Giants pitcher Carlos Rodon is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Rodon struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two hits, one run and two walks, in the 4-1 win over the Guardians.
Rodon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and rises to eighth place in season player rankings, sixth among National League pitchers. Rodon had 11.7 Box-Toppers points in 2021 with the White Sox, 12th among AL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run (none earned), four hits and no walks, in the 2-1 win over the Royals. Skubal did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Tigers trailed when he exited.
Skubal earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, his first points of the season.
American League Batter of the Day—Shohei Ohtani of the Angels hit two home runs and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-6 win over the Rangers.
Ohtani earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, his first points of the season.
In 2021, Ohtani earned 16.1 Box-Toppers points, third among all AL players. However, because he earned the overwhelming majority of his Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors as a pitcher, he did not qualify to be ranked among batters. He earned Player of the Game honors 12 times in 2021—nine times as a starting pitcher and three times as a designated hitter. In order for players to be listed at a certain position, they need to have more than 25 percent of their Player of the Game honors at that position. Ohtani earned exactly 25 percent of his Player of the Game honors as a designated hitter and so was not ranked as a batter.
Even though he had more Box-Toppers points than AL batting leader Jose Ramirez of the Indians (13.0), Ohtani did not qualify to be ranked. However, for now, Ohtani does qualify to be ranked among AL batters for 2022 and his 1.5 points ranks fourth on that list.
National League Batter of the Day—Jesus Aguilar of the Marlins went 1-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 7-1 win over the Phillies.
Notable—In addition to Rodon, two other players rose into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors Friday:
White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease (5.2IP 3H R 2BB 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.0 for the season, rising to fifth place overall, first among AL pitchers. Cease had 14.4 Box-Toppers points in 2021, fifth among AL pitchers.
Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt (6IP 2H R 2BB 6K W in the 10-3 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.0 for the season, rising to sixth place overall, fourth among NL pitchers. His 13.7 points in 2021 with the Athletics was seventh among AL pitchers.
Debut—Alan Trejo of the Rockies made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Trejo (HR 1-4 R 3BI in the 6-5 win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut April 10, 2021, and was playing in his 29th career game.
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 Friday, April 15.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Megill, Tylor 4464 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.7 |
| 2 | Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 3.2 |
| 3 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 3.0 |
| 4 | Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | sd nl | 2.0 |
| 5 | Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | chi al | 2.0 |
| 6 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp cp | nym nl | 2.0 |
| 7 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.0 |
| 8 | Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.0 |
| 9 | Gibson, Kyle 3312 | pi sp | phi nl | 2.0 |
| 10 | Gilbert, Logan 4439 | pi sp | sea al | 2.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Scoring—Rodon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Skubal earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Ohtani and Aguilar each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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).| 4/15 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.0 | SF 4, CLE 1 | Carlos Rodón, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |
| +7.2 | STL 10, MIL 1 | Miles Mikolas, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| AL | +7.2 | `DET 2, KC 1 | Tarik Skubal | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| +7.0 | SEA 11, HOU 1 | Marco Gonzales, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +6.2 | CHW 3, TB 2 | Dylan Cease, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| +6.0 | MIN 8, BOS 4 | Joe Ryan, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +6.0 | NYM 10, ARI 3 | Chris Bassitt, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +5.0 | `ATL 5, SD 2 | Kyle Wright | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | ||
| +5.0 | `TOR 4, OAK 1 | Ross Stripling | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | LAA 9, TEX 6 | Shohei Ohtani, DH | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +2.0 | MIA 7, PHI 1 | Jesus Aguilar, 1B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +1.0 | WSH 7, PIT 2 | Josh Bell, 1B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | COL 6, CHC 5 | Alan Trejo, SS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | LAD 3, CIN 1 | Gavin Lux, 2B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | BAL 2, NYY 1 (F/11) | Joey Krehbiel, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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.
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 (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’22 | ’21‑22 | ’17‑22 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | chi al | 2.0 | 16.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 | ‑12.4 |
| Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.0 | 15.7 | 30.8 | 34.8 | ‑11.7 |
| Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.0 | 13.7 | 22.7 | 38.8 | ‑9.7 |
| Lux, Gavin 4247 | 2b 3b | lad nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | +1.0 |
| Wright, Kyle 4349 | pi sp | atl nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +2.0 |
| Skubal, Tarik 4414 | pi sp | det al | 1.7 | 10.4 | 10.4 | 10.4 | ‑7.0 |
| Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | dh pi sp | ana al | 1.5 | 17.6 | 32.1 | 32.1 | ‑14.6 |
| Aguilar, Jesus 378 | 1b | fla nl | 1.5 | 4.0 | 18.0 | 18.0 | ‑1.0 |
| Stripling, Ross 3629 | pi sp | tor al | 1.0 | 7.7 | 22.4 | 27.1 | ‑5.7 |
| Gonzales, Marco 3408 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 31.5 | 34.5 | ‑3.0 |
| Ryan, Joe 4539 | pi sp | min al | 1.0 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | ‑1.7 |
| Bell, Josh E. 3682 | 1b | dc nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 18.2 | 19.7 | 0.0 |
| Krehbiel, Joey 4562 | pi cp mr | bal al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Mikolas, Miles 3034 | pi sp | stl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 15.7 | 18.4 | +1.0 |
| Trejo, Alan 4577 | ss | col nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’s pitching matchups
A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’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.| Game | Starter | ’22 | ’21‑22 | ’17‑22 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI | Gallen, Zac 4171 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| NYM | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 53.6 | 100.1 |
| TB | Kluber, Corey 3200 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 49.7 | 115.1 |
| CHW | Kopech, Michael 4385 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| OAK | Blackburn, Paul 3869 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| TOR | Ryu, Hyun Jin 3139 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 47.5 | 68.6 |
| ATL | Anderson, Ian 4312 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 |
| SD | Martinez, Nick 3430 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 7.7 |
| DET | Manning, Matt 4550 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| KC | Bubic, Kris 4413 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| MIN | Gray, Sonny 3259 | 0.0 | 6.4 | 42.6 | 75.4 |
| BOS | Houck, Tanner 4342 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 |
| PHI | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| MIA | Rogers, Trevor 4311 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| SF | DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | 0.0 | 12.7 | 26.4 | 38.1 |
| CLE | Quantrill, Cal 4195 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 |
| WSH | Rogers, Josh 4555 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| PIT | Wilson, Bryse 4048 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| LAA | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 23.4 | 50.5 |
| TEX | Hearn, Taylor* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYY | Taillon, Jameson 3658 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 30.4 | 35.4 |
| BAL | Wells, Tyler 4428 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| STL | Matz, Steven 3516 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 23.4 | 39.0 |
| MIL | Houser, Adrian 4162 | 0.0 | 8.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| CHC | Leiter, Mark Jr. 3834 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| COL | Senzatela, Antonio 3760 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| HOU | Verlander, Justin 2112 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 67.3 | 206.6 |
| SEA | Flexen, Chris 4368 | 0.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| CIN | Greene, Hunter* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAD | Urias, Julio 3652 | 0.0 | 19.1 | 27.1 | 32.8 |
Starters subject to change.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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