Orioles’ Rodriguez tops players for Saturday, Sept. 16; Tovar tops both games in twin bill

Orioles pitcher Grayson Rodriguez 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.
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(Charts in post corrected Sunday, Sept. 17 at 2:30 p.m. CDT to reflect the correct Player of the Game in Marlins win, Jake Burger. Previous version incorrectly had Jazz Chisholm Jr. as Player of the Game.)

Orioles pitcher Grayson Rodriguez is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Ezequiel Tovar of the Rockies became just the 13th player to win Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader since player tracking began in 1995.

Player of the Day

Rodriguez struck out seven over eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks, in the 8-0 win over the Rays.

Rodriguez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, 96th among all players and 41st among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day

Dodgers pitcher Emmet Sheehan struck out five over three scoreless middle relief innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 6-2, 11-inning win over the Mariners.

Sheehan did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited. He qualified to be considered for Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors because he pitched at least three innings.

Sheehan earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, 101st among NL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day is Dodgers pitcher Emmet Sheehan.

National League Batter of the Day

Mark Canha of the Brewers hit a grand slam and went 3-for-5, scoring once and driving in five runs, in the 9-5 win over the Nationals.

National League Batter of the Day is Mark Canha of the Brewers.

American League Batter of the Day

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in one run, in the 4-3, 13-inning win over the Red Sox.

Guerrero earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, 47th among AL batters.

American League Batter of the Day is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays.

Notable

Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee has the most Box-Toppers points among Saturday’s 16 Player of the Game winners.

Bibee (5.1IP 5H R 0BB 4K ND in the 2-1 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season, 54th among all players and 27th among AL pitchers.

Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the Rangers.

Doubleheader Players of the Game

Ezequiel Tovar of the Rockies became the 13th player since 1995 to earn Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader. Here are all 13 players who have achieved that distinction since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.

Date Player Team Pos BTPs*
7/15/1998 Albert Belle White Sox lf 2.5
8/13/1999 Rondell White Expos lf 2.0
8/30/1999 Edgar Martinez Mariners dh 2.5
4/13/2000 Shawn Green Dodgers rf 2.0
6/24/2002 Alex Rodriguez Rangers ss 2.0
5/28/2004 Rob Mackowiak Pirates cf 3b 2.0
9/2/2006 Chad Cordero Nationals pi cp 2.0
5/25/2008 Jorge Cantu Marlins 3b 2.0
7/21/2009 Erick Aybar Angels ss 2.7
4/28/2011 Ben Zobrist Rays 2b 3.0
10/3/2015 Christian Yelich Brewers cf lf 2.5
7/27/2023 Shohei Ohtani Angels pi sp dh 3.5
9/16/2023 Ezequiel Tovar Rockies ss 2.0
* Total Box-Toppers points earned in both games. Ohtani earned the most of the 12 listed here—3.5—by earning 2.0 points as overall Player of the Day in the game he pitched and 1.5 as AL Batter of the Day in the game in which he served as designated hitter.

Also notable

Ezequiel Tovar of the Rockies became just the 13th player to win Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader since player tracking began in 1995.

Tovar was Player of the Game in Game 1 of the doubleheader (3B 3-5 R 4BI in the 9-5 win over the Giants) and Game 2 (2B SAC 2-3 2R BI in the 5-2 win over the Giants). Tovar earns 1.0 Box-Toppers points for each Player of the Game honor, giving him a total of 2.0 points Saturday. He now has 6.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, 15th among NL batters.

Of the 13 instances of players winning Player of the Game in both games of a doubleheader, Tovar is now one of seven players to receive the minimum possible number of Box-Toppers points (2.0) for achieving the honor. In the other six cases, players won bonus Box-Toppers points for being top player or top batter in one or both of the games.

For example, earlier this season Shohei Ohtani of the Angels earned 3.5 total Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Game in both games of a doubleheader on July 27—he was both overall Player of the Day (worth 2.0 points) and AL Batter of the Day (worth 1.5 points).

This season is only the second season in Box-Toppers tracking history in which there were two instances of players earning Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader. It also happened in 1999.

Ezequiel Tovar of the Rockies is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in both games of a doubleheader Saturday against the Giants.

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. 16.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 20.1
2 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 19.4
3 Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 17.7
4 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 17.1
5 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 16.7
6 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 16.1
7 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 15.7
8 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 15.4
9 Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 pi sp sea al 15.1
10 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 14.0
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Debut

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

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  • Tigers pitcher Sawyer Gipson-Long (5IP 2H R 3BB 11K ND in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Angels) made his Major League debut Sept. 10 and was playing in his second career game.

  • Royals pitcher James McArthur (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 10-8 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut June 28 and was playing in his 12th career game.

Scoring

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

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

  • Canha and Guerrero 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.

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).

9/16 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +10.0 BAL 8, TB 0 Grayson Rodriguez (W, 6‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 8.0 5 0 0 0 7
+9.0 `DET 5, LAA 4 (F/10) Sawyer Gipson‑Long ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 2 1 1 3 11
+7.0 CHW 7, MIN 6 Touki Toussaint (W, 4‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 3 1 1 1 8
NL +7.0 `LAD 6, SEA 2 (F/11) Emmet Sheehan ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 3.0 1 0 0 0 5
+6.0 NYY 6, PIT 3 Jhony Brito (W, 8‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 3.0 0 0 0 0 3
BAT +4.0 MIL 9, WSH 5 Mark Canha LF 5 1 3 5 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+4.0 MIA 11, ATL 5 Jake Burger 3B 4 3 3 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.1 KC 10, HOU 8 James McArthur (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
+3.0 COL 9, SF 5 Ezequiel Tovar SS 5 1 3 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 `CIN 3, NYM 2 Fernando Cruz (H, 6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 2.0 0 0 0 0 1
+2.1 `CLE 2, TEX 1 Tanner Bibee ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.1 5 1 1 0 4
+2.1 `SD 5, OAK 2 Robert Suarez (H, 7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.1 0 0 0 0 1
BAT +2.0 TOR 4, BOS 3 (F/13) Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B 3 2 2 1 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 COL 5, SF 2 Ezequiel Tovar SS 3 2 2 1 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+1.0 ARI 7, CHC 6 (F/13) Lourdes Gurriel Jr. LF 5 0 3 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+1.0 PHI 6, STL 1 Johan Rojas CF 3 1 2 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 +/‑
Bibee, Tanner 4792 pi sp cle al 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 +8.7
Rodriguez, Grayson 4790 pi sp bal al 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 +7.0
Tovar, Ezequiel 4801 ss col nl 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 +6.5
Burger, Jake 4629 dh 3b fla nl 5.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 +4.0
Brito, Jhony 4761 pi sp mr nyy al 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +5.0
Gurriel, Lourdes Jr. 4148 lf ari nl 4.0 10.5 16.7 16.7 -2.5
Guerrero, Vladimir Jr. 4142 1b dh tor al 4.0 5.7 16.6 16.6 +2.3
Cruz, Fernando 4768 pi mr cin nl 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 +4.0
Canha, Mark 3454 lf mil nl 3.5 12.2 18.2 22.7 -5.2
Toussaint, Touki 4110 pi sp chi al 3.0 5.0 9.7 9.7 +1.0
Rojas, Johan 4873 cf phi nl 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 +3.0
Sheehan, Emmet 4886 pi sp lad nl 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 +2.7
Suarez, Robert 4750 pi mr sd nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Gipson-Long, Sawyer 4940 pi sp det al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
McArthur, James 4941 pi mr kc al 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
TB Littell, Zack 4533 1.0 3.0 5.0 5.0
BAL Kremer, Dean 4330 7.7 15.4 19.1 19.1
NYY Rodon, Carlos 3494 1.0 20.8 38.5 57.6
PIT Selby, Colin* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
BOS Pivetta, Nick 3825 7.0 14.7 34.4 42.4
TOR Ryu, Hyun Jin 3139 2.0 3.0 45.5 71.6
ATL Morton, Charlie 2503 10.0 20.4 68.7 104.1
MIA Luzardo, Jesus 4282 16.1 20.1 32.2 32.2
CIN Williamson, Brandon 4813 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.7
NYM Quintana, Jose 3040 0.0 11.4 32.9 83.1
TEX Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
CLE Williams, Gavin* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
HOU Valdez, Framber 4048 9.0 25.0 40.4 40.4
KC Lyles, Jordan 3100 1.0 4.7 24.4 32.1
MIN Gray, Sonny 3259 8.4 20.5 54.7 95.9
CHW Cease, Dylan 4231 8.0 28.4 44.8 44.8
WSH Corbin, Patrick 3027 7.1 11.1 50.2 92.4
MIL Woodruff, Brandon 3868 7.0 27.8 60.6 61.6
PHI Walker, Taijuan 3453 7.7 15.4 30.8 57.2
STL Hudson, Dakota 4035 1.0 5.0 17.4 17.4
SF Manaea, Sean 3637 2.7 8.7 38.8 52.9
COL Flexen, Chris 4368 0.0 2.0 13.7 13.7
DET Diaz, Miguel 4016 0.0 0.0 4.0 4.0
LAA Detmers, Reid 4513 6.7 13.7 14.7 14.7
SD Martinez, Nick 3430 4.7 9.7 9.7 16.4
OAK Boyle, Joe* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
LAD Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
SEA Gilbert, Logan 4439 12.4 26.5 33.5 33.5
CHC Wicks, Jordan 4912 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
ARI Nelson, Ryne 4728 6.7 8.4 8.4 8.4
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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