Twins’ Gray tops players for Sunday, Sept. 17; Marlins’ Luzardo rises to 3rd in rankings

Twins pitcher Sonny Gray is Sunday’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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Twins pitcher Sonny Gray is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Marlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day

Gray struck out six over seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks, in the 4-0 win over the White Sox.

Gray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season, 35th among all players and 17th among American League pitchers.

Gray becomes the 43rd player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his fifth season with 10 or more points. He also did it:

  • In 2014 with the Athletics, 10.0 points, 26th among AL pitchers.

  • In 2015 with the Athletics, 17.8 points, sixth among AL pitchers.

  • In 2019 with the Reds, 14.4 points, 10th among NL pitchers.

  • In 2022 with the Twins, 12.1 points, 16th among AL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day is Marlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo.

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 Sunday, Sept. 17.

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 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 17.8
4 Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 17.7
5 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 17.1
6 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 16.7
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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National League Player of the Day

Marlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, in the 16-2 win over the Braves.

Luzardo earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 17.8 for the season, rising from sixth to third in season player rankings, behind Braves pitcher Spencer Strider (20.1 points) and Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani (19.4). Luzardo ranks second among NL pitchers behind Strider.

Luzardo had a +8.0 Box-Toppers game score Sunday, same as overall Player of the Day Sonny Gray. But Gray beat Luzardo out for the day’s top honor on a tiebreaker because he had more innings pitched—seven vs. six.

American League Player of the Day

Jake Rogers of the Tigers hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, in the 5-3 win over the Angels. Rogers went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs.

American League Player of the Day is Jake Rogers of the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day

Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-5 win over the Phillies.

Goldschmidt earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.2 for the season, sixth among NL batters.

National League Batter of the Day is Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals.

Notable

Astros pitcher Framber Valdez becomes the 44th player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2023 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Valdez (7IP 5H R 0ER BB 5K W in the 7-1 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for 2023, 40th among all players and 20th among AL pitchers.

This is Valdez’s second season and second straight season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He also did it in 2022 with the Astros when he had 16.0 points, fifth among AL pitchers.

Astros pitcher Framber Valdez is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Sunday’s win over the Royals.

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Debut

Dodgers pitcher Gavin Stone made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Stone (3.1IP H 0R 2BB 5K Sv in the 6-1 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut May 3 and was playing in his seventh career game.

Scoring

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

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

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

  • All of Sunday’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.

For additional updates, follow Box-Toppers on Twitter.

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).

9/17 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +8.0 MIN 4, CHW 0 Sonny Gray (W, 8‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 5 0 0 0 6
NL +8.0 MIA 16, ATL 2 Jesus Luzardo (W, 10‑9) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 4 0 0 2 8
+7.0 `SD 10, OAK 1 Nick Martinez ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 3.0 1 0 0 0 5
+5.1 LAD 6, SEA 1 Gavin Stone (S, 1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 3.1 1 0 0 2 5
BAT +5.0 DET 5, LAA 3 Jake Rogers C 3 2 2 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+5.0 HOU 7, KC 1 Framber Valdez (W, 12‑10) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 5 1 0 1 5
+5.0 CLE 9, TEX 2 Gavin Williams (W, 3‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 4 1 1 2 7
+4.0 `BAL 5, TB 4 (F/11) Dean Kremer ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 2 1 1 2 5
BAT +3.0 STL 6, PHI 5 Paul Goldschmidt 1B 4 2 2 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 NYM 8, CIN 4 Daniel Vogelbach PH 1 0 1 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 PIT 3, NYY 2 David Bednar (S, 36) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
+2.0 SF 11, COL 10 Mitch Haniger LF 4 1 2 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 ARI 6, CHC 2 Ketel Marte 2B 4 2 2 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
0.0 WSH 2, MIL 1 (F/11) Luis García 2B 4 1 2 1 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
0.0 TOR 3, BOS 2 Cavan Biggio RF 4 2 2 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 +/‑
Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 17.8 21.8 33.9 33.9 +13.8
Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp min al 10.4 22.5 56.7 97.9 -1.7
Valdez, Framber 4048 pi sp hou al 10.0 26.0 41.4 41.4 -6.0
Kremer, Dean 4330 pi sp bal al 8.7 16.4 20.1 20.1 +1.0
Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 1b stl nl 8.2 15.7 39.7 87.0 +0.7
Bednar, David 4499 pi cp pit nl 7.0 13.0 15.0 15.0 +1.0
Martinez, Nick 3430 pi sp sd nl 5.7 10.7 10.7 17.4 +0.7
Williams, Gavin 4865 pi sp cle al 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 +4.0
Marte, Ketel 3630 2b ari nl 3.5 5.5 20.0 21.0 +1.5
Vogelbach, Daniel 4070 dh ph nym nl 3.0 4.0 17.5 17.5 +2.0
Garcia, Luis 4671 2b ss dc nl 2.5 4.0 4.0 4.0 +1.0
Biggio, Cavan 4183 rf 3b 2b tor al 2.0 2.0 12.7 12.7 +2.0
Rogers, Jake 4435 ca det al 1.5 1.5 3.5 3.5 +1.5
Haniger, Mitch 3772 lf sf nl 1.0 2.5 16.5 21.0 -0.5
Stone, Gavin 4942 pi cp lad nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Monday’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
CLE Quantrill, Cal 4195 2.0 8.0 17.7 17.7
KC Singer, Brady 4337 5.0 16.7 23.7 23.7
MIN Ryan, Joe 4539 8.7 23.4 26.1 26.1
CIN Phillips, Connor* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
NYM Butto, Jose 4933 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
MIA Cabrera, Edward 4641 3.7 10.1 10.1 10.1
CHW Clevinger, Mike 3707 8.4 14.8 47.9 62.3
WSH Adon, Joan 4580 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
PHI Wheeler, Zack 3204 13.7 28.1 69.9 82.6
ATL Wright, Kyle 4349 0.0 14.4 15.4 15.4
MIL Peralta, Freddy 3965 17.7 25.1 56.5 56.5
STL Wainwright, Adam 2150 0.0 10.0 34.8 152.3
BOS Crawford, Kutter 4660 4.7 8.7 8.7 8.7
TEX Montgomery, Jordan 3814 9.4 18.8 29.5 35.5
BAL Means, John 4115 0.0 0.0 18.0 18.0
HOU Verlander, Justin 2112 8.7 34.7 87.3 241.3
SEA Woo, Bryan 4842 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7
OAK Sears, JP 4627 4.0 9.0 9.0 9.0
COL Blach, Ty 3754 2.0 4.0 6.0 10.0
SD Wacha, Michael 3276 9.0 17.4 32.5 59.2
DET Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 11.0 11.0 45.8 65.2
LAD Lynn, Lance 2992 4.7 14.4 53.9 118.5
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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