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.
Mariners pitcher Robbie Ray is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also, three of the top five players in Box-Toppers season player rankings earn Player of the Game honors Sunday, all maintaining their ranking:
Overall leader Astros pitcher Justin Verlander maintains first place.
Second-place player Shohei Ohtani of the Angels earns Player of the Game honors for the second straight day, doing it as a batter the day after he did it as a pitcher (an unprecedented occurrence in 28 years of Box-Toppers tracking) and regaining his qualification to be ranked as a batter, putting him back in the lead among American League batters in 2022 Box-Toppers points.
Fifth-place player, Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias, maintains his ranking.
Player of the Day—Ray struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 4-0 win over the Guardians.
Ray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season, 12th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Rockies pitcher German Marquez struck out five over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks, in the 1-0 win over the Mets.
Marquez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season, 70th among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Isaac Paredes of the Rays hit two home runs and went 2-for-2, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 12-4 win over the Red Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Tyler O'Neill of the Cardinals hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 6-3 win over the Braves.
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, Aug. 28.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 22.0 |
| 2 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 20.0 |
| 3 | Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.1 |
| 4 | Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | chi al | 16.7 |
| 5 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.4 |
| 6 | Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 7 | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | pi sp | tb al | 15.4 |
| 8 | Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | atl nl | 15.0 |
| 9 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 14.4 |
| 10 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 14.1 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Verlander—Astros pitcher Justin Verlander maintains first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Verlander (3IP 3H 0R BB 6K ND in the 3-1 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 22.0 for the season, 2.0 points ahead of second-place player, Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani (20.0), who also earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. Verlander also leads AL pitchers ahead of Ohtani.
Verlander exited Sunday’s game with right calf tightness after 60 pitches, but he pitched three innings, just enough to automatically qualify to be considered for Player of the Game honors.
Max Scherzer does not win Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Sunday because @Mets lost vs. COL, despite his game-best +11.0 B-T game score (7IP 4H R BB 11K L).
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) August 29, 2022
Player of the Game—German Marquez @Rockies, +9.0 game score (7IP H 0R 2BB 5K W).
Details—https://t.co/450Xkysr2L https://t.co/LFxhMxYhyZ pic.twitter.com/NkSoS7p6M8
Dylan Cease, 4th in 2022 Box-Toppers points (16.7), does not win B-T Player of the Game honors Sunday because @WhiteSox lost, despite his game-best +9.0 B-T game score (8IP 2H 2R BB 8K ND).
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) August 29, 2022
Player of the Game—Sergio Alcantara @Dbacks (HR 1-2 R BI).
Details—https://t.co/450Xkysr2L https://t.co/yp78v6yxkP pic.twitter.com/izrMF52gRE
Verlander also now has 228.6 career Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players since player tracking began in 1995. He trails fourth-ranked player, Mets pitcher Max Scherzer (234.3), by 5.7 points. Scherzer also pitched Sunday and had an impressive Box-Toppers game score of +11.0 (7IP 4H R BB 11K L), but did not win Player of the Game honors because the Mets lost to the Rockies, 1-0.
Verlander ranks third among active players in career points, first among active AL pitchers, ahead of second-place Zack Greinke of the Royals (222.5).
Ohtani—Shohei Ohtani of the Angels maintains second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, earning Player of the Game honors for the second straight day.
Not only did he do it two days in a row, but he did it as a batter on the day after he did it as a pitcher, something that’s never happened since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
Ohtani (HR 3-4 2R 2BI in the 8-3 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.0 for the season. Ohtani was also Player of the Game Saturday as a pitcher (7IP 2H 0R BB 9K W in the 2-0 win over the Blue Jays).
Ohtani remains in second place overall, behind Verlander (22.0) and remains in second among AL pitchers, also behind Verlander. However, with this Player of the Game honor, Ohtani also qualifies again to be ranked among AL batters and in doing so, catapults to the lead among AL batters. His 20.0 points ranks ahead of previous AL batting leader, Jose Ramirez of the Guardians (10.7 points), who falls to second place.
To be ranked at a certain position in Box-Toppers points, a player must have more than 25 percent of their Player of the Game honors at that position. Ohtani has now earned four of his 14 Player of the Game honors as a designated hitter, 28.6 percent of all such honors, qualifying him to rank again among batters.
Ohtani had ranked among batters until Aug. 9, when he earned his 12th Player of the Game honor of the season, his ninth as a pitcher. That brought his share of Player of the Game honors earned as a batter to exactly 25 percent.
This was Ohtani’s first Player of the Game honor as a batter in more than three months. He last did it May 9. His four Player of the Game honors as a batter counts as 5.0 Box-Toppers points, compared to the 15.0 he’s earned in his 10 Player of the Game honors as a pitcher. By itself, the 5.0 points Ohtani has earned as a batter would only rank 17th among AL batters.
While this is the first time a player has ever won Player of the Game in back-to-back days as a pitcher one day and a batter in the other, it is the second time this season Ohtani has won Player of the Game honors on back-to-back days. He was AL Batter of the Day on back-to-back days April 15 and April 16, his first two Player of the Game honors of 2022.
Ohtani becomes the second player this season to reach 20.0 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 20.0 or more points. His previous best season was 2021 when he had 16.1 Box-Toppers points, third among AL pitchers. While Ohtani also played as both a designated hitter and a starting pitcher in 2021, he was ranked only as a pitcher that season because he earned such an overwhelming majority of his Player of the Game honors as a pitcher (nine of 12).
Urias—Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias maintains fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Urias (6IP H R 4BB 7K W in the 8-1 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.4 for the season. He ranks second among NL pitchers, behind Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins (18.1).
Debut—Drew Waters of the Royals made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Waters (2B 2-3 2R 2BI in the 15-7 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut Aug. 22 and was playing in his sixth career game.
Scoring—Ray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Marquez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Paredes and O’Neill 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).Back to top
| 8/28 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +11.0 | SEA 4, CLE 0 | Robbie Ray, (W 11‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| NL | +9.0 | COL 1, NYM 0 | German Márquez, (W 7‑10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| +7.0 | PIT 5, PHI 0 | Roansy Contreras, (W 4‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | +6.0 | TB 12, BOS 4 | Isaac Paredes, 2B | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +6.0 | LAD 8, MIA 1 | Julio Urías, (W 14‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | ||
| +5.0 | `HOU 3, BAL 1 | Justin Verlander | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +4.1 | OAK 4, NYY 1 | Adrian Martínez, (W 3‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | STL 6, ATL 3 | Tyler O'Neill, LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | LAA 8, TOR 3 | Shohei Ohtani, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | MIN 8, SF 3 | Jake Cave, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | KC 15, SD 7 | Drew Waters, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | WSH 3, CIN 2 | Patrick Corbin, (W 5‑17) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| +2.0 | MIL 9, CHC 7 | Christian Yelich, LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | DET 8, TEX 8 | Harold Castro, 1B | 5 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | ARI 3, CHW 2 | Sergio Alcántara, 3B | 2 | 1 | 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.
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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 (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’22 | ’21‑22 | ’17‑22 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 22.0 | 22.0 | 89.3 | 228.6 | +22.0 |
| Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 20.0 | 36.1 | 50.6 | 50.6 | +3.9 |
| Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.4 | 35.5 | 43.5 | 49.2 | -2.7 |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | sea al | 13.4 | 31.1 | 64.5 | 75.2 | -4.3 |
| Paredes, Isaac 4666 | 2b 1b 3b | tb al | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | +4.5 |
| O’Neill, Tyler 4074 | lf | stl nl | 4.0 | 12.0 | 18.5 | 18.5 | -4.0 |
| Castro, Harold 4187 | ss 1b | det al | 4.0 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | +1.5 |
| Alcantara, Sergio 4593 | 3b | ari nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Contreras, Roansy 4574 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +4.0 |
| Marquez, German 3788 | pi sp | col nl | 3.7 | 21.1 | 51.2 | 51.2 | -13.7 |
| Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 | 9.7 | 51.8 | 84.3 | -3.7 |
| Yelich, Christian 3334 | lf | mil nl | 2.5 | 8.0 | 37.7 | 53.2 | -3.0 |
| Martinez, Adrian 4599 | pi sp | oak al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Cave, Jake 3992 | lf | min al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| Waters, Drew 4721 | rf | kc 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 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.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’22 | ’21‑22 | ’17‑22 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAD | Grove, Michael* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIA | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | 9.7 | 19.1 | 32.8 | 32.8 |
| STL | Mikolas, Miles 3034 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 24.1 | 26.8 |
| CIN | Anderson, Chase 3328 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 24.8 | 40.8 |
| CHC | Assad, Javier* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TOR | Berrios, Jose 3791 | 9.0 | 18.4 | 58.9 | 58.9 |
| BOS | Bello, Brayan* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIN | Bundy, Dylan 3655 | 5.7 | 7.7 | 36.5 | 42.5 |
| PIT | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIL | Burnes, Corbin 4029 | 11.4 | 29.5 | 40.2 | 40.2 |
| NYY | Montas, Frankie 3803 | 3.0 | 15.4 | 33.8 | 33.8 |
| LAA | Suarez, Jose 4425 | 6.0 | 12.4 | 12.4 | 12.4 |
| PHI | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 4.0 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 |
| ARI | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | 2.7 | 12.7 | 32.4 | 138.1 |
| SD | Clevinger, Mike 3707 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 48.9 | 51.9 |
| SF | Rodon, Carlos 3494 | 15.4 | 27.1 | 36.1 | 52.2 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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