Red Sox’ Pivetta tops players for Wednesday, June 5; Phillies’ Nola rises to 5th

Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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▪️ Players of the Game
▪️ B-T points of day’s top players
▪️ Top 10 players in 2024
▪️ Wednesday’s sidelights sidebar
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
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Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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

Player of the Day

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Wednesday, June 5:
Player Pos Team BTP
1 Luis Gil pi sp Yankees 13.4
2 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 9.7
3 Ranger Suárez pi sp Phillies 9.4
4 Zack Wheeler pi sp Phillies 8.7
5 Aaron Nola pi sp Phillies 8.7
6 Tanner Houck pi sp Red Sox 8.7
7 Shota Imanaga pi sp Cubs 8.7
8 Tanner Bibee pi sp Guardians 8.0
9 George Kirby pi sp Mariners 7.7
10 Dylan Cease pi sp Padres 7.7
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Pivetta struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks, in the 9-0 win over the Braves.

Pivetta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 38th among all players and 18th among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day

Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola struck out five over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Brewers.

Nola earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, rising to fifth place in season player rankings, fourth among NL pitchers and third among Phillies pitchers, behind Ranger Suarez (9.4) and Zack Wheeler (8.7). (Though Wheeler and Nola both have 8.7 points in 2024, Wheeler ranks ahead because he has more 2023 points—14.7 vs. 12.0.)

Nola also now has 110.4 career Box-Toppers points, 67th among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his 1.7 points Wednesday, he passes Jeff Kent (110.2) on the “all-time” career points list and now trails 66th-ranked Tom Glavine (110.6). (Both Kent and Glavine began their careers prior to the advent of Box-Toppers tracking in 1995. Box-Toppers projects Kent would have about 125 points if his career from 1992 were tracked and projects Glavine would have about 170 points if his career from 1987 were tracked.)

Nola ranks 11th among active, signed players in career points, fifth among active NL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day is Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola.

National League Batter of the Day

Jonathan India of the Reds hit a grand slam and a sacrifice fly in the 12-7 win over the Rockies. India went 1-for-3, scoring twice and driving in five runs.

Jonathan India of the Reds is Box-Toppers National League Batter of the Day.

American League Batter of the Day

Zach Neto of the Angels homered and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 3-2 win over the Padres.

American League Batter of the Day is Zach Neto of the Angels.

Wednesday’s sidelights sidebar

Top pitching matchup

▪️Zach Eflin, Rays
14.0 Box-Toppers points over 2023-24, 38th
▪️Braxton Garrett, Marlins
14.7 Box-Toppers points over 2023-24, 34th
Result—TB 5, MIA 3
Neither starter was Player of the Game.
Eflin had 0.0 B-T game score (4IP 3H 2R 0BB 3K ND).
Garrett had -11.8 B-T game score in loss (2.2IP 6H 5R BB 3K L).
Player of the Game—Richard Lovelady, Rays (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W) with +3.0 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:
▪️+5.0—Rafael Devers, Red Sox (2HR 2-3 3R 3BI)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. ATL.
Player of the Game—Teammate Nick Pivetta (7IP H 0R 2BB 9K W) with +13.0 game score.
▪️+4.0—Aaron Judge, Yankees (3B 1-3 R 5BI)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. MIN
Player of the Game—Teammate Carlos Rodón (6IP 3H 2R 0BB 9K W) with +8.0 game score.
▪️+4.0—Heliot Ramos, Giants (HR 2-2 2R 2BI)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. ARI.
Player of the Game—Teammate Wilmer Flores (HR SF 2-4 R 5BI) with +4.0 game score. (Though Flores and Ramos both had +4.0 game scores, Flores won Player of the Game because he had more at bats—four vs. two.)

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores

Out of 404 total players Wednesday, 120 pitchers
-19.0—Jordan Montgomery, Diamondbacks (2IP 7H 6R 3BB K L vs. SF)
-17.8—James Paxton, Dodgers
-13.8—Jalen Beeks, Rockies
-12.8—Spencer Schwellenbach, Braves
-11.9—Patrick Corbin, Nationals

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters

Out of 284 total batters Wednesday
-5.0—Luis Robert Jr., White Sox 0-5 3K
-5.0—Curt Casali, Giants 0-5 K
-4.0—Riley Greene, Tigers 0-4 3K
-4.0—Willy Adames, Brewers 0-4 2K
-4.0—Ryan Mountcastle, Orioles 0-4 2K
-4.0—Ceddanne Rafaela, Red Sox 0-4 2K
-4.0—Jon Singleton, Astros 0-4 2K
-4.0—Christian Yelich, Brewers 0-4 2K
-4.0—Jake Meyers, Astros 0-4 2K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.

Scoring

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

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

  • India and Neto 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).
6/4 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +13.0 BOS 9, ATL 0 Nick Pivetta (W, 3‑4)   7.0 1 0 0 2 9
  +10.1 OAK 2, SEA 1 Joey Estes (W, 2‑1)   6.1 1 0 0 0 5
NL +10.0 PHI 2, MIL 0 Aaron Nola (W, 8‑2)   7.0 2 0 0 0 5
  +8.2 TEX 9, DET 1 José Ureña (W, 2‑5)   6.2 1 1 1 1 6
  +8.0 NYY 9, MIN 5 Carlos Rodón (W, 8‑2)   6.0 3 2 2 0 9
BAT +5.0 CIN 12, COL 7 Jonathan India 2B 3 2 1 5  
  +4.0 SF 9, ARI 3 Wilmer Flores 1B 4 1 2 5  
  +4.0 PIT 10, LAD 6 Nick Gonzales SS 3 1 2 4  
  +3.0 NYM 9, WSH 1 Luis Severino (W, 4‑2)   8.0 7 1 1 0 4
  +3.0 TB 5, MIA 3 Richard Lovelady (W, 2‑4)   1.0 0 0 0 0 2
  +3.0 TOR 3, BAL 2 Yimi García (W, 2‑0)   1.0 0 0 0 0 2
  +3.0 STL 4, HOU 2 Ryan Helsley (S, 20)   1.0 0 0 0 0 2
  +2.0 CHC 7, CHW 6 Mike Tauchman DH 4 3 2 1  
BAT +2.0 LAA 3, SD 2 Zach Neto SS 3 1 2 2  
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 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 (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’24 ’23‑24 ’19‑24 Career +/‑
Nola, Aaron 3569 pi sp phi nl 8.7 20.7 64.8 110.4 -3.3
Helsley, Ryan 4589 pi cp stl nl 7.0 11.0 17.0 17.0 +3.0
Pivetta, Nick 3825 pi sp bos al 5.0 14.0 29.7 49.4 -4.0
Rodon, Carlos 3494 pi sp nyy al 5.0 6.0 39.5 62.6 +4.0
India, Jonathan 4469 2b cin nl 3.0 7.0 10.7 10.7 -1.0
Gonzales, Nick 4870 2b ss pit nl 3.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 +2.0
Estes, Joey 5000 pi sp oak al 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 +2.7
Tauchman, Mike 4212 rf cf dh chi nl 2.0 8.0 9.5 9.5 -4.0
Severino, Luis 3567 pi sp nym nl 2.0 6.7 16.4 60.2 -2.7
Garcia, Yimi 3440 pi cp mr tor al 2.0 3.0 8.0 10.0 +1.0
Neto, Zach 4821 ss ana al 1.5 4.0 4.0 4.0 -1.0
Flores, Wilmer 3345 dh 1b sf nl 1.0 6.2 18.2 30.2 -4.2
Urena, Jose 3492 pi sp tex al 1.0 1.0 4.0 24.4 +1.0
Lovelady, Richard 4506 pi mr cp tb al 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 +1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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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 2024 (’24), this year and last year (’23-24), over a six-year period (’19-24) and their career point total.
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Game Starter ’24 ’23-24 ’19‑24 Career
BAL Povich, Cade* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
TOR Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 2.7 12.7 30.1 30.1
KC Singer, Brady 4337 5.0 10.0 28.7 28.7
CLE Bibee, Tanner 4792 8.0 16.7 16.7 16.7
SEA Woo, Bryan 4842 5.0 13.7 13.7 13.7
OAK Sears, JP 4627 3.0 7.0 12.0 12.0
LAD Buehler, Walker 3943 1.7 1.7 44.5 59.6
PIT Falter, Bailey 4473 2.0 6.7 11.7 11.7
ATL Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 5.4 6.4 26.9 34.6
WSH Parker, Mitchell 4982 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
MIN Lopez, Pablo 4028 5.0 18.4 50.5 52.2
NYY Stroman, Marcus 3327 3.0 10.7 34.4 65.2
CHC Assad, Javier 4899 5.0 9.7 9.7 9.7
CIN Greene, Hunter 4651 3.0 8.7 14.7 14.7
COL Quantrill, Cal 4195 4.0 6.0 21.7 21.7
STL Gray, Sonny 3259 5.7 16.1 53.7 103.6
BOS Houck, Tanner 4342 8.7 10.7 22.4 22.4
CHW Woodford, Jake 4293 0.0 0.0 6.0 6.0
ARI Cecconi, Slade 4913 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
SD Vasquez, Randy 4841 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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