Marlins’ Alcantara tops players for Saturday, Aug. 12; Strider, Lopez, Gallen rise in top 10

Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
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▪️ Top 10 players in 2023 Box-Toppers points.
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Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, three players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors—Braves pitcher Spencer Strider rises to second place, Twins pitcher Pablo Lopez rises to sixth place and Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen rises to eighth place.

Player of the Day

Alcantara pitched a complete game, striking out 10, allowing one run, five hits and two walks, in the 3-1 win over the Yankees.

Alcantara earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, 54th among all players and 23rd among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day is Twins pitcher Pablo Lopez.

American League Player of the Day

Twins pitcher Pablo Lopez struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 8-1 win over the Phillies.

Lopez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, rising to sixth place in season player rankings, fourth among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day is Kyle Tucker of the Astros.

American League Batter of the Day

Kyle Tucker of the Astros hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 11-3 win over the Angels.

Tucker earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season, rising to 12th among all players and maintaining his second-place ranking among AL batters, behind Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (18.4).

Tucker becomes the 19th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points and the first to do it solely as a batter. (Ohtani has earned 8.7 of his 18.4 points as a batter, the other 9.7 as a starting pitcher.) This is Tucker’s first season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. His previous high was 7.2 points in 2021 with the Astros, 12th among AL batters. In 2022, he had 4.5 points with the Astros, 34th among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day is Tommy Edman of the Cardinals.

National League Batter of the Day

Tommy Edman of the Cardinals hit two homers and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 5-4 win over the Royals.

Edman earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 15th among NL batters.

Braves pitcher Spencer Strider is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the Mets.

Strider

Braves pitcher Spencer Strider rises from third to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and increases his lead among NL pitchers in 2023 points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Strider (7IP 3H 0R 4BB 6K W in the 6-0 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.4 for the season. He trails Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani (18.4) and leads NL pitchers ahead of second-place Jesus Luzardo of the Marlins (13.1).

Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the Padres.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2023. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Saturday, Aug. 12.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 18.4
2 Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 15.4
3 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 14.7
4 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 13.1
5 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 12.4
6 Lopez, Pablo 4028 pi sp min al 12.4
7 Miller, Bryce 4797 pi sp sea al 12.1
8 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 11.7
9 Burnes, Corbin 4029 pi sp mil nl 11.7
10 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 11.4
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Gallen

Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen rises from 10th to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Gallen (6IP 4H 0R BB 8K W in the 3-0 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. He ranks third among NL pitchers, behind Strider (15.4) and Luzardo (13.1).

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Notable

Brewers pitcher Devin Williams is Box-Toppers Player of the Game for the second straight day Saturday.

Williams (1IP H 0R 0BB 3K Sv in the 3-2 win over the White Sox) was also Player of the Game in Friday’s 7-6, 10-inning win over the White Sox (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W). Williams earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point in each game and now has 7.0 points for the season, 26th among NL pitchers and first among NL closers, ahead of David Bednar of the Pirates (6.0).

Debut

Braves pitcher Allan Winans made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Winans (7IP 4H 0R 2BB 9K W in the 21-3 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut July 22 and was playing in his second career game.

Scoring

  • Alcantara earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.

  • Lopez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.

  • Tucker and Edman 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) 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).

8/12 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +10.0 MIA 3, NYY 1 Sandy Alcantara (W, 5‑10) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 9.0 5 1 1 2 10
+10.0 ATL 21, NYM 3 Allan Winans (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 4 0 0 2 9
+9.0 ARI 3, SD 0 Zac Gallen (W, 12‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 4 0 0 1 8
AL +8.0 MIN 8, PHI 1 Pablo López (W, 8‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 4 0 0 1 7
+8.0 `BAL 1, SEA 0 (F/10) Cole Irvin ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 2 0 0 1 6
+7.0 LAD 4, COL 1 Tony Gonsolin (W, 8‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 3 1 1 0 6
+6.0 ATL 6, NYM 0 Spencer Strider (W, 13‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 3 0 0 4 6
BAT +4.0 HOU 11, LAA 3 Kyle Tucker RF 4 1 3 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
BAT +4.0 STL 5, KC 4 Tommy Edman SS 3 2 2 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 TEX 9, SF 3 Corey Seager SS 4 3 2 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 WSH 3, OAK 2 Kyle Finnegan (W, 6‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
+3.0 MIL 3, CHW 2 Devin Williams (S, 28) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
+2.0 DET 6, BOS 2 Spencer Torkelson 1B 4 1 4 1 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 TB 6, CLE 5 Luke Raley RF 3 1 2 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 CHC 5, TOR 4 Julian Merryweather (W, 4‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 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 2023 (’23). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’22-23), the period 2018-2023 (’18-23) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2023 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2022 total (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’23 ’22‑23 ’18‑23 Career +/‑
Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 15.4 28.8 28.8 28.8 +2.0
Lopez, Pablo 4028 pi sp min al 12.4 23.1 46.2 46.2 +1.7
Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 11.7 30.4 46.1 46.1 -7.0
Tucker, Kyle 4277 rf hou al 11.0 15.5 27.7 27.7 +6.5
Alcantara, Sandy 4061 pi sp fla nl 7.0 28.1 47.2 47.2 -14.1
Williams, Devin 4319 pi cp mil nl 7.0 10.0 14.0 14.0 +4.0
Seager, Corey 3587 ss tex al 6.2 8.7 16.2 28.7 +3.7
Edman, Tommy 4255 ss rf cf stl nl 5.0 8.0 12.5 12.5 +2.0
Gonsolin, Tony 4211 pi sp lad nl 4.7 16.1 28.5 28.5 -6.7
Irvin, Cole 4140 pi sp bal al 3.0 10.7 18.4 18.4 -4.7
Torkelson, Spencer 4637 1b det al 3.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +1.0
Merryweather, Julian 4366 pi mr cp chi nl 2.0 2.0 4.0 4.0 +2.0
Raley, Luke 4868 lf tb al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
Finnegan, Kyle 4535 pi cp dc nl 1.0 6.0 8.0 8.0 -4.0
Winans, Allan 4900 pi sp atl nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
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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 2023 (’23), over a two-year period (’22-23), over a six-year period (’18-23) and their career point total.
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Game Starter ’23 ’22‑23 ’18‑23 Career
DET Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 9.0 9.0 43.8 63.2
BOS Crawford, Kutter 4660 3.0 7.0 7.0 7.0
MIN Gray, Sonny 3259 6.7 18.8 53.0 94.2
PHI Suarez, Ranger 4228 3.7 8.7 18.7 18.7
OAK Waldichuk, Ken 4757 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
WSH Williams, Trevor 3792 4.0 7.0 22.7 27.7
CIN Williamson, Brandon 4813 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.7
PIT Keller, Mitch 4230 8.0 10.0 15.0 15.0
CHC Taillon, Jameson 3658 4.4 15.1 36.5 50.5
TOR Ryu, Hyun Jin 3139 1.0 2.0 44.5 70.6
CLE Bibee, Tanner 4792 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7
TB Eflin, Zach 3679 9.0 12.7 35.5 40.5
NYY Cole, Gerrit 3232 9.0 24.4 104.4 147.3
MIA Perez, Eury 4814 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
LAA Silseth, Chase 4605 2.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
HOU Urquidy, Jose 4194 1.0 9.0 22.1 22.1
MIL Peralta, Freddy 3965 10.7 18.1 49.5 49.5
CHW Cease, Dylan 4231 7.0 27.4 43.8 43.8
TEX Dunning, Dane 4317 3.0 7.4 12.4 12.4
SF Webb, Logan 4258 8.0 17.7 35.9 35.9
BAL Bradish, Kyle 4597 8.0 14.0 14.0 14.0
SEA Miller, Bryce 4797 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1
COL Freeland, Kyle 3763 5.7 11.7 33.1 39.1
LAD Urias, Julio 3652 8.0 27.4 53.5 60.2
SD Lugo, Seth 3729 1.7 3.7 14.7 19.7
ARI Pfaadt, Brandon 4812 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
CIN Weaver, Luke 3719 0.0 0.0 16.0 25.7
PIT Jackson, Andre 4748 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
ATL Chirinos, Yonny 4039 1.0 1.0 10.0 10.0
NYM Senga, Kodai 4762 9.7 9.7 9.7 9.7
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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