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.
Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third in season player rankings and extending his lead among National League pitchers.
Also Saturday, Padres pitcher Yu Darvish rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Alcantara struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk in the 4-1 win over the Nationals.
Alcantara earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 21.1 for the season, rising from fourth to third place in season player rankings, behind Astros pitcher Justin Verlander (24.0) and Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani (22.7). Alcantara extends his lead among NL pitchers, ahead of Julio Urias of the Dodgers (18.4).
Alcantara becomes the fourth 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 with the Marlins, when he had 9.7 points, 27th among NL pitchers.
This is the most players with 20.0 or more points in a season since 2018, when there were six. The record for most players with 20.0 or more points in a season is eight, in 2017. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.)
American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, in the 3-1 win over the Rays.
Manoah earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.1 for the season, 31st among all players and 14th among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Hunter Renfroe of the Brewers hit two home runs and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 10-2 win over the Reds.
Renfroe earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.5 for the season, 19th among NL batters.
American League Batter of the Day—Conner Capel of the Athletics homered, tripled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-4 win over the Mets.
This was Capel’s Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor. Capel made his Major League debut June 27 and was playing in his 13th career game.
Rankings—Padres pitcher Yu Darvish rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Darvish (6IP 5H 2R BB 8K W in the 9-3 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.8 for the season. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.
Darvish now has 124.0 career Box-Toppers points, 48th among all players since player tracking began in 1995. He trails 47th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1). Darvish ranks 15th among active players in career points, eighth among active NL pitchers.
Notable—Two other players with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points also earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
Braves pitcher Kyle Wright (5.1IP 2H 2R 2BB 6K W in the 6-3 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.4 for the season, 16th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.
Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly (7IP 4H 2R BB 6K W in the 5-2 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, 50th among all players and 23rd among NL pitchers.
Kelly becomes the 50th player this season to reach 10.0 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 10.0 or more points. His previous best season was 2019 with the Diamondbacks, when he had 8.0 points, 38th among NL pitchers. In 2021, he had 3.0 points with the Diamondbacks.
There are now more players (50) with 10.0 points than there were last season. There were 49 in 2021. There were also 50 in 2019. The last season with more than 50 was 2018 (52). The most is 67 in 2001. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.)
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 Saturday, Sept. 24.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 24.0 |
| 2 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp | ana al | 22.7 |
| 3 | Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | pi sp | fla nl | 21.1 |
| 4 | Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | chi al | 20.4 |
| 5 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.4 |
| 6 | Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | sf nl | 18.1 |
| 7 | Woodruff, Brandon 3868 | pi sp | mil nl | 17.8 |
| 8 | Gallen, Zac 4171 | pi sp | ari nl | 17.7 |
| 9 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 16.8 |
| 10 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 16.4 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Debut—In addition to Capel, Oswaldo Cabrera of the Yankees also made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Cabrera (HR 1-3 2R 2BI in the 7-5 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut Aug. 17 and was playing in his 33rd career game.
Scoring—Alcantara earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Manoah earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Renfroe and Capel each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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
| 9/24 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +13.0 | MIA 4, WSH 1 | Sandy Alcantara, (W 14‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| +11.0 | PIT 6, CHC 0 | Johan Oviedo, (W 4‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| AL | +9.0 | TOR 3, TB 1 | Alek Manoah, (W 15‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| BAT | +7.0 | MIL 10, CIN 2 | Hunter Renfroe, RF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +4.0 | OAK 10, NYM 4 | Conner Capel, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | ARI 5, SF 2 | Merrill Kelly, (W 13‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +4.0 | SD 9, COL 3 | Yu Darvish, (W 16‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| +3.1 | ATL 6, PHI 3 | Kyle Wright, (W 20‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| +3.0 | DET 7, CHW 2 | Javier Báez, SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | SEA 6, KC 5 | Cal Raleigh, PH‑C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | MIN 8, LAA 4 | Gary Sánchez, C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | HOU 11, BAL 10 | Jose Altuve, 2B | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | CLE 4, TEX 2 | Oscar González, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | NYY 7, BOS 5 | Oswaldo Cabrera, LF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | LAD 6, STL 2 | Trayce Thompson, LF | 2 | 2 | 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.
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | pi sp | fla nl | 21.1 | 30.8 | 40.2 | 40.2 | +11.4 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | sd nl | 16.8 | 29.9 | 68.4 | 124.0 | +3.7 |
| Wright, Kyle 4349 | pi sp | atl nl | 14.4 | 14.4 | 15.4 | 15.4 | +14.4 |
| Manoah, Alek 4424 | pi sp | tor al | 12.1 | 22.8 | 22.8 | 22.8 | +1.4 |
| Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 | 13.0 | 25.0 | 25.0 | +7.0 |
| Raleigh, Cal 4481 | ca ph | sea al | 7.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | +6.5 |
| Renfroe, Hunter 3749 | rf | mil nl | 5.5 | 11.5 | 25.9 | 28.4 | -0.5 |
| Thompson, Trayce 4567 | lf | lad nl | 5.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | +3.5 |
| Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 4.0 | 10.5 | 19.0 | 48.0 | -2.5 |
| Sanchez, Gary 3701 | ca | min al | 3.5 | 5.5 | 20.0 | 24.5 | +1.5 |
| Gonzalez, Oscar 4734 | rf | cle al | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | +3.5 |
| Oviedo, Johan 4442 | pi sp mr | pit nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | +2.0 |
| Baez, Javier 3395 | ss 2b | det al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 24.7 | 29.2 | 0.0 |
| Capel, Conner 4746 | rf | oak al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | +1.5 |
| Cabrera, Oswaldo 4747 | lf | nyy 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 Sunday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATL | Morton, Charlie 2503 | 10.4 | 23.1 | 66.4 | 94.1 |
| PHI | Gibson, Kyle 3312 | 9.0 | 16.7 | 36.5 | 53.5 |
| HOU | Javier, Cristian 4290 | 12.7 | 18.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 |
| BAL | Voth, Austin 4082 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| TOR | Stripling, Ross 3629 | 12.0 | 18.7 | 33.4 | 38.1 |
| TB | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | 16.4 | 21.1 | 21.1 | 21.1 |
| CHC | Sampson, Adrian 4147 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| PIT | Ortiz, Luis 4738 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| MIL | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | 7.4 | 20.1 | 38.8 | 38.8 |
| CIN | Lodolo, Nick 4586 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| WSH | Sanchez, Anibal 2187 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 21.4 | 86.7 |
| MIA | Cabrera, Edward 4641 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| LAA | Suarez, Jose 4425 | 8.0 | 14.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 |
| MIN | Bundy, Dylan 3655 | 6.7 | 8.7 | 37.5 | 43.5 |
| DET | Alexander, Tyler 4196 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| CHW | Cease, Dylan 4231 | 20.4 | 34.8 | 36.8 | 36.8 |
| SEA | Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 | 9.0 | 18.0 | 53.8 | 53.8 |
| KC | Castillo, Max* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CLE | Civale, Aaron 4173 | 3.0 | 14.7 | 20.4 | 20.4 |
| TEX | Ragans, Cole* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SD | Clevinger, Mike 3707 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 49.9 | 52.9 |
| COL | Freeland, Kyle 3763 | 6.0 | 13.0 | 33.4 | 33.4 |
| SF | Alexander, Scott* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ARI | Jameson, Drey 4742 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| NYM | Scherzer, Max 2588 | 10.0 | 35.1 | 104.6 | 236.3 |
| OAK | Sears, JP 4627 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| STL | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | 10.0 | 22.0 | 40.3 | 152.3 |
| LAD | Grove, Michael* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BOS | Bello, Brayan 4727 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| NYY | Cortes, Nestor 4160 | 12.4 | 17.4 | 19.4 | 19.4 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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