Mets’ 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.

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.

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.

deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season, 189th among all players and 66th among National League pitchers.

deGrom now has 125.8 career Box-Toppers points, 45th among all players since player tracking began in 1995. With his 2.0 points Saturday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Gary Sheffield (124.1) and Rays pitcher Corey Kluber (124.1). He now trails 44th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4).

deGrom ranks 13th among active players in career points, seventh among active NL pitchers.

Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. is Saturday’s Box-Toppers AL Player of the Day.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. struck out five over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and four walks in the 8-0 win over the Athletics.

McCullers earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and ranks 115th among AL pitchers.

Max Muncy of the Dodgers is Saturday’s Box-Toppers NL Batter of the Day.

National League Batter of the Day—Max Muncy of the Dodgers homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 13-3 win over the Royals.

Muncy earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, ninth among NL batters.

Jose Siri of the Rays is Saturday’s Box-Toppers AL Batter of the Day.

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Siri of the Rays went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in no runs, in the 8-2 win over the Orioles.

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

Notable—Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes has the most 2022 Box-Toppers points among Saturday’s 16 Player of the Game winners.

Burnes (7IP 4H R 0BB 6K ND in the 3-2, 10-inning win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season, 13th among all players and seventh among NL pitchers.

Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the Rockies.

Also notable—Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen becomes the 24th player this season to reach 10.0 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Gallen (7IP 2H 0R BB 6K W in the 6-0 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, 18th among all players and 10th among NL pitchers.

This is Gallen’s first season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. His previous best season was 2020 with the Diamondbacks when he had 6.0 points, 11th among NL pitchers in the pandemic-shortened season. In 2021, he had 4.0 points with the Diamondbacks, 68th among NL pitchers.

Yankees pitcher Aroldis Chapman is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the Red 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, Aug. 13.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp hou al 19.0
2 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp ana al 18.0
3 Cease, Dylan 4231 pi sp chi al 16.7
4 Alcantara, Sandy 4061 pi sp fla nl 15.4
5 Urias, Julio 3652 pi sp lad nl 14.4
6 McClanahan, Shane 4399 pi sp tb al 14.4
7 Rodon, Carlos 3494 pi sp sf nl 13.7
8 Musgrove, Joe 3705 pi sp sd nl 13.4
9 Fried, Max 4011 pi sp atl nl 13.0
10 Alonso, Pete 4118 1b nym nl 12.2
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Streak—Yankees pitcher Aroldis Chapman has now earned Box-Toppers points in 13 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2022 Saturday.

Chapman, pitching in middle relief Saturday, (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 3-2 win over the Red Sox) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2010 with the Reds and has 61.1 career points, first among active AL closing pitchers, ahead of second-place Zack Britton of the Yankees (35.1).

Chapman’s best season was 2012 with the Reds when he had 14.0 Box-Toppers points, second among NL closers, behind Craig Kimbrel of the Braves (15.0). Chapman led NL closers with the Reds in 2015 with 8.0 points. He ranked among the top five NL closers in points for five straight seasons from 2012 to 2016 (he was with the Reds from 2012 to 2015 and finished the 2016 season with the Cubs). In 2021, he had 4.0 points with the Yankees, ninth among AL closers.

Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:

  • Chadwick Tromp of the Braves (2-2B 3-4 0R 3BI in the 5-2 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut July 29, 2020, and was playing in his 34th career game.

  • Josh Smith of the Rangers (1-1 R BI in the 7-4 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut May 30 and was playing in his 46th career game.

Scoring—deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McCullers earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Muncy and Siri 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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8/13 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +14.0 NYM 1, PHI 0 Jacob deGrom, (W 2‑0) 6.0 2 0 0 0 10
+10.0 SF 2, PIT 0 Logan Webb, (W 11‑5) 8.0 5 0 0 2 9
+10.0 ARI 6, COL 0 Zac Gallen, (W 8‑2) 7.0 2 0 0 1 6
+7.0 `MIL 3, STL 2 (F/10) Corbin Burnes 7.0 4 1 1 0 6
BAT +5.0 LAD 13, KC 3 Max Muncy, 3B‑1B 5 2 4 4
AL +5.0 HOU 8, OAK 0 Lance McCullers Jr., (W 1‑0) 6.0 2 0 0 4 5
+5.0 CHC 7, CIN 2 Sean Newcomb, (W 1‑0) 2.0 0 0 0 2 5
+3.1 NYY 3, BOS 2 Aroldis Chapman, (W 1‑3) 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
+2.0 ATL 5, MIA 2 Chadwick Tromp, C 4 0 3 3
BAT +2.0 TB 8, BAL 2 Jose Siri, CF 4 3 3 0
+2.0 ATL 6, MIA 2 Matt Olson, 1B 4 1 2 3
+2.0 CHW 6, DET 4 AJ Pollock, CF‑RF 4 2 2 2
+2.0 TEX 7, SEA 4 Josh Smith, PH‑LF 1 1 1 1
+2.0 `LAA 5, MIN 3 (F/11) Reid Detmers 5.0 5 2 2 3 9
+1.1 TOR 2, CLE 1 Jordan Romano, (S 26) 1.1 1 0 0 1 2
+1.0 WSH 4, SD 3 Yadiel Hernandez, LF 3 1 1 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.
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 +/‑
Burnes, Corbin 4029 pi sp mil nl 11.4 29.5 40.2 40.2 -6.7
Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 10.7 14.7 26.4 26.4 +6.7
Webb, Logan 4258 pi sp sf nl 6.7 22.2 24.9 24.9 -8.8
Detmers, Reid 4513 pi sp ana al 6.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 +5.0
Muncy, Max 3969 3b lad nl 5.7 11.7 23.2 23.2 -0.3
deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 3.7 20.4 80.7 125.8 -13.0
Hernandez, Yadiel 4356 lf dh dc nl 2.5 3.5 4.5 4.5 +1.5
Olson, Matt 3836 1b atl nl 2.0 10.0 21.7 21.7 -6.0
Pollock, AJ 3142 lf cf rf chi al 2.0 5.0 15.5 30.2 -1.0
Romano, Jordan 4299 pi cp tor al 2.0 4.0 5.0 5.0 0.0
McCullers, Lance 3488 pi sp hou al 1.7 10.4 33.2 46.0 -7.0
Siri, Jose 4546 cf bal al 1.5 3.0 3.0 3.0 0.0
Chapman, Aroldis 2826 pi mr cp nyy al 1.0 5.0 14.7 61.1 -3.0
Newcomb, Sean 3831 pi mr sp chi nl 1.0 2.0 19.1 19.1 0.0
Smith, Josh 4708 lf ph tex al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
Tromp, Chadwick 4707 ca atl nl 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
SD Snell, Blake 3688 5.7 17.1 63.0 67.0
WSH Espino, Paolo 4443 0.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
CLE Bieber, Shane 4005 10.7 17.4 53.3 53.3
TOR Gausman, Kevin 3191 9.7 23.4 42.2 66.4
ATL Elder, Bryce* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
MIA Garrett, Braxton 4341 4.7 5.7 6.7 6.7
BAL Lyles, Jordan 3100 1.0 8.0 20.7 28.4
TB Rasmussen, Drew 4547 4.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
CHC Thompson, Keegan 4579 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0
CIN Dunn, Justin 4267 0.0 3.0 7.0 7.0
PHI Wheeler, Zack 3204 11.7 32.8 54.5 66.2
NYM Bassitt, Chris 3413 8.0 21.7 36.8 40.8
DET Alexander, Tyler 4196 0.0 3.0 8.0 8.0
CHW Lynn, Lance 2992 3.0 15.4 51.2 107.1
LAD Anderson, Tyler 3656 10.7 17.7 31.4 33.4
KC Singer, Brady 4337 6.0 9.0 13.0 13.0
OAK Irvin, Cole 4140 4.7 9.4 12.4 12.4
HOU Javier, Cristian 4290 7.7 13.7 15.7 15.7
MIL Ashby, Aaron 4511 5.4 7.4 7.4 7.4
STL Mikolas, Miles 3034 6.7 6.7 21.4 24.1
SEA Gilbert, Logan 4439 7.7 14.7 14.7 14.7
TEX Perez, Martin 3213 8.1 9.1 15.8 28.8
ARI Henry, Tommy* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
COL Feltner, Ryan 4635 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
PIT Thompson, Zach 4437 2.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
SF Wood, Alex 3246 6.0 19.0 39.7 59.1
MIN Archer, Chris 3194 1.0 1.0 14.7 63.8
LAA Davidson, Tucker 4429 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
NYY Taillon, Jameson 3658 7.7 16.7 38.1 43.1
BOS Wacha, Michael 3276 4.4 11.5 26.5 46.2
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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