Rays’ Glasnow tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 6; Phillies’ Wheeler rises to 9th

Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow is Wednesday’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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Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Wednesday, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day

Glasnow struck out 14 over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 3-1 win over the Red Sox.

Glasnow earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 for the season, 18th among all players and 11th among American League pitchers.

Glasnow becomes the 38th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his second season with 10 or more points. He also did it in 2021 with the Rays, when he had 12.7 points, eighth among AL pitchers. He earned no points in 2022, spending most of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery, making only two late-season appearances.

Prior to his 2021 injury, Glasnow was leading all players in Box-Toppers points. On June 8 that season, he earned Player of the Day honors, giving him his final 12.7 Box-Toppers point total for the season. It was nearly two full seasons before he earned points again on June 3 this season. With his 2021 season ending at about the same time his 2023 season began, Glasnow over the course of the two seasons has pitched the equivalence of a full season so far. Adding his points from 2021 and 2023 would give him 24.1 points, which would be the most points by a player this season, ahead of Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (19.4).

National League Player of the Day is Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler.

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 Wednesday, Sept. 6.

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 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 16.1
5 Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 15.7
6 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 14.7
7 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 14.4
8 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 13.7
9 Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp phi nl 13.7
10 Lopez, Pablo 4028 pi sp min al 13.4
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National League Player of the Day

Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks, in the 5-1 win over the Padres.

Wheeler earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season, ninth among all players and fifth among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day

Jose Abreu of the Astros hit two home runs—a grand slam and a three-run shot—and also doubled, in the 12-3 win over the Rangers. Abreu went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in seven runs.

Abreu earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.2 for the season, 38th among AL batters.

Abreu had a +7.0 Box-Toppers game score Wednesday, same as another AL batter earning Player of the Game honors, Austin Hays of the Orioles, in the 10-3 win over the Angels (HR 2B SF 4-4 3R 4BI). But Abreu beat Hays for AL Batter of the Day honors because he had more at bats—five vs. four.

This game also featured the pitching matchup of two of Box-Toppers’ top-five “all-time” career points leaders—Max Scherzer of the Rangers and Justin Verlander of the Astros. Scherzer has 250.7 career Box-Toppers points, third-most since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, and second among active players. Verlander has 241.3 career points, fifth-most since 1995 and third among active players. However, neither player added to their Box-Toppers point total, as neither was Player of the Game Wednesday.

Verlander had a +5.0 Box-Toppers game score (7IP 4H 2R ER BB 6K W) but was not Player of the Game because Abreu had a higher game score (+7.0). Scherzer had a -15.0 game score in the loss (3IP 6H 7R 2BB 4K L).

American League Batter of the Day is Jose Abreu of the Astros.

National League Batter of the Day

Tommy Pham of the Diamondbacks hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 12-5 win over the Rockies.

National League Batter of the Day is Tommy Pham of the Diamondbacks.

Notable

Nolan Gorman of the Cardinals becomes the 39th player and sixth batter this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Gorman (HR 1-4 3R 3BI in the 11-6 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, 38th among all players and third among NL batters, behind Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves (10.7) and Pete Alonso of the Mets (10.5).

While Gorman is the sixth player who qualifies to rank among batters with 10 points this season, he is actually the fifth to earn 10 or more points solely as a batter. Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, whose 19.4 points leads all players, qualifies to rank among batters, but has earned 9.7 of his points as a batter, the other 9.7 as a starting pitcher.

Nolan Gorman of the Cardinals is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s win over the Blue Jays.

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Debut

Kevin Smith of the Athletics made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Smith (HR 2-4 R 3BI in the 5-2 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Aug. 18, 2021, and was playing in his 100th career game.

Scoring

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

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

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

  • All of Wednesday’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).

9/6 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +14.0 TB 3, BOS 1 Tyler Glasnow (W, 8‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 3 1 1 1 14
NL +10.0 PHI 5, SD 1 Zack Wheeler (W, 11‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 1 0 0 2 7
+9.0 MIA 11, LAD 4 Edward Cabrera (W, 6‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 4.0 1 0 0 2 8
BAT +7.0 HOU 12, TEX 3 Jose Abreu 1B 5 2 3 7 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+7.0 BAL 10, LAA 3 Austin Hays LF 4 3 4 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+5.2 `PIT 5, MIL 4 Bailey Falter ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 3.2 1 0 0 0 3
BAT +5.0 ARI 12, COL 5 Tommy Pham LF‑RF 4 3 3 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 CHW 6, KC 4 Andrew Vaughn DH 4 2 3 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 STL 11, ATL 6 Nolan Gorman 2B 4 3 1 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 SEA 8, CIN 4 Ty France 1B 3 2 2 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 OAK 5, TOR 2 Kevin Smith 3B 4 1 2 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 CHC 8, SF 2 Cody Bellinger CF‑1B 4 2 2 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 WSH 3, NYM 2 Iledmaro Vargas PH‑2B 1 1 1 1 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 CLE 2, MIN 1 Gavin Williams (W, 2‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 1 1 1 4 4
+2.0 NYY 4, DET 3 Clay Holmes (S, 18) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 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 +/‑
Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp phi nl 13.7 28.1 69.9 82.6 -0.7
Glasnow, Tyler 3948 pi sp tb al 11.4 11.4 47.8 47.8 +11.4
Gorman, Nolan 4633 2b stl nl 10.0 15.0 15.0 15.0 +5.0
Bellinger, Cody 3781 cf 1b chi nl 5.5 7.5 21.4 30.1 +3.5
Abreu, Jose 3308 1b hou al 4.2 6.7 31.7 52.7 +1.7
Vaughn, Andrew 4445 1b chi al 4.0 7.5 9.5 9.5 +0.5
Cabrera, Edward 4641 pi sp mr fla nl 3.7 10.1 10.1 10.1 -2.7
Falter, Bailey 4473 pi sp cp mr pit nl 3.7 7.7 8.7 8.7 -0.3
Hays, Austin 4538 lf dh bal al 3.0 7.0 8.0 8.0 -1.0
Williams, Gavin 4865 pi sp cle al 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 +3.0
Pham, Thomas 3596 dh lf rf ari nl 2.5 3.5 12.5 21.0 +1.5
Vargas, Ildemaro 3924 3b 2b ph dc nl 2.5 2.5 3.5 5.0 +2.5
France, Ty 4243 1b sea al 2.0 9.0 18.5 18.5 -5.0
Holmes, Clay 4022 pi cp nyy al 2.0 6.0 8.0 8.0 -2.0
Smith, Kevin 4927 3b oak al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Thursday’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
LAD Pepiot, Ryan 4714 3.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
MIA Garrett, Braxton 4341 10.7 16.4 18.4 18.4
SEA Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 12.4 22.4 58.8 67.2
TB Littell, Zack 4533 1.0 3.0 5.0 5.0
DET Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 11.0 11.0 45.8 65.2
NYY Rodon, Carlos 3494 0.0 19.8 37.5 56.6
STL Wainwright, Adam 2150 0.0 10.0 34.8 152.3
ATL Fried, Max 4011 7.0 23.0 51.5 51.5
ARI Nelson, Ryne 4728 6.7 8.4 8.4 8.4
CHC Assad, Javier 4899 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
CLE Quantrill, Cal 4195 2.0 8.0 17.7 17.7
LAA Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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