Mariners’ Castillo tops players for Monday, Aug. 21; Pirates’ Falter tops NL players

Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
▪️ Box-Toppers points of the day’s top players.
▪️ Top 10 players in 2023 Box-Toppers points.
▪️ A B-T look at upcoming pitching matchups.
▪️ Subscribe to Box-Toppers Email Newsletter.

Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Castillo struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 14-2 win over the White Sox.

Castillo earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 for the season, 12th among all players and seventh among American League pitchers.

Castillo becomes the 24th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his third season with 10 or more points. In 2019, he had 14.4 points with the Reds, 11th among National League pitchers. In 2022, he had 10.0 points with the Reds and Mariners, finishing the season 25th among AL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day

Pirates pitcher Bailey Falter struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 11-1 win over the Cardinals.

Falter earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, 89th among NL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day is Pirates pitcher Bailey Falter.

National League Batter of the Day

Ha-Seong Kim of the Padres hit a grand slam, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 6-2 win over the Marlins.

National League Batter of the Day is Ha-Seong Kim of the Padres.

American League Batter of the Day

Chas McCormick of the Astros hit two homers, including a three-run shot, in the 9-4 win over the Red Sox. McCormick went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs.

McCormick earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.5 for the season, fifth among AL batters.

American League Batter of the Day is Chas McCormick of the Astros.

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 Monday, Aug. 21.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 18.4
2 Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 17.4
3 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 14.7
4 Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 13.7
5 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 13.4
6 Lopez, Pablo 4028 pi sp min al 13.4
7 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 13.4
8 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 13.1
9 Miller, Bryce 4797 pi sp sea al 13.1
10 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 12.7
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Debut

Cubs pitcher Daniel Palencia made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Palencia (0.2IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 7-6 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut July 4 and was playing in his 13th career game.

Scoring

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

  • Falter earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day.

  • Kim and McCormick each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.

  • All of Monday’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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

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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).

8/21 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +9.0 SEA 14, CHW 2 Luis Castillo (W, 10‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 5 1 1 0 9
NL +7.0 PIT 11, STL 1 Bailey Falter (W, 1‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 3 1 1 2 8
BAT +4.0 SD 6, MIA 2 Ha‑Seong Kim 2B 4 2 2 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.1 NYM 10, ATL 4 Phil Bickford (W, 3‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.1 1 0 0 0 3
BAT +3.0 HOU 9, BOS 4 Chas McCormick LF 5 2 2 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 PHI 10, SF 4 Alec Bohm 1B 4 3 3 1 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 OAK 6, KC 4 Trevor May (W, 4‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
+2.0 ARI 4, TEX 3 (F/11) Geraldo Perdomo 3B 1 1 1 1 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+1.2 CHC 7, DET 6 Daniel Palencia (W, 3‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 0.2 0 0 0 0 1
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 +/‑
Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 pi sp sea al 11.4 21.4 57.8 66.2 +1.4
McCormick, Chas 4444 lf cf hou al 7.5 8.5 10.5 10.5 +6.5
Bohm, Alec 4309 3b 1b dh phi nl 5.4 7.4 9.4 9.4 +3.4
Perdomo, Geraldo 4601 ss 3b ari nl 3.5 5.5 5.5 5.5 +1.5
Falter, Bailey 4473 pi sp cp pit nl 2.7 6.7 7.7 7.7 -1.3
Bickford, Phil 4436 pi mr cp nym nl 2.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 +1.0
May, Trevor 3417 pi cp mr oak al 2.0 2.0 9.0 14.0 +2.0
Kim, Ha-Seong 4373 2b ss sd nl 1.5 6.5 8.5 8.5 -3.5
Palencia, Daniel 4908 pi mr chi nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Tuesday’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
CHC Smyly, Drew 3009 5.0 13.7 25.7 61.2
DET Olson, Reese 4861 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7
COL Blach, Ty 3754 1.0 3.0 5.0 9.0
TB Littell, Zack 4533 1.0 3.0 5.0 5.0
SF Harrison, Kyle* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
PHI Walker, Taijuan 3453 7.7 15.4 30.8 57.2
TOR Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 8.0 13.7 25.4 25.4
BAL Rodriguez, Grayson 4790 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
WSH Gray, Josiah 4503 5.7 10.4 11.4 11.4
NYY Rodon, Carlos 3494 0.0 19.8 37.5 56.6
STL Wainwright, Adam 2150 0.0 10.0 34.8 152.3
PIT Oviedo, Johan 4442 6.7 9.7 10.7 10.7
LAD Miller, Bobby 4820 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
CLE Syndergaard, Noah 3472 0.0 3.0 22.4 52.5
NYM Megill, Tylor 4464 3.0 8.7 14.7 14.7
ATL Elder, Bryce 4709 7.0 11.7 11.7 11.7
BOS Houck, Tanner 4342 0.0 3.0 11.7 11.7
HOU Verlander, Justin 2112 6.0 32.0 84.6 238.6
MIN Ober, Bailey 4441 6.7 9.7 16.4 16.4
MIL Miley, Wade 3006 3.0 4.0 26.4 66.5
SEA Woo, Bryan 4842 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
CHW Clevinger, Mike 3707 5.0 11.4 44.5 58.9
CIN Ashcraft, Graham 4645 3.0 7.0 7.0 7.0
LAA Giolito, Lucas 3900 3.0 7.0 43.1 46.1
KC Zerpa, Angel* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
OAK Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
TEX Gray, Jon 3634 6.7 12.7 40.4 52.1
ARI Gallen, Zac 4171 12.7 31.4 47.1 47.1
MIA Luzardo, Jesus 4282 13.1 17.1 29.2 29.2
SD Snell, Blake 3688 7.7 20.8 73.1 82.1
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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