Marlins pitcher Pablo Lopez is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Lopez struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 5-0 win over the Cardinals.
Lopez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season and ranks 21st among all players, 12th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Twins pitcher Joe Ryan struck out five over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 1-0 win over the Royals.
Ryan earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, most among Thursday’s 10 Player of the Game winners. He ranks 11th in 2022 Box-Toppers points, third among AL pitchers, behind Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (5.0) and Logan Gilbert of the Mariners (3.0).
American League Batter of the Day—Franmil Reyes of the Guardians homered and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 6-3 win over the White Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors. In fact, only one batter—Reyes—earned Player of the Game honors in Thursday’s 10 games; the other nine are pitchers.
Streak—Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 consecutive seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2022 Thursday.
Gausman (8IP 7H R 0BB 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Red Sox) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2013 with the Orioles and now has 57.7 career points, 17th among active AL pitchers.
His best season was 2021 with the Giants when he had 13.7 Box-Toppers points, 11th among NL pitchers.
Notable—Mets pitcher Carlos Carrasco now has 101.1 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Carrasco (7.2IP 4H 2R 0BB 7K W in the 6-2 win over the Giants) rises to 83rd place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when player tracking began. With his 1.0 point Thursday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7), Matt Cain (100.7) and Matt Holliday (100.8). He now trails 62nd-ranked player Jason Schmidt (101.2). Carrasco ranks 18th among active players in career points, ninth among active NL pitchers.
This is Carrasco’s first Player of the Game honor since Sept. 25, 2020, when he was with the Indians. He had 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020 and 0.0 in 2021 with the Mets.
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 Thursday, April 21.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | dh pi sp | ana al | 5.0 |
| 2 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 4.0 |
| 3 | Megill, Tylor 4464 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.7 |
| 4 | Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 3.2 |
| 5 | Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | sd nl | 3.0 |
| 6 | Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | sf nl | 3.0 |
| 7 | Gilbert, Logan 4439 | pi sp | sea al | 3.0 |
| 8 | Cron, C.J. 3338 | 1b | col nl | 3.0 |
| 9 | Heaney, Andrew 3515 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 |
| 10 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 2.7 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Debut—Rangers pitcher Albert Abreu made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Abreu (2IP 0H 0R BB 3K ND in the 8-6 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut Aug. 8, 2020, and was playing in his 33rd career game.
Scoring—Lopez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Ryan earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Reyes earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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).| 4/21 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +13.0 | MIA 5, STL 0 | Pablo López, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| AL | +8.0 | MIN 1, KC 0 | Joe Ryan, (W 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| +7.0 | TOR 3, BOS 2 | Kevin Gausman, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| +6.2 | NYM 6, SF 2 | Carlos Carrasco, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| +6.1 | PIT 4, CHC 3 | Wil Crowe, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| +4.0 | ARI 4, WSH 3 | Zach Davies, (W 1‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| +4.0 | OAK 6, BAL 4 | Paul Blackburn, (W 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +4.0 | DET 3, NYY 0 | Michael Pineda, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +4.0 | `TEX 8, SEA 6 | Albert Abreu | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +2.0 | CLE 6, CHW 3 | Franmil Reyes, RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan, Joe 4539 | pi sp | min al | 2.7 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 0.0 |
| Lopez, Pablo 4028 | pi sp | fla nl | 2.0 | 11.4 | 25.1 | 25.1 | ‑7.4 |
| Crowe, Wil 4486 | pi cp mr sp | pit nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | ‑3.0 |
| Blackburn, Paul 3869 | pi sp | oak al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +2.0 |
| Reyes, Franmil 4036 | rf dh | cle al | 1.5 | 7.0 | 18.2 | 18.2 | ‑4.0 |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | tor al | 1.0 | 14.7 | 33.5 | 57.7 | ‑12.7 |
| Pineda, Michael 2841 | pi sp | det al | 1.0 | 8.0 | 18.7 | 52.8 | ‑6.0 |
| Davies, Zach 3581 | pi sp | ari nl | 1.0 | 7.0 | 20.7 | 29.7 | ‑5.0 |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 54.6 | 101.1 | +1.0 |
| Abreu, Albert 4583 | pi mr | tex 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 Friday’s pitching matchups
A Box-Toppers look at Friday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIT | Quintana, Jose 3040 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 36.5 | 71.7 |
| CHC | Smyly, Drew 3009 | 2.0 | 10.0 | 14.0 | 49.5 |
| STL | Matz, Steven 3516 | 1.7 | 8.4 | 25.1 | 40.7 |
| CIN | Greene, Hunter* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CLE | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| NYY | Taillon, Jameson 3658 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 30.4 | 35.4 |
| MIL | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | 0.0 | 12.7 | 31.4 | 31.4 |
| PHI | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| SF | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| WSH | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 48.8 | 81.3 |
| BOS | Wacha, Michael 3276 | 1.7 | 8.8 | 23.8 | 43.5 |
| TB | Kluber, Corey 3200 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 49.7 | 115.1 |
| COL | Senzatela, Antonio 3760 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| DET | Skubal, Tarik 4414 | 1.7 | 10.4 | 10.4 | 10.4 |
| MIA | Rogers, Trevor 4311 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
| ATL | Wright, Kyle 4349 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| CHW | Kopech, Michael 4385 | 1.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| MIN | Ober, Bailey 4441 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| TOR | Stripling, Ross 3629 | 1.0 | 7.7 | 22.4 | 27.1 |
| HOU | Verlander, Justin 2112 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 69.3 | 208.6 |
| BAL | Zimmermann, Bruce 4410 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| LAA | Detmers, Reid 4513 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| KC | Keller, Brad 4008 | 1.7 | 4.7 | 19.7 | 19.7 |
| SEA | Flexen, Chris 4368 | 0.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| LAD | Urias, Julio 3652 | 1.0 | 20.1 | 28.1 | 33.8 |
| SD | Martinez, Nick 3430 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 7.7 |
| NYM | Peterson, David 4347 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| ARI | Gallen, Zac 4171 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| TEX | Otto, Glen* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| OAK | Oller, Adam* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Starters subject to change.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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