Giants’ Harrison tops players Friday, July 26; Mariners’ Kirby rises to 8th place

Giants pitcher Kyle Harrison is Friday’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
▪️ Friday’s sidelights sidebar
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers

Giants pitcher Kyle Harrison is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Mariners pitcher George Kirby rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day

Harrison struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, one hit and two walks, in the 11-4 win over the Rockies.

Harrison earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 97th among all players and 40th among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day

Astros pitcher Framber Valdez struck out 10 over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, in the 5-0 win over the Dodgers.

Valdez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.4 for the season, 47th among all players and 24th among AL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day is Astros pitcher Framber Valdez.

National League Batter of the Day

Jurickson Profar of the Padres hit two home runs and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 6-4 win over the Orioles.

National League Batter of the Day is Jurickson Profar of the Padres.

American League Batter of the Day

Seth Brown of the Athletics homered and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 5-4 win over the Angels.

American League Batter of the Day is Seth Brown of the Athletics.

Rankings

Mariners pitcher George Kirby rises from ninth to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Kirby (7IP 6H 0R BB 7K W in the 10-0 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

Mariners pitcher George Kirby rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Debut

Juan Yepez of the Nationals made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Yepez (2B SF 3-4 2R 2BI in the 10-8, 10-inning win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut May 4, 2022, and was playing in his 121st career game.

Juan Yepez of the Nationals made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Friday, July 26:
  Player Pos Team BTP
1 Dylan Cease pi sp Padres 16.4
2 Luis Gil pi sp Yankees 14.4
3 Zack Wheeler pi sp Phillies 13.7
4 Shota Imanaga pi sp Cubs 13.7
5 Tarik Skubal pi sp Tigers 13.4
6 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 12.4
7 Tanner Bibee pi sp Guardians 12.0
8 George Kirby pi sp Mariners 11.7
9 Tanner Houck pi sp Red Sox 11.4
10 Tyler Glasnow pi sp Dodgers 10.7
Back to top

Scoring

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

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

  • Profar and Brown 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.

Friday’s sidelights sidebar

Top pitching matchup

▪️MacKenzie Gore, Nationals
11.0 Box-Toppers points over 2023-24, 37th among NL pitchers
▪️Sonny Gray, Cardinals
18.8 Box-Toppers points over 2023-24, 11th among NL pitchers
Result—WSH 10, STL 8 (F/10)
Neither starter was Player of the Game.
Gore had -15.0 B-T game score (5IP 9H 6R 2BB 3K ND).
Gray had -8.9 B-T game score in loss (5IP 7H 5R 3BB 7K ND).
Player of the Game—Juan Yepez, Nationals (2B SF 3-4 2R 2BI) 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:
▪️+7.0—Jorge Soler, Giants (HR 3-3 4R 3BI)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. COL.
Player of the Game—Teammate Kyle Harrison (6.2IP H R 2BB 11K W) with +12.2 game score.
▪️+5.0—Tyler Fitzgerald, Giants (2HR 3-5 3R 4BI)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. COL.
Player of the Game—Teammate Kyle Harrison (6.2IP H R 2BB 11K W) with +12.2 game score.
▪️+5.0—Shane Baz, Rays (6IP 2H 2R 2BB 7K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. CIN.
Player of the Game—Nick Martinez, Reds (2IP H 0R BB 2K W) with +2.0 game score.

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores

Out of 440 total players Friday, 130 pitchers
-22.8—Drew Thorpe, White Sox (0.2IP 6H 8R 2BB K L vs. SEA)
-15.0—MacKenzie Gore, Nationals
-14.8—Charlie Morton, Braves
-11.0—Kyle Hendricks, Cubs
-10.8—Yusei Kikuchi, Blue Jays

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters

Out of 310 total batters Friday
-5.0—Justyn-Henry Malloy, Tigers 0-5 3K
-5.0—Lawrence Butler, Athletics 0-5 K
-5.0—Brendan Donovan, Cardinals 0-5 K
-5.0—Austin Riley, Braves 0-5 K
-5.0—Otto Lopez, Marlins 0-5 K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.

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).
7/26 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +12.2 SF 11, COL 4 Kyle Harrison (W, 6‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.2 1 1 1 2 11
AL +10.1 HOU 5, LAD 0 Framber Valdez (W, 9‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.1 4 0 0 2 10
  +8.0 KC 6, CHC 0 Brady Singer (W, 7‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 2 0 0 2 5
  +7.1 NYM 8, ATL 4 Kodai Senga (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.1 2 2 2 1 9
  +7.0 SEA 10, CHW 0 George Kirby (W, 8‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 6 0 0 1 7
  +5.0 CLE 3, PHI 1 Ben Lively (W, 9‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 3 1 1 2 6
  +3.1 TOR 6, TEX 5 Chad Green (W, 3‑2) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.1 0 0 0 0 2
BAT +3.0 SD 6, BAL 4 Jurickson Profar LF 5 2 2 4   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
BAT +3.0 OAK 5, LAA 4 Seth Brown 1B 4 1 3 3   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.0 MIN 9, DET 3 Christian Vázquez C 4 2 3 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.0 WSH 10, STL 8 (F/10) Juan Yepez 1B 4 2 3 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.0 `ARI 4, PIT 3 Kevin Ginkel (H, 9) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 0 0 0 0 2
  +2.0 BOS 9, NYY 7 Rob Refsnyder LF 4 2 3 1   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 CIN 3, TB 2 (F/10) Nick Martinez (W, 4‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   2.0 1 0 0 1 2
  0.0 MIA 6, MIL 2 Bryan De La Cruz LF 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.
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 +/‑
Kirby, George 4595 pi sp sea al 11.7 25.4 36.8 36.8 -2.0
Singer, Brady 4337 pi sp kc al 9.0 14.0 32.7 32.7 +4.0
Valdez, Framber 4048 pi sp hou al 7.4 17.4 46.8 48.8 -2.6
Harrison, Kyle 4914 pi sp sf nl 5.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 +3.0
Martinez, Nick 3430 pi mr cin nl 4.7 12.1 17.1 23.8 -2.7
Profar, Jurickson 3665 lf sd nl 4.5 5.5 12.7 18.7 +3.5
Lively, Ben 3903 pi sp cle al 4.0 5.0 5.0 7.0 +3.0
Ginkel, Kevin 4830 pi mr cp ari nl 3.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 -3.0
De La Cruz, Bryan 4500 dh lf fla nl 2.0 7.0 12.0 12.0 -3.0
Vazquez, Christian 3380 ca min al 2.0 3.0 8.0 19.0 +1.0
Green, Chad 3675 pi cp mr tor al 2.0 2.0 11.0 18.0 +2.0
Brown, Seth 4239 1b lf oak al 1.5 6.0 16.0 16.0 -3.0
Senga, Kodai 4762 pi sp nym nl 1.0 13.7 13.7 13.7 -11.7
Refsnyder, Rob 4422 lf bos al 1.0 2.0 6.5 6.5 0.0
Yepez, Juan 5070 1b dc nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +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 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
TEX Lorenzen, Michael 3479 3.0 11.7 18.7 26.2
TOR Gausman, Kevin 3191 5.0 23.7 54.1 93.1
SD King, Michael 4549 8.0 17.0 22.7 22.7
BAL Kremer, Dean 4330 6.0 15.7 27.1 27.1
ATL Schwellenbach, Spencer 5035 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
NYM Megill, Tylor 4464 0.0 4.0 15.7 15.7
CIN Abbott, Andrew 4839 5.0 16.0 16.0 16.0
TB Littell, Zack 4533 3.0 5.0 9.0 9.0
CLE Carrasco, Carlos 2885 1.7 3.4 25.8 113.2
PHI Phillips, Tyler 5064 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
MIN Ryan, Joe 4539 8.7 17.4 34.8 34.8
DET Skubal, Tarik 4414 13.4 24.1 43.5 43.5
COL Feltner, Ryan 4635 0.0 2.0 4.0 4.0
SF Snell, Blake 3688 3.0 17.7 55.9 92.1
CHC Imanaga, Shota 4960 13.7 13.7 13.7 13.7
KC Lugo, Seth 3729 10.1 16.5 25.5 34.5
LAD Wrobleski, Justin 5062 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
HOU Blanco, Ronel 4959 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7
MIA Meyer, Max 4965 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
MIL Civale, Aaron 4173 2.0 8.0 30.4 30.4
NYY Stroman, Marcus 3327 3.0 10.7 34.4 65.2
BOS Crawford, Kutter 4660 5.7 11.4 15.4 15.4
SEA Woo, Bryan 4842 7.0 15.7 15.7 15.7
CHW Fedde, Erick 4065 5.7 5.7 22.5 24.2
WSH Irvin, Jake 4805 9.0 12.0 12.0 12.0
STL Gibson, Kyle 3312 5.4 14.1 41.2 67.6
PIT Gonzales, Marco 3408 0.0 0.0 22.1 36.5
ARI Pfaadt, Brandon 4812 7.4 11.1 11.1 11.1
OAK Spence, Mitch 4986 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7
LAA Anderson, Tyler 3656 6.0 8.0 30.4 43.4
COL Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
SF Birdsong, Hayden 5063 1.0 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?
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