Blue Jays’ Bassitt tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 30, rising to 3rd in player rankings

Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt is Wednesday’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.
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Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third in season player rankings.

Bassitt struck out three over eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 7-0 win over the Nationals.

Bassitt earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 15.4 for the season, rising from eighth to third in season player rankings, behind Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani (19.4) and Braves pitcher Spencer Strider (19.1). Bassitt ranks second among American League pitchers behind Ohtani.

Bassitt has the most 2023 Box-Toppers points by an AL player earned as a pitcher. All of Bassitt’s 15.4 points have been earned as a pitcher, while Ohtnai earned 9.7 of his points as a pitcher, the other 9.7 as a designated hitter.

National League Player of the Day is Pirates pitcher Andre Jackson.

National League Player of the Day

Pirates pitcher Andre Jackson struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run, two hits and two walks, in the 4-1 win over the Royals.

Jackson earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, his first points of the season and ranks 108th among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day is Hunter Renfroe of the Angels.

American League Batter of the Day

Hunter Renfroe of the Angels homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-8 win over the Phillies.

Renfroe was reportedly one of the players the Angels waived this week to provide salary relief for the team as their hopes for postseason play has dimmed and also to provide opportunity for these players to join a team still vying for the playoffs. Teams who claim players before the end of August can still put players on a postseason roster.

National League Batter of the Day is Jordan Walker of the Cardinals.

National League Batter of the Day

Jordan Walker of the Cardinals hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 5-4 win over the Padres.

This was Walker’s Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor. Walker made his Major League debut March 30 and was playing in his 90th career game.

Rays pitcher Zach Eflin is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s win over the Marlins.

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 Wednesday, Aug. 30.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 19.4
2 Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 19.1
3 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 15.4
4 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 15.1
5 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 14.7
6 Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 14.7
7 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 14.4
8 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 13.7
9 Lopez, Pablo 4028 pi sp min al 13.4
10 Miller, Bryce 4797 pi sp sea al 13.1
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Notable

Rays pitcher Zach Eflin became the 33rd player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

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Eflin (6.1IP 4H 0R 0BB 4K ND in the 3-0, 10-inning win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, 30th among all players and 14th among AL pitchers.

This is Eflin’s first season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. His previous best season was 2019 with the Phillies when he had 8.7 points, 29th among NL pitchers. In 2022, he had 3.7 points with the Phillies.

Debut

Two other players also made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:

  • Yankees pitcher Ian Hamilton (3IP 0H 0R BB 5K Sv in the 6-2 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut Aug. 31, 2018, and was playing in his 50th career game.

  • Braves pitcher Darius Vines (6IP 4H 2R BB 5K W in the 7-3 win over the Rockies) was also making his Major League debut Wednesday.

Scoring

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

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

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

  • All of Wednesday’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).

8/30 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +7.0 TOR 7, WSH 0 Chris Bassitt (W, 13‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 8.0 3 0 0 1 3
+7.0 NYY 6, DET 2 Ian Hamilton (S, 2) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 3.0 0 0 0 1 5
NL +6.2 PIT 4, KC 1 Andre Jackson (W, 1‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.2 2 1 1 2 7
+6.1 `TB 3, MIA 0 (F/10) Zach Eflin ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.1 4 0 0 0 4
+6.1 CIN 4, SF 1 Hunter Greene (W, 3‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.1 3 1 0 1 6
BAT +5.0 LAA 10, PHI 8 Hunter Renfroe RF 4 2 3 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+5.0 LAD 7, ARI 0 Ryan Pepiot (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 2 0 0 1 3
+5.0 `CHC 3, MIL 2 Kyle Hendricks ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 4 1 0 2 6
BAT +4.0 STL 5, SD 4 Jordan Walker RF 4 1 4 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+4.0 NYM 6, TEX 5 (F/10) DJ Stewart RF 4 2 2 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+4.0 CLE 5, MIN 2 (F/10) Trevor Stephan (W, 6‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
+2.0 CHW 10, BAL 5 Andrew Vaughn 1B 5 2 2 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 ATL 7, COL 3 Darius Vines (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 4 2 2 1 5
+2.0 SEA 5, OAK 4 Andrés Muñoz (S, 11) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
+1.0 HOU 7, BOS 4 Michael Brantley DH 4 1 2 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 +/‑
Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 15.4 26.4 55.2 59.2 +4.4
Eflin, Zach 3679 pi sp tb al 10.0 13.7 36.5 41.5 +6.3
Hendricks, Kyle 3386 pi sp chi nl 5.0 9.7 41.8 73.6 +0.3
Greene, Hunter 4651 pi sp cin nl 4.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 -2.0
Renfroe, Hunter 3749 rf ana al 3.5 9.0 25.4 31.9 -2.0
Vaughn, Andrew 4445 1b chi al 3.0 6.5 8.5 8.5 -0.5
Munoz, Andres 4222 pi cp mr sea al 3.0 5.0 6.0 6.0 +1.0
Pepiot, Ryan 4714 pi mr sp lad nl 3.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +1.0
Stephan, Trevor 4446 pi mr cp cle al 2.0 5.0 8.7 8.7 -1.0
Stewart, DJ 4396 rf nym nl 2.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 +2.0
Jackson, Andre 4748 pi sp cp pit nl 1.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 +0.7
Walker, Jordan 4918 rf stl nl 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 +1.5
Brantley, Michael 2785 dh lf hou al 1.0 3.0 9.5 30.9 -1.0
Hamilton, Ian 4917 pi cp nyy al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
Vines, Darius 4919 pi sp atl nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Thursday’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
NYY Schmidt, Clarke 4581 2.0 6.4 6.4 6.4
DET Manning, Matt 4550 2.7 5.7 6.7 6.7
MIA Garrett, Braxton 4341 10.7 16.4 18.4 18.4
WSH Adon, Joan 4580 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
SF Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
SD Avila, Pedro 4105 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0
ATL Strider, Spencer 4626 19.1 32.5 32.5 32.5
LAD Lynn, Lance 2992 4.7 14.4 53.9 118.5
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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