Dodgers pitcher Andrew Heaney is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.
Heaney struck out 11 over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and three walks, in the 9-1 win over the Reds.
Heaney earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, fifth among all players in 2022 points, third among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Michael Wacha struck out five over five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and walking two, in the 8-1 win over the Twins. Wacha did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Wacha earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, his first points of the season.
National League Batter of the Day—Thairo Estrada of the Giants hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-1 win over the Guardians.
American League Batter of the Day—Ty France of the Mariners hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-2 win over the Astros.
Notable—Padres pitcher Yu Darvish now has 108.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Darvish (6.2IP 4H R 0BB 8K W in the 2-1 win over the Braves) rises to 69th among all players in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 1.0 point Sunday, he passes Lance Berkman (108.1) and now trails 68th-ranked player Kevin Millwood (108.3). Darvish ranks 16th among active players in career points, eighth among active NL pitchers.
This is his first Player of the Game honor of the 2022 season.
Debut—Andrew Velazquez of the Angels made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Velazquez (1-2 2R BI in the 4-3 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut Sept. 2, 2018, and was playing in his 101st 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 Sunday, April 17.| 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 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | dh pi sp | ana al | 3.0 |
| 5 | Heaney, Andrew 3515 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 |
| 6 | Chavis, Michael 4127 | 1b rf | pit nl | 2.5 |
| 7 | Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | sd nl | 2.0 |
| 8 | Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | chi al | 2.0 |
| 9 | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | pi sp cp | nym nl | 2.0 |
| 10 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Scoring—Heaney earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Wacha earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Estrada and France each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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).| 4/17 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +13.0 | LAD 9, CIN 1 | Andrew Heaney, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | |
| +8.2 | SD 2, ATL 1 | Yu Darvish, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| AL | +7.0 | `BOS 8, MIN 1 | Michael Wacha | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| +5.0 | `BAL 5, NYY 0 | Bruce Zimmermann | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | SF 8, CLE 1 | Thairo Estrada, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | NYM 5, ARI 0 | Chasen Shreve, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.2 | `CHC 6, COL 4 | Drew Smyly | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | +3.0 | SEA 7, HOU 2 | Ty France, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | MIA 11, PHI 3 | Elieser Hernandez, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +3.0 | MIL 6, STL 5 | Josh Hader, (S 4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | TOR 4, OAK 3 | Lourdes Gurriel Jr., LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | LAA 8, TEX 3 | Andrew Velazquez, SS | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | TB 9, CHW 3 | Manuel Margot, RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | PIT 5, WSH 3 | David Bednar, (S 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heaney, Andrew 3515 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 | 8.0 | 27.1 | 31.1 | ‑2.0 |
| Smyly, Drew 3009 | pi sp | chi nl | 2.0 | 10.0 | 14.0 | 49.5 | ‑6.0 |
| Hader, Josh 3881 | pi cp | mil nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 38.4 | 38.4 | ‑2.0 |
| Wacha, Michael 3276 | pi sp | bos al | 1.7 | 8.8 | 23.8 | 43.5 | ‑5.4 |
| France, Ty 4243 | 1b | sea al | 1.5 | 9.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | ‑6.0 |
| Estrada, Thairo 4460 | 2b | sf nl | 1.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 1.0 | 14.1 | 52.6 | 108.2 | ‑12.1 |
| Gurriel, Lourdes Jr. 4148 | lf | tor al | 1.0 | 6.2 | 7.2 | 7.2 | ‑4.2 |
| Margot, Manuel 3861 | rf | tb al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | ‑1.0 |
| Bednar, David 4499 | pi cp | pit nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | ‑1.0 |
| Zimmermann, Bruce 4410 | pi sp mr | bal al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | ‑1.0 |
| Hernandez, Elieser 4181 | pi sp | fla nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 0.0 |
| Shreve, Chasen 3482 | pi mr | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | +1.0 |
| Velazquez, Andrew 4578 | ss | ana al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Monday’s pitching matchups
A Box-Toppers look at Monday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIN | Bundy, Dylan 3655 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 31.8 | 37.8 |
| BOS | Hill, Rich 2215 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 33.4 | 71.5 |
| CHW | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 23.8 | 66.6 |
| CLE | McKenzie, Triston 4303 | 1.0 | 11.4 | 15.4 | 15.4 |
| ARI | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 29.7 | 135.4 |
| WSH | Gray, Josiah 4503 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| SF | Cobb, Alex 2916 | 1.0 | 8.4 | 20.8 | 52.2 |
| NYM | Megill, Tylor 4464 | 3.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 |
| PIT | Thompson, Zach 4437 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| MIL | Lauer, Eric 4017 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 19.4 | 19.4 |
| TB | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | 1.7 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| CHC | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 36.8 | 64.9 |
| LAA | Lorenzen, Michael 3479 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 10.5 | 12.5 |
| HOU | Garcia, Luis 4423 | 0.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| PHI | Nola, Aaron 3569 | 0.0 | 10.7 | 65.0 | 73.7 |
| COL | Kuhl, Chad 3687 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 9.7 | 11.7 |
| BAL | Watkins, Spenser 4479 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| OAK | Montas, Frankie 3803 | 1.0 | 13.4 | 31.8 | 31.8 |
| CIN | Lodolo, Nick* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SD | Manaea, Sean 3637 | 2.0 | 17.7 | 39.5 | 46.2 |
| ATL | Ynoa, Huascar 4343 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| LAD | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | 2.0 | 15.4 | 66.9 | 250.6 |
Starters subject to change.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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