Pirates’ Skenes tops players for Tuesday, June 11; Phillies’ Wheeler rises to 2nd

Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Box-Toppers Toppers Box

Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.
▪️ Players of the Game
▪️ B-T points of day’s top players
▪️ Top 10 players in 2024
▪️ Tuesday’s sidelights sidebar
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers

Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, rising to lead National League pitchers. In addition, Aaron Judge of the Yankees bolsters his lead among American League batters in 2024 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day

Skenes struck out eight over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks, in the 2-1 win over the Cardinals. Skenes did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.

Skenes earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 58th among all players and 26th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day is Astros pitcher Ronel Blanco.

American League Player of the Day

Astros pitcher Ronel Blanco struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 3-1 win over the Giants.

Blanco earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, 36th among all players and 18th among AL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day is Will Smith of the Dodgers.

National League Batter of the Day

Will Smith of the Dodgers hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 15-2 win over the Rangers.

American League Batter of the Day is Steven Kwan of the Guardians.

American League Batter of the Day

Steven Kwan of the Guardians hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 5-3 win over the Reds.

Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Tuesday, June 11:
Player Pos Team BTP
1 Luis Gil pi sp Yankees 13.4
2 Zack Wheeler pi sp Phillies 9.7
3 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 9.7
4 Tanner Houck pi sp Red Sox 9.7
5 Shota Imanaga pi sp Cubs 9.7
6 Tarik Skubal pi sp Tigers 9.4
7 Ranger Suárez pi sp Phillies 9.4
8 George Kirby pi sp Mariners 8.7
9 Aaron Nola pi sp Phillies 8.7
10 Dylan Cease pi sp Padres 8.7
Back to top

Rankings

Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler rises from seventh to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Wheeler (7IP 3H R BB 4K W in the 4-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season, trailing only Yankees pitcher Luis Gil (13.4) in 2024 Box-Toppers points.

Wheeler rises to lead NL pitchers in rankings, passing previous leader Chris Sale of the Braves (9.7). Though Wheeler and Sale both have 9.7 points for the season, Wheeler ranks higher because he has more 2023 points—14.7 vs. 8.7.

Notable

Aaron Judge of the Yankees increases his lead among AL batters in 2024 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Judge (HR 2-4 R 3BI in the 10-1 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.5 for the season, ahead of second-place AL batter Juan Soto of the Yankees (7.0 points).

Judge now ranks 11th among all players in 2024 Box-Toppers points, just outside the top 10, behind 10th-ranked player, Padres pitcher Dylan Cease (8.7 points).

Aaron Judge of the Yankees increases his lead among AL batters in 2024 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Streak

Randal Grichuk of the Diamondbacks has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2024 Tuesday.

Grichuk (HR 3B 2B 3-4 3R 2BI in the 9-4 win over the Angels) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Cardinals and now has 45.9 career points, sixth among active NL outfielders. His best season was 2015 with the Cardinals when he had 9.5 points, fifth among NL batters. In 2023, he had 4.5 points with the Rockies and Angels, finishing the season 10th among AL outfielders.

Randal Grichuk of the Diamondbacks has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2024 Tuesday.

Tuesday’s sidelights sidebar

Top pitching matchup

▪️Marcus Stroman, Yankees
10.7 Box-Toppers points over 2023-24, 36th among AL pitchers
▪️Brady Singer, Royals
10.0 Box-Toppers points over 2023-24, 40th among AL pitchers
Result—NYY 10, KC 1
Neither starter was Player of the Game.
Stroman had -0.8 B-T game score (5.2IP 4H 0R 3BB K W).
Singer had -9.8 B-T game score in loss (5.2IP 7H 7R 6ER BB 6K L).
Player of the Game—Aaron Judge, Yankees (HR 2-4 R 3BI), +2.0 game score.

High scores, no points

Highest Box-Toppers game scores for the day among players who did not earn Player of the Game honors:
▪️+11.0—Miles Mikolas, Cardinals (7IP H 0R BB 6K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. PIT, despite having Tuesday’s highest B-T game score.
Player of the Game—Paul Skenes, Pirates (6.1IP 5H 0R 0BB 8K ND) with +9.1 game score, winning overall Player of the Day honors.
▪️+6.0—Jameson Taillon, Cubs (6IP 4H 0R BB 5K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. TB.
Player of the Game—Chris Devenski, Rays (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W) with +3.0 game score.
▪️+6.0—Louie Varland, Twins (5IP H 0R BB 3K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. COL
Player of the Game—Cal Quantrill, Rockies (6IP 3H 0R BB 5K W) with +7.0 game score.

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores

Out of 459 total players Tuesday, 134 pitchers
-20.8—Grant Anderson, Rangers (0.2IP 6H 7R BB 0K ND vs. LAD)
-13.8—Dan Dunning, Rangers
-12.0—Caleb Thielbar, Twins
-10.0—JP Sears, Athletics

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters

Out of 325 total batters Tuesday
-5.0—Christian Walker, Diamondbacks 0-5 2K
-5.0—Ozzie Albies, Braves 0-5 K
-5.0—Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays 0-5 K
-5.0—Corey Julks, White Sox 0-5 K
-5.0—Seiya Suzuki, Cubs 0-5 K
-5.0—Mike Tauchman, Cubs 0-5 K
-5.0—Miguel Rojas, Dodgers 0-5 K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.

Scoring

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

  • Blanco earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.

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

  • All of Tuesday’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 (X).

Your support via Buy Me a Coffee keeps Box-Toppers percolating. Thanks for your contributions!

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).
6/11 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +9.1 `PIT 2, STL 1 Paul Skenes   6.1 5 0 0 0 8
AL +8.0 HOU 3, SF 1 Ronel Blanco (W, 6‑2)   6.0 3 1 1 1 8
  +7.0 COL 5, MIN 4 Cal Quantrill (W, 6‑4)   6.0 3 0 0 1 5
  +5.0 PHI 4, BOS 1 Zack Wheeler (W, 8‑3)   7.0 3 1 1 1 4
  +5.0 MIA 4, NYM 2 Tanner Scott (S, 8)   2.0 0 0 0 0 3
  +4.1 WSH 5, DET 4 (F/10) Kyle Finnegan (W, 2‑3)   1.1 0 0 0 0 3
  +4.1 TOR 3, MIL 0 Yimi García (S, 5)   1.1 0 0 0 0 3
BAT +4.0 LAD 15, TEX 2 Will D. Smith C 4 2 3 3  
  +4.0 ARI 9, LAA 4 Randal Grichuk RF 4 3 3 2  
  +3.2 SEA 4, CHW 3 Trent Thornton (W, 2‑1)   1.2 0 0 0 0 2
  +3.0 TB 5, CHC 2 Chris Devenski (W, 2‑1)   1.0 0 0 0 0 2
  +2.1 BAL 4, ATL 0 Albert Suárez (W, 3‑0)   5.1 4 0 0 3 4
BAT +2.0 CLE 5, CIN 3 Steven Kwan LF 4 1 3 2  
  +2.0 NYY 10, KC 1 Aaron Judge CF 4 1 2 3  
  +1.1 SD 4, OAK 3 Robert Suarez (W, 3‑0)   1.1 0 0 0 0 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.
Back to top

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 2024 (’24). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’23-24), the period 2019-2024 (’19-24) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2024 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2023 total (+/-).
Back to top
Player of the Game Pos Team ’24 ’23‑24 ’19‑24 Career +/‑
Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp phi nl 9.7 24.4 69.9 93.3 -5.0
Judge, Aaron 3767 cf dh nyy al 8.5 20.5 47.7 63.9 -3.5
Blanco, Ronel 4959 pi sp hou al 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 +5.7
Quantrill, Cal 4195 pi sp col nl 5.0 7.0 22.7 22.7 +3.0
Skenes, Paul 5005 pi sp pit nl 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +5.0
Finnegan, Kyle 4535 pi cp dc nl 3.0 4.0 11.0 11.0 +2.0
Smith, Will 4175 ca lad nl 3.0 4.0 15.0 15.0 +2.0
Garcia, Yimi 3440 pi cp tor al 3.0 4.0 9.0 11.0 +2.0
Suarez, Albert 3870 pi sp bal al 3.0 3.0 3.0 4.0 +3.0
Kwan, Steven 4573 lf cle al 2.5 5.2 10.2 10.2 -0.2
Scott, Tanner 4292 pi cp fla nl 2.0 4.0 10.0 10.0 0.0
Suarez, Robert 4750 pi cp mr sd nl 2.0 3.0 4.0 4.0 +1.0
Grichuk, Randal 3474 rf ari nl 1.0 5.5 24.7 45.9 -3.5
Devenski, Chris 3702 pi cp mr tb al 1.0 1.0 2.0 10.7 +1.0
Thornton, Trent 4120 pi mr sp sea al 1.0 1.0 9.7 9.7 +1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default view.
Back to top

A Box-Toppers look at Wednesday’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 2024 (’24), this year and last year (’23-24), over a six-year period (’19-24) and their career point total.
Back to top
Game Starter ’24 ’23-24 ’19‑24 Career
COL Gomber, Austin 3985 2.0 3.0 16.0 20.7
MIN Lopez, Pablo 4028 5.0 18.4 50.5 52.2
TOR Bassitt, Chris 3413 5.0 25.1 62.9 68.9
MIL Myers, Tobias 5026 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
HOU Valdez, Framber 4048 4.0 14.0 43.4 45.4
SF Webb, Logan 4258 5.0 17.4 45.3 45.3
OAK Harris, Hogan 4846 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
SD King, Michael 4549 5.0 14.0 19.7 19.7
ATL Schwellenbach, Spencer* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
BAL Povich, Cade* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
WSH Irvin, Jake 4805 3.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
DET Olson, Reese 4861 2.0 9.4 9.4 9.4
CHC Assad, Javier 4899 5.0 9.7 9.7 9.7
TB Civale, Aaron 4173 2.0 8.0 30.4 30.4
CLE Bibee, Tanner 4792 8.0 16.7 16.7 16.7
CIN Lodolo, Nick 4586 6.0 6.0 13.0 13.0
MIA Garrett, Braxton 4341 2.0 14.7 22.4 22.4
NYM Peterson, David 4347 0.0 3.0 13.0 13.0
PHI Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 4.4 8.4 8.4 8.4
BOS Pivetta, Nick 3825 5.0 14.0 29.7 49.4
PIT Falter, Bailey 4473 2.0 6.7 11.7 11.7
STL Gray, Sonny 3259 5.7 16.1 53.7 103.6
NYY Poteet, Cody 4405 0.0 0.0 3.0 3.0
KC Altavilla, Dan 3761 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0
LAA Soriano, Jose 4884 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
ARI Cecconi, Slade 4913 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
CHW Cannon, Jonathan* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
SEA Miller, Bryce 4797 6.7 19.8 19.8 19.8
TEX Gray, Jon 3634 4.0 11.7 33.7 57.1
LAD Buehler, Walker 3943 1.7 1.7 44.5 59.6
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default, game-by-game view.
Back to top