Mets’ Severino tops players Saturday, Aug. 17; Royals’ Wacha tops AL players

Mets pitcher Luis Severino is Saturday's Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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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
▪️ Saturday’s sidelights sidebar
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
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Mets pitcher Luis Severino is Saturday's Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Severino pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out eight and walking one, in the 4–0 win over the Marlins.

Severino earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.7 for the season, 79th among all players and 32nd among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day

Royals pitcher Michael Wacha struck out 9 over six, scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 13-1 win over the Reds.

Wacha earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, 28th among AL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day is Royals pitcher Michael Wacha.

National League Batter of the Day

Marcell Ozuna of the Braves hit a three-run home run and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-3 win over the Angels.

Ozuna earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, 11th among NL batters.

National League Batter of the Day is Marcell Ozuna of the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day

There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday because no AL batter won Player of the Game  honors in the 15 games completed.

Astros pitcher Hunter Brown has the most 2024 Box-Toppers points among Saturday's Player of the Game  winners.

Notable

Astros pitcher Hunter Brown has the most 2024 Box-Toppers points among Saturday's Player of the Game  winners.

Brown (7IP 4H R 2BB 6K W in the 6-1 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season, 15th among all players and ninth among AL pitchers.

Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta earns Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Saturday, Aug. 17:
  Player Pos Team BTP
1 Dylan Cease pi sp Padres 17.4
2 Tarik Skubal pi sp Tigers 17.1
3 Zack Wheeler pi sp Phillies 16.7
4 Shota Imanaga pi sp Cubs 15.7
5 Luis Gil pi sp Yankees 15.4
6 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 14.4
7 Tanner Bibee pi sp Guardians 13.0
8 Bailey Ober pi sp Twins 12.4
9 Aaron Judge dh cf Yankees 12.0
10 George Kirby pi sp Mariners 11.7
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Also notable

Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta becomes the 27th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Peralta (6IP 4H R 2BB 3K W in the 2-1 win over the Guardians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, 16th among all players and sixth among NL pitchers.

This is Peralta’s third season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and his second straight. His best season was 2023 with the Brewers when he had 17.7 points, sixth overall and third among NL pitchers.

Scoring

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

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

  • Ozuna earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day.

  • All of Saturday’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.

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Saturday’s sidelights sidebar

Top pitching matchup

▪️Tanner Bibee, Guardians
13.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 7th
▪️Freddy Peralta, Brewers
9.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 27th
Result—MIL 2, CLE 1
Peralta was Player of the Game with +1.0 B-T game score (6IP 4H R 2BB 3K W).
Bibee had +5.0 B-T game score in loss (5IP 3H 2R ER 7K L).
Peralta earns 1.0 B-T point, giving him 10.7 in 2024, rising to 16th among all players.

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—Dairon Blanco, Royals (2HR 3-5 2R 7BI)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. CIN.
Player of the Game—Teammate Michael Wacha (6IP 4H 0R BB 9K W) with +10.0 game score.
▪️+5.0—Tanner Bibee, Guardians (5IP 3H 2R ER 7K L)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. MIL.
Player of the Game—Freddy Peralta, Brewers (6IP 4H R 2BB 3K W) with +1.0 game score.
▪️+4.0—Chris Sale, Braves (6IP 6H 2R 2BB 10K W)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. LAA.
Player of the Game—Teammate Marcell Ozuna (HR 3-3 3R 3BI) with +6.0 game score.

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores

Out of 421 total players Saturday, 120 pitchers
-21.9-Nick Lodolo, Reds (2.1IP 8H 8R 2BB 2K L vs. KC)
-15.9—Griffin Canning, Angels
-13.0—Kyle Freeland, Rockies
-11.8—Bobby Miller, Dodgers

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters

Out of 301 total batters Saturday
-5.0—Randy Arozarena, Mariners 0-5 5K
-5.0—Christopher Morel, Rays 0-5 3K
-4.0—Dylan Moore, Mariners 0-4 4K
-4.0—Jesús Sánchez, Marlins 0-4 3K
-4.0—Michael A. Taylor, Pirates 0-4 3K
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).
8/17 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +12.0 NYM 4, MIA 0 Luis Severino (W, 8‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   9.0 4 0 0 1 8
AL +10.0 KC 13, CIN 1 Michael Wacha (W, 10‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 4 0 0 1 9
  +9.0 PHI 5, WSH 1 Cristopher Sánchez (W, 9‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   9.0 2 1 1 0 4
  +9.0 OAK 2, SF 0 Osvaldo Bido (W, 4‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 1 0 0 2 6
BAT +6.0 ATL 11, LAA 3 Marcell Ozuna DH 3 3 3 3   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +6.0 DET 4, NYY 0 Keider Montero (W, 4‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.0 2 0 0 2 5
  +5.0 HOU 6, CHW 1 Hunter Brown (W, 11‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 4 1 1 2 6
  +5.0 BOS 5, BAL 1 Brayan Bello (W, 11‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 2 1 1 3 6
  +5.0 TB 6, ARI 1 Jeffrey Springs (W, 1‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.0 4 1 1 1 7
  +5.0 `PIT 7, SEA 2 Dennis Santana (H, 2) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   2.0 0 0 0 0 3
  +4.0 `CHC 3, TOR 2 Justin Steele ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   2.0 0 0 0 1 3
  +3.0 STL 5, LAD 2 Alec Burleson DH 4 2 3 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.0 SD 8, COL 3 Luis Campusano C 3 2 2 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 MIN 5, TEX 2 Cole Sands (S, 4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 0 0 0 0 1
  +1.0 MIL 2, CLE 1 Freddy Peralta (W, 8‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 4 1 1 2 3
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 +/‑
Brown, Hunter 4729 pi sp hou al 11.0 21.1 22.1 22.1 +0.9
Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 10.7 28.4 58.5 67.2 -7.0
Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 pi sp phi nl 8.4 12.4 12.4 12.4 +4.4
Wacha, Michael 3276 pi sp kc al 7.7 18.7 38.2 68.9 -3.3
Burleson, Alec 4874 dh stl nl 7.5 8.5 8.5 8.5 +6.5
Steele, Justin 4415 pi sp chi nl 7.0 18.1 26.1 26.1 -4.1
Severino, Luis 3567 pi sp nym nl 6.7 11.4 21.1 64.9 +2.0
Ozuna, Marcell 3190 dh atl nl 6.0 13.5 32.5 62.7 -1.5
Bello, Brayan 4727 pi sp bos al 5.7 7.7 8.7 8.7 +3.7
Bido, Osvaldo 4882 pi sp oak al 4.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +3.0
Sands, Cole 5017 pi mr cp mil nl 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 +4.0
Montero, Keider 5057 pi sp det al 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7 +3.7
Springs, Jeffrey 4372 pi sp tb al 2.0 5.7 19.4 19.4 -1.7
Santana, Dennis 4275 pi cp mr pit nl 2.0 2.0 4.0 4.0 +2.0
Campusano, Luis 4770 ca sd nl 1.0 5.7 5.7 5.7 -3.7
What are those numbers after players' names?
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A Box-Toppers look at Sunday’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
MIA Bellozo, Valente 5082 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
NYM Blackburn, Paul 3869 4.0 8.7 12.7 15.7
BOS Crawford, Kutter 4660 5.7 11.4 15.4 15.4
BAL Suarez, Albert 3870 5.0 5.0 5.0 6.0
SEA Kirby, George 4595 11.7 25.4 36.8 36.8
PIT Woodford, Jake 4293 0.0 0.0 6.0 6.0
WSH Irvin, Jake 4805 9.0 12.0 12.0 12.0
PHI Walker, Taijuan 3453 1.0 8.7 31.8 58.2
ARI Kelly, Merrill 4143 1.0 14.0 40.0 40.0
TB Rasmussen, Drew 4547 0.0 6.7 19.8 19.8
KC Singer, Brady 4337 9.0 14.0 32.7 32.7
CIN Abbott, Andrew 4839 5.0 16.0 16.0 16.0
CHW Bush, Ky* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
HOU Valdez, Framber 4048 9.4 19.4 48.8 50.8
CLE Lively, Ben 3903 4.0 5.0 5.0 7.0
MIL Rea, Colin 3582 8.7 13.7 13.7 17.4
LAD Kershaw, Clayton 2494 1.0 12.1 56.6 271.4
STL Gray, Sonny 3259 9.4 19.8 57.4 107.3
TOR Francis, Bowden 5034 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7
CHC Imanaga, Shota 4960 15.7 15.7 15.7 15.7
MIN Lopez, Pablo 4028 9.7 23.1 55.2 56.9
TEX Mahle, Tyler 3929 0.0 2.7 26.4 32.4
SD Musgrove, Joe 3705 3.0 10.0 53.5 63.2
COL Blalock, Bradley* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
ATL Morton, Charlie 2503 8.4 18.4 62.3 112.5
LAA Kochanowicz, Jack* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
SF Snell, Blake 3688 8.0 22.7 60.9 97.1
OAK Sears, JP 4627 7.7 11.7 16.7 16.7
NYY Stroman, Marcus 3327 3.0 10.7 34.4 65.2
DET Skubal, Tarik 4414 17.1 27.8 47.2 47.2
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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