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
▪️ Friday’s sidelights sidebar
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers
Royals pitcher Michael Wacha is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day
Wacha struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 7-1 win over the White Sox.
Wacha earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, 59th among all players and 27th among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day
Diamondbacks pitcher Ryne Nelson struck out nine over 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 5-2 win over the Cubs.
Nelson earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, 43rd among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day
Max Schuemann of the Athletics hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 13-3 win over the Angels.
National League Batter of the Day
Jake Cave of the Rockies hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-3 win over the Giants.
Rankings
Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee rises from eighth to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Bibee (5.2IP 2H 0R 3BB 3K W in the 7-0 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.0 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers, behind Luis Gil of the Yankees (14.4) and Tarik Skubal of the Tigers (13.4).
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Friday, July 19:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luis Gil | pi sp | Yankees | 14.4 |
| 2 | Tarik Skubal | pi sp | Tigers | 13.4 |
| 3 | Dylan Cease | pi sp | Padres | 12.4 |
| 4 | Chris Sale | pi sp | Braves | 12.4 |
| 5 | Tanner Bibee | pi sp | Guardians | 12.0 |
| 6 | Zack Wheeler | pi sp | Phillies | 11.7 |
| 7 | Shota Imanaga | pi sp | Cubs | 11.7 |
| 8 | Tanner Houck | pi sp | Red Sox | 11.4 |
| 9 | George Kirby | pi sp | Mariners | 10.7 |
| 10 | Tyler Glasnow | pi sp | Dodgers | 10.7 |
Notable
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole now has 158.3 career Box-Toppers points—21st-most since 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Cole (6IP 6H R BB 8K W in the 6-1 win over the Rays) now trails 20th-ranked player on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list, Miguel Cabrera (159.4). Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
Cole ranks fifth among active, signed players in career points, third among active AL pitchers, behind Max Scherzer of the Rangers (252.7) and Justin Verlander of the Astros (247.0).
With his 1.0 Box-Toppers point earned Friday, Cole now has 3.0 points for the season, 59th among AL pitchers.
Friday’s sidelights sidebar
Top pitching matchup
▪️Hunter Brown, Astros7.0 Box-Toppers points over 2024, 19th among AL pitchers
▪️Luis Castillo, Mariners
8.7 Box-Toppers points over 2024, 9th among AL pitchers
Result—HOU 3, SEA 0
Brown was Player of the Game (6IP 4H 0R 3BB 5K W) with +4.0 B-T game score.
Castillo had -3.0 B-T game score in loss (7IP 6H 3R BB 3K L).
Brown earns 1.0 B-T point, giving him 8.0 in 2024, rising to 14th among AL pitchers over that span.
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—Nick Pivetta, Red Sox (6IP 2H 0R BB 8K ND)
Pivetta had Friday’s highest B-T game score, but was not Player of the Game in loss vs. LAD.
Player of the Game—Freddy Freeman, Dodgers (GS 1-4 R 4BI) with +2.0 game score.
▪️+6.0—Kyle Harrison, Giants (5IP H 0R 4BB 6K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. COL.
Player of the Game—Jake Cave, Rockies (HR 2B 2-2 2R 3BI) with +5.0 game score.
▪️+4.0—Jeff McNeil, Mets (2HR 3-4 2R 3BI)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. MIA.
Player of the Game—Tanner Scott, Marlins (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB K Sv) with +2.1 game score.
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores
Out of 377 total players Friday, 115 pitchers-15.8—Frankie Montas, Reds (4.2IP 6H 7R 3BB 3K L vs. WSH)
-14.8—Chris Flexen, White Sox
-13.9—Griffin Canning, Angels
-13.8—Martín Pérez, Pirates
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters
Out of 312 total batters Sunday-4.0—Jackson Merrill, Padres 0-4 4K
-4.0—Wilyer Abreu, Red Sox 0-4 3K
-4.0—Keston Hiura, Angels Sox 0-4 3K
-4.0—Eugenio Suárez, Diamondbacks 0-4 3K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.
Scoring
Wacha earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Nelson earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day.
Schuemann and Cave each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.
All of Friday’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.
Career Box-Toppers points—Active players
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) July 20, 2024
1—Clayton Kershaw @Dodgers 270.4
2—Max Scherzer @Rangers 252.7
3—Justin Verlander @Astros 247.0
4—Chris Sale @Braves 165.7
5—Gerrit Cole @Yankees 158.3*
6—Jacob deGrom @Rangers 139.2
*Earns 1.0 B-T point as Player of the Game Friday
Career Box-Toppers points—Active NL batters
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) July 20, 2024
1—Freddie Freeman @Dodgers 88.9*
2—Paul Goldschmidt @Cardinals 88.0
3—Andrew McCutchen @Pirates 80.9
4—Shohei Ohtani @Dodgers 78.7
5—Bryce Harper @Phillies 73.6
6—J.D. Martinez @Mets 67.1
*Earns 1.0 B-T pts as Player of the Game Friday
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).| 7/19 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.0 | KC 7, CHW 1 | Michael Wacha (W, 7‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| NL | +7.2 | ARI 5, CHC 2 | Ryne Nelson (W, 7‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |
| +7.0 | WSH 8, CIN 5 | Patrick Corbin (W, 2‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +6.0 | OAK 13, LAA 3 | Max Schuemann 3B‑SS | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.2 | DET 5, TOR 4 | Jack Flaherty (W, 7‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| +5.0 | BAL 9, TEX 1 | Anthony Santander RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | COL 7, SF 3 | Jake Cave PH‑RF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | NYY 6, TB 1 | Gerrit Cole (W, 3‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| +4.0 | HOU 3, SEA 0 | Hunter Brown (W, 8‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| +3.2 | CLE 7, SD 0 | Tanner Bibee (W, 8‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | PIT 8, PHI 7 | Oneil Cruz SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.1 | MIA 6, NYM 4 | Tanner Scott (S, 15) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +2.0 | LAD 4, BOS 1 | Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bibee, Tanner 4792 | pi sp | cle al | 12.0 | 20.7 | 20.7 | 20.7 | +3.3 |
| Flaherty, Jack 3971 | pi sp | det al | 9.0 | 13.0 | 41.2 | 54.3 | +5.0 |
| Brown, Hunter 4729 | pi sp | hou al | 8.0 | 18.1 | 19.1 | 19.1 | -2.1 |
| Wacha, Michael 3276 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 | 17.0 | 36.5 | 67.2 | -5.0 |
| Nelson, Ryne 4728 | pi sp | ari nl | 4.7 | 11.4 | 13.1 | 13.1 | -2.0 |
| Scott, Tanner 4292 | pi cp | fla nl | 4.0 | 6.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | +2.0 |
| Cruz, Oneil 4665 | ss | pit nl | 3.5 | 4.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | +2.5 |
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 3.0 | 20.0 | 97.4 | 158.3 | -14.0 |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | lad nl | 3.0 | 13.0 | 39.7 | 88.9 | -7.0 |
| Santander, Anthony 3935 | rf | bal al | 3.0 | 6.0 | 18.0 | 19.5 | 0.0 |
| Schuemann, Max 5014 | ss 3b | oak al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | +2.5 |
| Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | dc nl | 2.0 | 9.1 | 36.2 | 94.4 | -5.1 |
| Cave, Jake 3992 | rf ph | col nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 6.0 | 8.0 | +1.5 |
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 Saturday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TB | Bradley, Taj 4780 | 7.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| NYY | Cortes, Nestor 4160 | 6.7 | 8.7 | 31.1 | 31.1 |
| STL | Gibson, Kyle 3312 | 5.4 | 14.1 | 41.2 | 67.6 |
| ATL | Morton, Charlie 2503 | 5.7 | 15.7 | 59.6 | 109.8 |
| DET | Olson, Reese 4861 | 3.0 | 10.4 | 10.4 | 10.4 |
| TOR | Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 | 3.7 | 13.7 | 31.1 | 31.1 |
| LAA | Kochanowicz, Jack* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| OAK | Spence, Mitch 4986 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| NYM | Severino, Luis 3567 | 3.7 | 8.4 | 18.1 | 61.9 |
| MIA | Munoz, Roddery 4994 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| PHI | Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 | 7.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 |
| PIT | Ortiz, Luis 4738 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| CIN | Lodolo, Nick 4586 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| WSH | Gore, MacKenzie 4582 | 4.0 | 11.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| BAL | Rodriguez, Grayson 4790 | 3.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| TEX | Scherzer, Max 2588 | 1.0 | 16.4 | 70.9 | 252.7 |
| CHW | Cannon, Jonathan 5036 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| KC | Singer, Brady 4337 | 7.0 | 12.0 | 30.7 | 30.7 |
| MIL | Peralta, Freddy 3965 | 8.7 | 26.4 | 56.5 | 65.2 |
| MIN | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | 8.7 | 22.1 | 54.2 | 55.9 |
| SD | Cease, Dylan 4231 | 12.4 | 22.4 | 59.2 | 59.2 |
| CLE | Williams, Gavin 4865 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| ARI | Gallen, Zac 4171 | 5.0 | 21.7 | 56.1 | 56.1 |
| CHC | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | 3.0 | 8.0 | 36.1 | 76.6 |
| BOS | Bello, Brayan 4727 | 3.7 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| LAD | Wrobleski, Justin* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| STL | Gray, Sonny 3259 | 8.4 | 18.8 | 56.4 | 106.3 |
| ATL | Elder, Bryce 4709 | 1.0 | 9.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| SF | Webb, Logan 4258 | 5.0 | 17.4 | 45.3 | 45.3 |
| COL | Freeland, Kyle 3763 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 20.7 | 39.1 |
| HOU | Valdez, Framber 4048 | 5.7 | 15.7 | 45.1 | 47.1 |
| SEA | Kirby, George 4595 | 10.7 | 24.4 | 35.8 | 35.8 |
* 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