Cubs’ Imanaga tops players Sunday, July 21, rising to 3rd in season player rankings

Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third place in season player rankings.

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Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Sunday, July 21:
  Player Pos Team BTP
1 Dylan Cease pi sp Padres 14.4
2 Luis Gil pi sp Yankees 14.4
3 Shota Imanaga pi sp Cubs 13.7
4 Tarik Skubal pi sp Tigers 13.4
5 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 12.4
6 Tanner Bibee pi sp Guardians 12.0
7 Zack Wheeler pi sp Phillies 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
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Imanaga struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Diamondbacks. Imanaga did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Cubs trailed when he exited.

Imanaga earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season, rising from seventh to third place in season player rankings, behind leader, Padres pitcher Dylan Cease (14.4) and second-place player, Yankees pitcher Luis Gil (14.4).

Imanaga ranks second among NL pitchers behind Cease (14.4).

American League Player of the Day

Royals pitcher Seth Lugo pitched a complete game, striking out six and allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the White Sox.

Lugo earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 10.1 for the season, 11th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.

Lugo becomes the 12th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season with 10 or more points. He began earning points in 2016. His previous best season is 2023 with the Padres, when he had 6.4 points, 40th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day is Royals pitcher Seth Lugo.

American League Batter of the Day

George Springer of the Blue Jays hit two home runs, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 5-4 win over the Tigers.

American League Batter of the Day is George Springer of the Blue Jays.

National League Batter of the Day

Eric Haase of the Brewers hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-7 win over the Twins.

National League Batter of the Day is Eric Haase of the Brewers.

Sunday’s sidelights sidebar

Top pitching matchup

▪️Brandon Pfaadt, Diamondbacks
7.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 18th among NL pithcers
▪️Shota Imanaga, Cubs
11.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 4th among NL pithcers
Result—CHC 2, ARI 1 (F/10)
Imanaga was Player of the Game (7IP 2H R BB 10K ND) with +12.0 B-T game score, also winning overall Player of the Day honors.
Pfaadt had +12.0 B-T game score in loss (7IP H 0R BB 7K ND).
Imanaga earns 2.0 B-T points, giving him 13.7 in 2024, rising to 2nd among NL pitchers.

High scores, no points

Highest Box-Toppers game scores for the day among players who did not earn Player of the Game honors:
▪️+12.0—Brandon Pfaadt, Diamondbacks (7IP H 0R BB 7K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. CHC.
Player of the Game—Shota Imanaga, Cubs (7IP 2H R BB 10K ND) with +12.0 game score.
▪️+6.0—Drew Thorpe, White Sox (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 5K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. KC.
Player of the Game—Seth Lugo, Royals (CG 3H R 0BB 6K W) with +10.0 game score.
▪️+4.0—Yordan Alvarez, Astros (HR 3B 2B 4-4 2R 2BI)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. SEA.
Player of the Game—Andrés Muñoz, Astros (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K Sv) with +4.0 game score.

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores

Out of 438 total players Sunday, 124 pitchers
-12.0—Kutter Crawford, Red Sox (5IP 7H 6R 0BB 2K L vs. LAD)
-11.0—Lucas Erceg, Athletics
-9.9—Keider Montero, Tigers
-9.9—Evan Phillips, Dodgers
-8.8—John Brebbia, White Sox

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters

Out of 314 total batters Sunday
-5.0—Brice Turang, Brewers 0-5 K
-4.0—Miguel Toglia, Rockies 0-4 4K
-4.0—Rafael Devers, Red Sox 0-4 3K
-4.0—Tyler O’Neill, Red Sox 0-4 3K
-4.0—Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks 0-4 3K
-4.0—Salvador Perez, Royals 0-4 3K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.

Notable

Alec Burleson of the Cardinals earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Sunday.

Burleson (HR 2-5 R 2BI in the 6-2 win over the Braves) was also NL Batter of the Day in Saturday’s 9-5 win over the Braves (SF 3-4 R 3BI).

Burleson earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point after earning 1.5 on Saturday and now has 6.5 points for the season, fourth among NL batters.

Debut

Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:

  • Giants pitcher Hayden Birdsong (6IP 2H 2R 2BB 12K W in the 3-2 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut on June 26 and was playing in his fifth career game.

  • Phillies pitcher Tyler Phillips (6IP 4H 0R BB 3K W in the 6-0 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut July 7 and was playing in his third career game.

  • Marlins pitcher Declan Cronin (1.1IP H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 4-2 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut July 30, 2023, and was playing in his 43rd career game.

Scoring

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

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

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

  • All of Sunday’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.

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).
7/21 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +12.0 `CHC 2, ARI 1 (F/10) Shota Imanaga ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 2 1 1 1 10
AL +10.0 KC 4, CHW 1 Seth Lugo (W, 12‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   9.0 3 1 1 0 6
  +10.0 SF 3, COL 2 Hayden Birdsong (W, 2‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 2 2 2 2 12
  +8.0 SD 2, CLE 1 Michael King (W, 8‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 2 1 1 1 6
BAT +5.0 TOR 5, DET 4 George Springer RF 4 3 3 3   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +5.0 `WSH 5, CIN 2 Jake Irvin ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 5 2 2 0 7
BAT +4.0 MIL 8, MIN 7 Eric Haase C 4 2 3 3   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +4.0 PHI 6, PIT 0 Tyler Phillips (W, 2‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 4 0 0 1 3
  +4.0 TEX 3, BAL 2 Andrew Heaney (W, 4‑10) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.0 2 0 0 3 4
  +4.0 SEA 6, HOU 4 Andrés Muñoz (S, 16) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 0 0 0 0 3
  +3.1 MIA 4, NYM 2 Declan Cronin (W, 2‑2) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.1 1 0 0 0 3
  +3.0 LAD 9, BOS 6 Gavin Lux 2B 4 2 3 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 LAA 8, OAK 5 Brandon Drury 1B‑2B 1 1 1 1   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 `TB 6, NYY 4 Manuel Rodríguez (H, 3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 0 0 0 0 1
  0.0 STL 6, ATL 2 Alec Burleson DH 5 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 +/‑
Imanaga, Shota 4960 pi sp chi nl 13.7 13.7 13.7 13.7 +13.7
Lugo, Seth 3729 pi sp kc al 10.1 16.5 25.5 34.5 +3.7
Irvin, Jake 4805 pi sp dc nl 9.0 12.0 12.0 12.0 +6.0
King, Michael 4549 pi sp sd nl 8.0 17.0 22.7 22.7 -1.0
Burleson, Alec 4874 dh stl nl 6.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 +5.5
Heaney, Andrew 3515 pi sp tex al 5.0 16.4 37.8 52.5 -6.4
Munoz, Andres 4222 pi cp sea al 4.0 7.0 10.0 10.0 +1.0
Springer, George 3337 rf tor al 4.0 6.0 25.9 45.9 +2.0
Rodriguez, Manuel 4520 pi mr cp tb al 2.0 2.0 5.0 5.0 +2.0
Haase, Eric 4461 ca dh mil nl 1.5 3.0 11.0 11.0 0.0
Drury, Brandon 3744 1b 2b dh ana al 1.0 8.5 15.0 22.0 -6.5
Lux, Gavin 4247 2b lad nl 1.0 1.0 8.0 8.0 +1.0
Birdsong, Hayden 5063 pi sp sf nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
Cronin, Declan 5065 pi mr fla nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
Phillips, Tyler 5064 pi sp phi nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
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A Box-Toppers look at Monday’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
TB Littell, Zack 4533 3.0 5.0 9.0 9.0
NYY Rodon, Carlos 3494 6.0 7.0 40.5 63.6
DET Skubal, Tarik 4414 13.4 24.1 43.5 43.5
CLE Carrasco, Carlos 2885 1.7 3.4 25.8 113.2
NYM Peterson, David 4347 1.0 4.0 14.0 14.0
MIA Chirinos, Yonny 4039 0.0 1.0 8.0 10.0
STL Pallante, Andre 4656 4.7 4.7 6.7 6.7
PIT Keller, Mitch 4230 7.7 20.7 27.7 27.7
CIN Greene, Hunter 4651 4.0 9.7 15.7 15.7
ATL Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 8.8 9.8 30.3 38.0
PHI Suarez, Ranger 4228 9.4 13.1 28.1 28.1
MIN Ober, Bailey 4441 6.7 15.4 25.1 25.1
CHW Fedde, Erick 4065 5.7 5.7 22.5 24.2
TEX Lorenzen, Michael 3479 3.0 11.7 18.7 26.2
MIL Myers, Tobias 5026 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
CHC Assad, Javier 4899 5.0 9.7 9.7 9.7
ARI Diaz, Yilber* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
KC Ragans, Cole 4889 8.0 12.4 12.4 12.4
BOS Houck, Tanner 4342 11.4 13.4 25.1 25.1
COL Gomber, Austin 3985 2.0 3.0 16.0 20.7
LAA Anderson, Tyler 3656 5.0 7.0 29.4 42.4
SEA Miller, Bryce 4797 9.7 22.8 22.8 22.8
HOU Arrighetti, Spencer 5022 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
OAK Harris, Hogan 4846 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
SF Snell, Blake 3688 3.0 17.7 55.9 92.1
LAD Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
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