Blue Jays’ Gausman tops players for Saturday, Sept. 9, rising to 4th in player rankings

Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman 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.
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Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fourth place in season player rankings.

Gausman struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 5-1 win over the Royals.

Gausman earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 16.7 for the season, rising from seventh to fourth place in season player rankings, third place among American League pitchers, behind Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (19.4) and Chris Bassitt of the Blue Jays (17.1).

National League Player of the Day

Giants pitcher Logan Webb struck out four over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 9-1 win over the Rockies.

Webb earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season, 29th among all players and 14th among NL pitchers.

Webb becomes the 40th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his second season with 10 or more points. He also did it 2021 with the Giants, when he had 15.5 points, 10th among NL pitchers. In 2022, he had 9.7 points with the Giants, 26th among NL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day is Giants pitcher Logan Webb.

American League Batter of the Day

Aaron Hicks of the Orioles hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 13-12 win over the Red Sox.

This is Hicks’ first Player of the Game honor since being released by the Yankees in May and signed by the Orioles. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points Saturday and has 2.5 points in 2023.

American League Batter of the Day is Aaron Hicks of the Orioles.

National League Batter of the Day

Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-4 win over the Braves.

Reynolds earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.2 for the season, 14th among NL batters.

National League Batter of the Day is Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates.

Notable

Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly now has 12.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023—16th overall and sixth among NL pitchers—after earning 1.0 point as Player of the Game Saturday (5.2IP 4H R 5BB 6K ND in the 3-2, 10-inning win over the Cubs).

Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the Cubs.

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, Sept. 9.

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 17.1
4 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 16.7
5 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 16.1
6 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 15.7
7 Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 15.7
8 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 14.4
9 Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 pi sp sea al 14.1
10 Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp phi nl 13.7
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Scoring

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

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

  • Hicks and Reynolds 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.

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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).

9/9 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +13.0 TOR 5, KC 1 Kevin Gausman (W, 11‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 8.0 2 1 1 1 10
+11.0 DET 3, CHW 1 Tarik Skubal (W, 5‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 2 0 0 1 9
NL +6.0 SF 9, COL 1 Logan Webb (W, 10‑12) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 3 0 0 1 4
BAT +5.0 BAL 13, BOS 12 Aaron Hicks CF‑RF 4 3 3 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+4.0 TB 7, SEA 5 Yandy Díaz PH‑1B 2 1 2 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+4.0 MIN 8, NYM 4 Max Kepler PH‑RF 1 1 1 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 HOU 7, SD 5 Yordan Alvarez DH 3 2 2 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 LAA 6, CLE 2 Tyler Anderson (W, 6‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 8.0 4 2 2 1 4
+3.0 `WSH 7, LAD 6 (F/11) Jake Irvin ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 3 1 1 2 4
+2.2 PHI 8, MIA 4 Jeff Hoffman (W, 4‑2) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.2 1 0 0 0 2
BAT +2.0 PIT 8, ATL 4 Bryan Reynolds LF 5 2 3 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 STL 4, CIN 3 Willson Contreras C 4 1 2 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 MIL 9, NYY 2 Victor Caratini PH‑DH 0 0 0 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+1.0 TEX 3, OAK 2 Mitch Garver DH 1 1 1 0 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+0.2 `ARI 3, CHC 2 (F/10) Merrill Kelly ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.2 4 1 1 5 6
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 +/‑
Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 16.7 29.4 50.8 86.1 +4.0
Kelly, Merrill 4143 pi sp ari nl 12.0 23.0 38.0 38.0 +1.0
Webb, Logan 4258 pi sp sf nl 10.7 20.4 38.6 38.6 +1.0
Diaz, Yandy 3896 1b dh tb al 7.0 11.0 17.0 18.7 +3.0
Skubal, Tarik 4414 pi sp det al 6.7 17.4 26.1 26.1 -4.0
Alvarez, Yordan 4209 dh lf hou al 6.5 15.2 25.7 25.7 -2.2
Garver, Mitch 3950 ca dh tex al 6.5 7.5 24.0 24.0 +5.5
Reynolds, Bryan 4169 lf cf pit nl 6.2 10.2 24.2 24.2 +2.2
Contreras, Willson 3776 ca stl nl 5.0 8.0 22.5 28.0 +2.0
Kepler, Max 3664 rf dh ph min al 3.5 5.5 20.7 28.7 +1.5
Hoffman, Jeff 3806 pi mr cp phi nl 3.0 4.0 6.0 9.7 +2.0
Irvin, Jake 4805 pi sp dc nl 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 +3.0
Hicks, Aaron 3170 lf cf rf bal al 2.5 5.0 10.0 18.0 0.0
Anderson, Tyler 3656 pi sp ana al 2.0 14.7 32.4 37.4 -10.7
Caratini, Victor 4026 ca dh ph mil nl 2.0 4.0 9.0 9.0 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
MIA Okert, Steven 3745 0.0 1.0 1.0 3.0
PHI Suarez, Ranger 4228 3.7 8.7 18.7 18.7
CHW Scholtens, Jesse* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
DET Gipson-Long, Sawyer* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
SEA Miller, Bryce 4797 13.1 13.1 13.1 13.1
TB Eflin, Zach 3679 10.0 13.7 36.5 41.5
BAL Rodriguez, Grayson 4790 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
BOS Bello, Brayan 4727 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
LAD Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
WSH Williams, Trevor 3792 5.7 8.7 24.4 29.4
MIL Burnes, Corbin 4029 11.7 27.1 55.9 55.9
NYY Cole, Gerrit 3232 12.0 27.4 107.4 150.3
PIT Ortiz, Luis 4738 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
ATL Winans, Allan 4900 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
KC Ragans, Cole 4889 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.4
TOR Berrios, Jose 3791 8.4 17.4 58.3 67.3
STL Mikolas, Miles 3034 5.7 17.8 32.5 35.2
CIN Greene, Hunter 4651 4.0 10.0 10.0 10.0
NYM Megill, Tylor 4464 3.0 8.7 14.7 14.7
MIN Lopez, Pablo 4028 13.4 24.1 47.2 47.2
SD Waldron, Matt* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
HOU France, J.P. 4811 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
ARI Pfaadt, Brandon 4812 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
CHC Hendricks, Kyle 3386 5.0 9.7 41.8 73.6
OAK Medina, Luis 4876 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
TEX Gray, Jon 3634 6.7 12.7 40.4 52.1
CLE Bibee, Tanner 4792 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7
LAA Rosenberg, Kenny* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
COL Lambert, Peter 4155 3.0 3.0 5.0 5.0
SF Winn, Keaton* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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