Astros’ Verlander tops players for Friday, Sept. 16, extending his player rankings lead

Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is Friday’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.

Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his lead in season player rankings.

Verlander struck out nine over five scoreless and hitless innings, allowing one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Athletics.

Despite giving up no hits, Verlander was removed after 79 pitches as he came back from a stint on the 15-day injured list.

Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 24.0 for the season, extending his player rankings lead over second-place player, Angels pitcher Shoehei Ohtani (21.0). He also leads American League pitchers ahead of Ohtani.

Verlander now also has 230.6 career Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players since tracking began in 1995. He trails fourth-ranked player, Mets pitcher Max Scherzer (234.3) by 3.7 points. Verlander ranks third among active players in career points, behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (256.6) and Scherzer. He leads active AL pitchers in career points, ahead of Zack Greinke of the Royals (222.5).

Padres pitcher Blake Snell is Friday’s Box-Toppers NL Player of the Day.

National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Blake Snell struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 12-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

Snell earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 10.1 for the season, 43rd among all players and 17th among NL pitchers.

Snell becomes the 45th player this season to reach 10.0 Box-Toppers points. It is his fourth season with 10.0 or more points. His best season was 2018 with the Rays, when he had 27.2 points, first overall. In 2021, he had 11.4 points with the Padres, 21st among NL pitchers.

Luis Rengifo of the Angels is Friday’s Box-Toppers AL Batter of the Day.

American League Batter of the Day—Luis Rengifo of the Angels hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, in the 8-7 win over the Mariners. Rengifo went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs.

William Contreras of the Braves is Friday’s Box-Toppers NL Batter of the Day.

National League Batter of the Day—William Contreras of the Braves homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-2 win over the Phillies.

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, Sept. 16.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp hou al 24.0
2 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 21.0
3 Cease, Dylan 4231 pi sp chi al 20.4
4 Rodon, Carlos 3494 pi sp sf nl 18.1
5 Alcantara, Sandy 4061 pi sp fla nl 18.1
6 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 17.7
7 Urias, Julio 3652 pi sp lad nl 16.4
8 McClanahan, Shane 4399 pi sp tb al 16.4
9 Fried, Max 4011 pi sp atl nl 16.0
10 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 15.4
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Scoring—Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Snell earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Rengifo and Contreras 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).
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9/16 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +13.0 HOU 5, OAK 0 Justin Verlander, (W 17‑3) 5.0 0 0 0 1 9
+9.0 `DET 3, CHW 2 (F/10) Matt Manning 7.0 3 0 0 0 5
NL +8.0 SD 12, ARI 3 Blake Snell, (W 7‑9) 7.0 4 1 1 0 7
+8.0 LAD 5, SF 0 Dustin May, (W 2‑2) 5.0 0 0 0 1 4
BAT +5.0 LAA 8, SEA 7 Luis Rengifo, SS‑2B 5 3 3 4
+5.0 TOR 6, BAL 3 Matt Chapman, 3B 4 3 3 3
+5.0 CHC 2, COL 1 Marcus Stroman, (W 4‑7) 7.0 3 1 1 2 5
+4.0 STL 6, CIN 5 Ryan Helsley, (S 18) 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
BAT +3.0 ATL 7, PHI 2 William Contreras, DH 4 2 3 2
+3.0 MIL 7, NYY 6 Willy Adames, SS 4 1 2 4
+3.0 CLE 4, MIN 3 Trevor Stephan, (W 6‑4) 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
+2.2 NYM 4, PIT 3 Edwin Díaz, (S 30) 1.2 0 0 0 1 2
+2.0 `BOS 2, KC 1 Michael Wacha 7.0 7 1 1 0 4
+1.0 WSH 5, MIA 4 Joey Meneses, 1B 3 2 1 1
0.0 TEX 4, TB 3 Nathaniel Lowe, 1B 4 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.
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 +/‑
Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp hou al 24.0 24.0 91.3 230.6 +24.0
Snell, Blake 3688 pi sp sd nl 10.1 21.5 67.4 71.4 -1.3
Wacha, Michael 3276 pi sp bos al 8.4 15.5 30.5 50.2 +1.3
Diaz, Edwin 3690 pi cp nym nl 7.0 12.7 34.7 41.7 +1.3
Helsley, Ryan 4589 pi cp stl nl 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 +6.0
Adames, Willy 4041 ss mil nl 5.9 9.4 12.4 12.4 +2.4
Stroman, Marcus 3327 pi sp chi nl 3.7 13.7 29.4 52.5 -6.3
Stephan, Trevor 4446 pi mr cp cle al 3.0 6.7 6.7 6.7 -0.7
May, Dustin 4214 pi sp lad nl 3.0 4.7 8.7 8.7 +1.3
Manning, Matt 4550 pi sp det al 3.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 +2.0
Contreras, William 4717 dh atl nl 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 +2.5
Meneses, Joey 4725 rf 1b dc nl 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 +2.5
Lowe, Nathaniel 4340 1b tex al 2.0 7.0 8.0 8.0 -3.0
Chapman, Matt 3849 3b tor al 2.0 6.5 23.5 23.5 -2.5
Rengifo, Luis 4178 ss 2b ana al 1.5 1.5 2.5 2.5 +1.5
Mantiply, Joe 4585 pi cp ari nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’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
MIN Varland, Louis* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
CLE Bieber, Shane 4005 12.7 19.4 55.3 55.3
CIN Minor, Mike 2894 1.0 7.4 33.5 60.6
STL Hudson, Dakota 4035 3.0 4.0 15.4 15.4
COL Urena, Jose 3492 1.0 1.0 19.7 23.4
CHC Wesneski, Hayden 4731 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7
BAL Bradish, Kyle 4597 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
TOR Berrios, Jose 3791 9.0 18.4 58.9 58.9
MIA Rogers, Trevor 4311 3.0 12.0 13.0 13.0
WSH Fedde, Erick 4065 3.4 13.8 18.5 18.5
KC Singer, Brady 4337 9.7 12.7 16.7 16.7
BOS Hill, Rich 2215 5.0 11.0 38.4 76.5
CHW Cueto, Johnny 2400 6.4 11.4 18.4 118.2
DET Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 0.0 10.0 43.5 54.2
TEX Gray, Jon 3634 6.0 10.0 38.4 45.4
TB Armstrong, Shawn 4204 0.0 1.0 4.0 4.0
MIN Winder, Josh 4588 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
CLE Pilkington, Konnor 4642 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
NYY Taillon, Jameson 3658 8.7 17.7 39.1 44.1
MIL Woodruff, Brandon 3868 15.1 32.2 48.9 48.9
OAK Irvin, Cole 4140 6.7 11.4 14.4 14.4
HOU Urquidy, Jose 4194 8.0 16.4 21.1 21.1
PIT Wilson, Bryse 4048 1.0 1.0 3.0 3.0
NYM Bassitt, Chris 3413 10.0 23.7 38.8 42.8
CIN Greene, Hunter 4651 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
STL Quintana, Jose 3040 7.7 8.7 44.2 79.4
PHI Nola, Aaron 3569 13.0 23.7 78.0 86.7
ATL Odorizzi, Jake 3291 7.4 11.4 41.9 68.0
SD Musgrove, Joe 3705 15.4 31.5 47.5 51.2
ARI Gallen, Zac 4171 17.7 21.7 33.4 33.4
LAD Urias, Julio 3652 16.4 35.5 43.5 49.2
SF Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
SEA Kirby, George 4595 10.4 10.4 10.4 10.4
LAA Ohtani, Shohei 3933 21.0 37.1 51.6 51.6
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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