Pirates’ Keller tops players Tuesday, Aug. 20; Orioles’ Kremer tops AL players

Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller is Tuesday’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
▪️ Tuesday’s sidelights sidebar
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers

Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Keller struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 4-0 win over the Rangers.

Keller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season, 12th among all players and fifth among National League pitchers.

Keller becomes the 31st player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his second season and second straight season with 10 or more points. In 2023, he had 13.0 Box-Toppers points with the Pirates, eighth among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day

Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, two hits and three walks, in the 9-5 win over the Mets.

Kremer earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, 31st among AL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day is Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer.

American League Batter of the Day

Jarren Duran of the Red Sox homered, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 6-5 win over the Astros.

American League Batter of the Day is Jarren Duran of the Red Sox.

National League Batter of the Day

Jason Heyward of the Dodgers hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 6-3 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day is Jason Heyward of the Dodgers.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Tuesday, Aug. 20:
  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 Seth Lugo pi sp Royals 12.1
10 Aaron Judge dh cf Yankees 12.0
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Scoring

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

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

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

  • All of Tuesday’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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Tuesday’s sidelights sidebar

Top pitching matchup

▪️Tyler Anderson, Angels
8.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 27th among AL pitchers
▪️Cole Ragans, Royals
10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 17th among AL pitchers
Result—LAA 9, KC 5
Neither starter was Player of the Game.
Anderson had -16.0 B-T game score (6IP 12H 5R 2BB 2K W).
Ragans had -1.0 B-T game score in loss (5IP 3H 5R 4ER 3BB 9K L).
Player of the Game—Kevin Pillar, Angels (2B SF 1-2 2R 2BI) with +3.0 B-T 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:
▪️+6.2—Joey Estes, Athletics (7.2IP 3H R BB 5K L)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. TB.
Player of the Game—Shane Baz, Rays (7.2IP 3H 0R 3BB 4K W) with +5.2 game score.
▪️+4.0—Grant Holmes, Braves (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. PHI.
Player of the Game—Teammate Reynaldo López (5IP 5H R BB 10K ND) with +7.0 game score.
▪️+4.0—Ryan Walker, Giants (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K Sv)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. CHW.
Player of the Game—Teammate Robbie Ray (6.2IP 3H R 0BB 9K W) with +10.2 game score.

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores

Out of 441 total players Tuesday, 127 pitchers
-26.9—Carson Spiers, Reds (4.1IP 13H 10R 9ER 2BB 3K L vs. TOR)
-16.0—Jose Quintana, Mets
-16.0—Tyler Anderson, Angels
-12.0—Nick Pivetta, Red Sox
-11.9—Steven Okert, Twins

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters

Out of 314 total batters Tuesday
-6.0—Alex Verdugo, Yankees 0-6 K
-5.0—Brandon Drury, Angels 0-5 4K
-5.0—Josh Naylor, Guardians 0-5 K
-5.0—Masataka Yoshida, Red Sox 0-5 K
-5.0—DJ LeMahieu, Yankees 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).
8/20 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +13.0 PIT 4, TEX 0 Mitch Keller (W, 11‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 3 0 0 0 9
  +10.2 SF 4, CHW 1 Robbie Ray (W, 3‑2) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.2 3 1 1 0 9
  +8.0 MIL 3, STL 2 Frankie Montas (W, 6‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 1 0 0 1 3
  +7.0 `ATL 3, PHI 1 Reynaldo López ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.0 5 1 1 1 10
AL +6.0 BAL 9, NYM 5 Dean Kremer (W, 6‑9) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 2 1 1 3 7
  +5.2 TB 1, OAK 0 Shane Baz (W, 1‑2) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.2 3 0 0 3 4
BAT +5.0 BOS 6, HOU 5 Jarren Duran CF 4 3 4 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +5.0 COL 3, WSH 1 Austin Gomber (W, 4‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 3 1 1 2 5
BAT +4.0 LAD 6, SEA 3 Jason Heyward PH‑CF 1 1 1 3   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.2 CHC 3, DET 1 Javier Assad (W, 6‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.2 6 1 1 1 7
  +3.0 LAA 9, KC 5 Kevin Pillar CF 2 2 1 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.2 `ARI 3, MIA 1 A.J. Puk (H, 12) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.2 1 0 0 0 2
  +2.0 TOR 10, CIN 3 George Springer DH 5 2 2 3   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 SD 7, MIN 5 Robert Suarez (S, 29) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 0 0 0 0 1
  +1.0 CLE 9, NYY 5 (F/12) David Fry PH‑DH 4 1 1 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 +/‑
Keller, Mitch 4230 pi sp pit nl 11.7 24.7 31.7 31.7 -1.3
Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 pi sp atl nl 9.8 10.8 31.3 39.0 +8.8
Kremer, Dean 4330 pi sp bal al 7.7 17.4 28.8 28.8 -2.0
Assad, Javier 4899 pi sp chi nl 6.0 10.7 10.7 10.7 +1.3
Springer, George 3337 rf tor al 5.0 7.0 26.9 46.9 +3.0
Suarez, Robert 4750 pi cp sd nl 5.0 6.0 7.0 7.0 +4.0
Puk, A.J. 4253 pi mr ari nl 4.0 7.0 8.0 8.0 +1.0
Gomber, Austin 3985 pi sp col nl 4.0 5.0 18.0 22.7 +3.0
Montas, Frankie 3803 pi sp mil nl 4.0 4.0 36.5 39.5 +4.0
Pillar, Kevin 3486 cf dh ana al 4.0 4.0 12.0 21.5 +4.0
Ray, Robbie 3502 pi sp sf nl 3.7 3.7 45.5 79.9 +3.7
Heyward, Jason 2695 rf cf ph lad nl 3.0 10.5 20.2 42.7 -4.5
Fry, David 4848 dh ca ph cle al 3.0 4.5 4.5 4.5 +1.5
Duran, Jarren 4783 lf cf bos al 2.5 10.0 10.0 10.0 -5.0
Baz, Shane 4560 pi sp tb al 1.0 1.0 2.7 2.7 +1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
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A Box-Toppers look at Wednesday’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 Irvin, Cole 4140 3.0 6.0 21.4 21.4
NYM Manaea, Sean 3637 8.0 11.7 39.1 61.9
BOS Criswell, Cooper 4840 4.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
HOU Verlander, Justin 2112 2.0 14.4 68.9 247.0
PIT German, Domingo 3957 0.0 6.0 22.4 30.4
TEX Heaney, Andrew 3515 6.0 17.4 38.8 53.5
CHW Crochet, Garrett 4434 10.7 10.7 11.7 11.7
SF Webb, Logan 4258 10.0 22.4 50.3 50.3
ARI Montgomery, Jordan 3814 1.0 11.4 31.5 37.5
MIA Munoz, Roddery 4994 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
MIN Woods Richardson, Simeon 4974 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7
SD Waldron, Matt 4946 6.0 7.0 7.0 7.0
COL Gordon, Tanner* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
WSH Parker, Mitchell 4982 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
CLE Cantillo, Joey* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
NYY Cortes, Nestor 4160 8.7 10.7 33.1 33.1
CIN Martinez, Nick 3430 5.7 13.1 18.1 24.8
TOR Rodriguez, Yariel 4979 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
PHI Nola, Aaron 3569 10.7 22.7 66.8 112.4
ATL Fried, Max 4011 8.7 17.7 61.2 62.2
MIL Myers, Tobias 5026 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0
STL Gibson, Kyle 3312 5.4 14.1 41.2 67.6
DET Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
CHC Taillon, Jameson 3658 5.0 10.4 30.1 56.5
LAA Cueto, Johnny 2400 0.0 0.0 14.4 118.2
KC Lorenzen, Michael 3479 3.0 11.7 18.7 26.2
TB Pepiot, Ryan 4714 8.7 13.7 15.7 15.7
OAK Spence, Mitch 4986 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.7
SEA Gilbert, Logan 4439 11.0 24.4 45.5 45.5
LAD Flaherty, Jack 3971 10.0 14.0 42.2 55.3
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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