 0 Cristian Javier, (W 5‑3) 7.0 0 0 0 1 13
+8.0 MIN 6, COL 0 Chris Archer, (W 2‑3) 5.0 1 0 0 1 5
NL +8.0 `STL 5, CHC 3 Miles Mikolas 6.0 4 1 1 1 9
+7.0 SF 9, CIN 2 Logan Webb, (W 7‑2) 6.0 2 1 0 2 6
+4.2 `ATL 5, LAD 3 Max Fried 6.2 6 2 2 1 9
+4.0 NYM 5, MIA 3 Edwin Díaz, (S 16) 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
+3.2 MIL 5, TOR 4 Corbin Burnes, (W 6‑4) 7.2 5 3 3 2 9
BAT +3.0 OAK 9, KC 7 Tony Kemp, LF 5 3 3 2
+3.0 BAL 6, CHW 2 Jorge Mateo, SS 3 3 2 1
+3.0 DET 6, ARI 3 Gregory Soto, (S 14) 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
+3.0 `TEX 3, WSH 2 Taylor Hearn 4.0 0 0 0 2 1
+2.1 `TB 6, PIT 5 Corey Kluber 5.1 5 2 2 0 6
+2.0 BOS 4, CLE 2 Alex Verdugo, LF 3 1 1 3
BAT +1.0 PHI 4, SD 2 J.T. Realmuto, C 3 2 1 1
0.0 SEA 5, LAA 3 Julio Rodríguez, CF 4 2 1 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.
N/A—Not applicable. No Player of the Game was chosen because the game ended in a tie.
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 2022 (’22). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’21-22), the period 2017-2022 (’17-22) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2022 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2021 total (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’22 ’21‑22 ’17‑22 Career +/‑
Fried, Max 4011 pi sp atl nl 10.0 21.8 38.5 38.5 -1.8
Burnes, Corbin 4029 pi sp mil nl 9.4 27.5 38.2 38.2 -8.7
Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp tb al 8.0 13.0 56.7 122.1 +3.0
Rodriguez, Julio 4590 cf sea al 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 +6.5
Javier, Cristian 4290 pi sp hou al 5.7 11.7 13.7 13.7 -0.3
Mikolas, Miles 3034 pi sp stl nl 4.7 4.7 19.4 22.1 +4.7
Webb, Logan 4258 pi sp sf nl 4.0 19.5 22.2 22.2 -11.5
Verdugo, Alex 4129 lf bos al 3.5 7.0 10.5 10.5 0.0
Diaz, Edwin 3690 pi cp nym nl 3.0 8.7 30.7 37.7 -2.7
Realmuto, J.T. 3491 ca phi nl 2.5 9.7 29.7 40.2 -4.7
Soto, Gregory 4371 pi cp det al 2.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 0.0
Hearn, Taylor 4604 pi sp mr tex al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
Kemp, Tony 3973 lf 2b oak al 1.5 3.5 6.0 6.0 -0.5
Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp min al 1.0 1.0 14.7 63.8 +1.0
Mateo, Jorge 4669 ss bal al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Sunday’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 2022 (’22), over a two-year period (’21-22), over a six-year period (’17-22) and their career point total.
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Game Starter ’22 ’21-22 ’17-22 Career
NYM Peterson, David 4347 2.0 5.0 7.0 7.0
MIA Castano, Daniel* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
HOU Urquidy, Jose 4194 3.0 11.4 16.1 16.1
NYY Cortes, Nestor 4160 8.4 13.4 15.4 15.4
BOS Hill, Rich 2215 2.0 8.0 35.4 73.5
CLE Civale, Aaron 4173 1.0 12.7 18.4 18.4
PIT Contreras, Roansy 4574 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
TB McClanahan, Shane 4399 10.7 15.4 15.4 15.4
BAL Lyles, Jordan 3100 1.0 8.0 20.7 28.4
CHW Cease, Dylan 4231 10.0 24.4 26.4 26.4
COL Feltner, Ryan 4635 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
MIN Ryan, Joe 4539 5.7 8.4 8.4 8.4
OAK Kaprielian, James 4416 0.0 7.4 7.4 7.4
KC Singer, Brady 4337 3.0 6.0 10.0 10.0
TOR Berrios, Jose 3791 4.0 13.4 53.9 53.9
MIL Gonzalez, Chi Chi 3490 0.0 1.0 4.0 5.7
CHC Mills, Alec 4052 0.0 1.0 8.0 8.0
STL Flaherty, Jack 3971 0.0 6.0 40.3 40.3
WSH Tetreault, Jackson* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
TEX Otto, Glenn 4584 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
CIN Mahle, Tyler 3929 5.0 16.7 28.7 28.7
SF DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 0.0 12.7 26.4 38.1
SEA Gonzales, Marco 3408 1.0 5.0 31.5 34.5
LAA Suarez, Jose 4425 1.0 7.4 7.4 7.4
DET Brieske, Beau* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
ARI Keuchel, Dallas 3050 1.0 4.0 24.8 67.6
PHI Gibson, Kyle 3312 3.0 10.7 30.5 47.5
SD Darvish, Yu 3003 8.1 21.2 59.7 115.3
LAD Gonsolin, Tony 4211 7.0 11.7 19.4 19.4
ATL Strider, Spencer 4626 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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