Blue Jays’ Bassitt tops players for Thursday, Sept. 28, passing Ohtani to lead AL pitchers

Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
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Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to second in season player rankings and passing Shohei Ohtani to lead American League pitchers.

Bassitt struck out 12 over 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk, in the 6-0 win over the Yankees.

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 Thursday, Sept. 28.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 21.1
2 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 20.1
3 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 19.4
4 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 18.7
5 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 17.8
6 Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 17.7
7 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 17.0
8 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 16.7
9 Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 pi sp sea al 16.1
10 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 15.4
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Bassitt earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.1 for the season, rising from fourth to second in player rankings, trailing only Braves pitcher Spencer Strider (21.1).

Bassitt rises to first among AL pitchers, passing both teammate Kevin Gausman (18.7) and previous leader Ohtani of the Angels (19.4). Ohtani had led AL pitchers since June 13, more than three months. Injury has prevented Ohtani from pitching since late August and a separate injury kept him from batting since early September. It should also be noted that Ohtani earned 9.7 of his points as a batter, so while the combined 19.4 points led AL pitchers, only half his points were earned from pitching.

Bassitt becomes the second player in 2023 to reach 20 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 20 or more points. He has reached 10 or more points in three straight seasons: In 2021, he had 13.7 points with the Athletics, seventh among AL pitchers and in 2022, he had 11.0 points with the Mets, 19th among NL pitchers.

Entering the final week of the 2023 season, it appears there will only be two players with 20 or more Box-Toppers points—Strider and Bassitt. That is the fewest number of players to reach 20 points in a regular-length season (excluding the 2020 pandemic year) since 2013, when only Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (21.7) and Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (20.2) did it. The most players with 20 in a season is eight in 2017. There were three straight seasons—2007, 2008 and 2009—when only one player reached 20 points. Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.

National League Player of the Day is Brewers pitcher Julio Teheran.

National League Player of the Day

Brewers pitcher Julio Teheran struck out four over four scoreless middle relief innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Cardinals.

Teheran earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, 106th among NL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day is Elehuris Montero of the Rockies.

National League Batter of the Day

Elehuris Montero of the Rockies homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 14-5 win over the Dodgers.

American League Player of the Day is Yoan Moncada of the White Sox.

American League Player of the Day

Yoan Moncada of the White Sox homered and went 1-for-2, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 3-1 win over the Diamondbacks.

Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s win over the Rangers.

Notable

Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert now has 13.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023—14th overall and eighth among AL pitchers—after earning 1.0 point as Player of the Game Thursday (6IP 3H 2R 0BB 5K ND in the 3-2 win over the Rangers).

Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s win over the Royals (though he pitched Wednesday).

Also notable

Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal becomes the 51st player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2023 after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Skubal (4IP 2H 0R 0BB 8K ND in the 8-0 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 point, giving him 10.7 for the season, 39th overall and 19th among AL pitchers.

It is his second straight season with 10 or more points. He also earned 10.7 in 2022 with the Tigers, 23rd among AL pitchers.

Skubal actually earned his Thursday Player of the Game honor for his pitching performance Wednesday. He started a game that was suspended by rain but did not return when the game resumed Thursday. But his Player of the Game honor is included with all other games completed Thursday.

Debut

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

  • Braves pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver (3.2IP 0H R BB 2K ND in the 5-3 win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut June 4 and was playing in his sixth career game.

  • Pirates pitcher Dauri Moreta (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB K ND in the 3-2 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Sept. 26, 2021, and was playing in his 92nd career game.

Scoring

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

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

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

  • All of Thursday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Note

Box-Toppers weekly team and player rankings reports are normally posted on Fridays. But this week’s reports will be delayed until after the end of the regular season, which is only days away. The final scheduled games are Sunday.

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).

9/28 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +13.2 TOR 6, NYY 0 Chris Bassitt (W, 16‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.2 5 0 0 1 12
+10.1 BAL 2, BOS 0 Dean Kremer (W, 13‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.1 2 0 0 1 8
+10.0 `DET 8, KC 0 Tarik Skubal ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 4.0 2 0 0 0 8
NL +7.0 MIL 3, STL 0 Julio Teheran (W, 3‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 4.0 1 0 0 0 4
BAT +5.0 COL 14, LAD 5 Elehuris Montero 1B 4 4 3 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+4.0 `SEA 3, TEX 2 Logan Gilbert ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 3 2 2 0 5
+3.0 `DET 7, KC 3 Will Vest ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
+2.2 `ATL 5, CHC 3 AJ Smith‑Shawver ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 3.2 0 1 1 1 2
+2.1 `PIT 3, PHI 2 Dauri Moreta (H, 5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.1 0 0 0 0 1
BAT +2.0 CHW 3, ARI 1 Yoán Moncada 3B 2 2 1 1 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 OAK 2, MIN 1 Trevor May (S, 21) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 0 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 +/‑
Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 20.1 31.1 59.9 63.9 +9.1
Gilbert, Logan 4439 pi sp sea al 13.4 27.5 34.5 34.5 -0.7
Skubal, Tarik 4414 pi sp det al 10.7 21.4 30.1 30.1 0.0
Kremer, Dean 4330 pi sp bal al 9.7 17.4 21.1 21.1 +2.0
May, Trevor 3417 pi cp oak al 4.0 4.0 11.0 16.0 +4.0
Teheran, Julio 3176 pi sp mr mil nl 2.7 2.7 23.4 74.9 +2.7
Montero, Elehuris 4713 1b dh col nl 2.5 4.0 4.0 4.0 +1.0
Vest, Will 4608 pi mr cp det al 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 +1.0
Moncada, Yoan 3878 3b chi al 1.5 4.5 13.0 14.5 -1.5
Moreta, Dauri 4952 pi mr pit nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
Smith-Shawver, AJ 4951 pi sp atl nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Friday’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 Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
PIT Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
CLE Quantrill, Cal 4195 2.0 8.0 17.7 17.7
DET Wentz, Joey 4639 2.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
BOS Pivetta, Nick 3825 7.0 14.7 34.4 42.4
BAL Means, John 4115 1.0 1.0 19.0 19.0
TB Civale, Aaron 4173 6.0 11.0 28.4 28.4
TOR Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 10.0 15.7 27.4 27.4
PHI Walker, Taijuan 3453 7.7 15.4 30.8 57.2
NYM Megill, Tylor 4464 3.0 8.7 14.7 14.7
WSH Williams, Trevor 3792 5.7 8.7 24.4 29.4
ATL Winans, Allan 4900 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
SD Martinez, Nick 3430 5.7 10.7 10.7 17.4
CHW Cease, Dylan 4231 10.0 30.4 46.8 46.8
CHC Hendricks, Kyle 3386 5.0 9.7 41.8 73.6
MIL Rea, Colin 3582 4.0 4.0 4.0 7.7
NYY Rodon, Carlos 3494 1.0 20.8 38.5 57.6
KC Lyles, Jordan 3100 2.0 5.7 25.4 33.1
MIN Ryan, Joe 4539 8.7 23.4 26.1 26.1
COL Blach, Ty 3754 2.0 4.0 6.0 10.0
CIN Williamson, Brandon 4813 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.7
STL Woodford, Jake 4293 0.0 0.0 6.0 6.0
OAK Waldichuk, Ken 4757 3.7 4.7 4.7 4.7
LAA Silseth, Chase 4605 3.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
HOU France, J.P. 4811 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
ARI Gallen, Zac 4171 16.7 35.4 51.1 51.1
TEX Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 9.7 15.7 43.5 69.3
SEA Woo, Bryan 4842 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7
LAD Lynn, Lance 2992 4.7 14.4 53.9 118.5
SF Winn, Keaton 4931 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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