Twins’ Maeda tops players for Saturday, Aug. 5; Mariners’ Kirby rises to 9th in rankings

Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda is Saturday’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.

Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Mariners pitcher George Kirby rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day

Maeda struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 12-1 win over the Diamondbacks.

Maeada earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, 44th among all players and 20th among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day

Alec Bohm of the Phillies homered and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 9-6 win over the Royals.

Bohm earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 4.4 for the season, 24th among NL batters.

National League Player of the Day is Alec Bohm of the Phillies.

American League Batter of the Day

Elvis Andrus of the White Sox homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-4 win over the Guardians.

American League Batter of the Day is Elvis Andrus of the White Sox.

National League Batter of the Day

There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Alec Bohm.

Mariners pitcher George Kirby is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the Angels.

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. 5.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 dh pi sp ana al 17.4
2 Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 14.4
3 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 13.1
4 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 13.0
5 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 12.4
6 Burnes, Corbin 4029 pi sp mil nl 11.7
7 Bautista, Felix 4668 pi cp bal al 11.0
8 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 10.7
9 Kirby, George 4595 pi sp sea al 10.7
10 Garrett, Braxton 4341 pi sp fla nl 10.7
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Rankings

Mariners pitcher George Kirby rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Kirby (7IP 3H R 0BB 5K W in the 3-2 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He ranks fifth among AL pitchers.

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Kirby becomes the 14th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his second straight season with 10 or more points. In 2022, he earned 11.4 points in his rookie season with the Mariners, 19th among AL pitchers.

Scoring

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

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

  • Andrus earns 1.5 points for being AL 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).

8/5 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +9.0 MIN 12, ARI 1 Kenta Maeda (W, 3‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 2 1 1 0 7
+8.0 `OAK 2, SF 1 Paul Blackburn ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 2 0 0 3 7
+8.0 `NYY 3, HOU 1 Nestor Cortes ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 4.0 1 1 1 1 8
+7.0 SEA 3, LAA 2 George Kirby (W, 10‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 3 1 1 0 5
+5.0 BAL 7, NYM 3 Kyle Gibson (W, 11‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 4 3 3 1 9
NL +4.0 PHI 9, KC 6 Alec Bohm 3B‑1B 3 3 2 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+4.0 WSH 7, CIN 3 Joan Adon (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 3 3 3 0 7
+3.1 DET 4, TB 2 Tarik Skubal (W, 2‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.1 6 1 0 1 6
BAT +3.0 CHW 7, CLE 4 Elvis Andrus 2B‑SS 4 2 3 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 SD 8, LAD 3 Manny Machado 3B 4 2 2 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 TEX 9, MIA 8 Josh Jung 3B 3 2 2 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 STL 6, COL 2 Steven Matz (W, 3‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 5 1 1 2 6
+3.0 MIL 3, PIT 2 (F/10) Devin Williams (W, 6‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
+2.1 CHC 8, ATL 6 Michael Fulmer (W, 3‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.1 1 0 0 0 2
+2.0 TOR 5, BOS 4 George Springer RF 4 2 4 0 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
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 +/‑
Kirby, George 4595 pi sp sea al 10.7 22.1 22.1 22.1 -0.7
Maeda, Kenta 3609 pi sp min al 7.7 7.7 41.2 61.2 +7.7
Gibson, Kyle 3312 pi sp bal al 6.7 15.7 41.2 60.2 -2.3
Williams, Devin 4319 pi cp mil nl 5.0 8.0 12.0 12.0 +2.0
Bohm, Alec 4309 3b 1b dh phi nl 4.4 6.4 8.4 8.4 +2.4
Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp stl nl 4.0 9.4 31.8 48.4 -1.4
Jung, Josh 4751 3b tex al 3.5 5.0 5.0 5.0 +2.0
Skubal, Tarik 4414 pi sp det al 3.0 13.7 22.4 22.4 -7.7
Machado, Manny 3087 3b sd nl 3.0 8.5 23.1 53.8 -2.5
Blackburn, Paul 3869 pi sp oak al 3.0 7.0 9.0 10.0 -1.0
Fulmer, Michael 3640 pi mr chi nl 3.0 3.0 6.0 24.4 +3.0
Andrus, Elvis 2582 ss chi al 2.5 5.5 9.0 39.7 -0.5
Cortes, Nestor 4160 pi sp nyy al 2.0 17.4 24.4 24.4 -13.4
Springer, George 3337 rf cf tor al 2.0 10.0 26.4 41.9 -6.0
Adon, Joan 4580 pi sp dc nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
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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
CHW Scholtens, Jesse* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
CLE Curry, Xzavion 4875 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
HOU Urquidy, Jose 4194 1.0 9.0 22.1 22.1
NYY Rodon, Carlos 3494 0.0 19.8 37.5 56.6
KC Greinke, Zack 1871 2.0 6.7 48.3 224.5
PHI Walker, Taijuan 3453 7.7 15.4 30.8 57.2
NYM Quintana, Jose 3040 0.0 11.4 32.9 83.1
BAL Bradish, Kyle 4597 7.0 13.0 13.0 13.0
TOR Bassitt, Chris 3413 12.4 23.4 52.2 56.2
BOS Bernardino, Brennan* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
TB Glasnow, Tyler 3948 7.4 7.4 43.8 43.8
DET Manning, Matt 4550 1.7 4.7 5.7 5.7
WSH Irvin, Jake 4805 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
CIN Richardson, Lynn* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
ARI Gallen, Zac 4171 10.7 29.4 45.1 45.1
MIN Keuchel, Dallas 3050 0.0 1.0 15.4 67.6
PIT Oviedo, Johan 4442 4.7 7.7 8.7 8.7
MIL Woodruff, Brandon 3868 2.0 22.8 55.6 56.6
COL Gomber, Austin 3985 1.0 4.0 18.7 18.7
STL Thompson, Zack 4773 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
ATL Morton, Charlie 2503 5.0 15.4 63.7 99.1
CHC Steele, Justin 4415 8.1 13.1 16.1 16.1
MIA Alcantara, Sandy 4061 5.0 26.1 45.2 45.2
TEX Heaney, Andrew 3515 7.7 15.7 38.8 43.8
SEA Miller, Bryce 4797 10.4 10.4 10.4 10.4
LAA Silseth, Chase 4605 2.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
SF Cobb, Alex 2916 8.0 14.7 26.1 65.9
OAK Medina, Luis 4876 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
LAD Lynn, Lance 2992 1.0 10.7 50.2 114.8
SD Hill, Rich 2215 4.0 11.7 32.4 83.2
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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