Red Sox’ Bello tops players Wednesday, Aug. 28; Sale, Peralta rise in top 10 list

Red Sox pitcher Brayan Bello is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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▪️ Players of the Game
▪️ B-T points of day’s top players
▪️ Top 10 players in 2024
▪️ Wednesday’s sidelights sidebar
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
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Red Sox pitcher Brayan Bello is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Wednesday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earn Player of the Game honors: Braves pitcher Chris Sale rises to fifth place and Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta rises to ninth place.

Player of the Day

Bello struck out nine over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 3-0 win over the Blue Jays.

Bello earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, 70th among all players and 34th among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day is Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta.

National League Player of the Day

Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks, in the 5-3 win over the Giants.

Peralta earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, rising to ninth place in season player rankings, fifth among NL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day is Christian Bethancourt of the Cubs.

National League Batter of the Day

Christian Bethancourt of the Cubs homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in seven runs, in the 14-10 win over the Pirates.

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

American League Batter of the Day

Seth Brown of the Athletics hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, in the 9-6 win over the Reds. Brown went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs.

Braves pitcher Chris Sale rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Wednesday, Aug. 28:
  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 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 15.4
6 Luis Gil pi sp Yankees 15.4
7 Tanner Bibee pi sp Guardians 13.0
8 Bryce Miller pi sp Mariners 12.7
9 Freddy Peralta pi sp Brewers 12.4
10 Aaron Nola pi sp Phillies 12.4
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Rankings

Braves pitcher Chris Sale rises from sixth to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Sale (6IP 6H R BB 6K W in the 5-1 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.4 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

Sale also now has 168.7 career Box-Toppers points, 15th-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 14th-ranked player Roy Halladay (170.7). Sale ranks fourth among active, signed players in career points and is second among active NL pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (272.4).

Cardinals closing pitcher Ryan Helsley earns Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Notable

Cardinals closing pitcher Ryan Helsley becomes the 36th player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2024 after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Helsley (1IP H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 4-3 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, 35th among all players, 14th among NL pitchers and first among NL closers ahead of second place Camilo Doval of the Giants (6.0 points).

This is Helsley’s first season with 10 or more points. His previous high was 6.0 points in 2022 with the Cardinals, fifth among NL closers. In 2023, he had 4.0 points with the Cardinals, ninth among NL closers.

Dylan Crews of the Nationals made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:
  Player Pos Team BTP
1 Randy Johnson pi sp Retired 282.5
2 Clayton Kershaw pi sp Dodgers 272.4
3 Max Scherzer pi sp Rangers 253.7
4 Justin Verlander pi sp Astros 247.0
5 Pedro Martinez pi sp Retired 244.8
6 Zack Greinke pi sp Free agent 224.5
7 Albert Pujols 1b Retired 207.8
8 CC Sabathia pi sp Retired 203.4
9 Curt Schilling pi sp Retired 194.1
10 Alex Rodriguez 3b Retired 187.0
11 Jon Lester pi sp Retired 179.3
12 Felix Hernandez pi sp Retired 175.1
13 Cole Hamels pi sp Retired 174.2
14 Roy Halladay pi sp Retired 170.7
15 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 168.7
16 Johan Santana pi sp Retired 166.6
17 Manny Ramirez lf dh Retired 166.2
18 Roger Clemens pi sp Retired 164.8
19 John Smoltz pi sp Retired 160.9
20 Gerrit Cole pi sp Yankees 160.3
BTP: Box-Toppers points

Debut

Dylan Crews of the Nationals made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Crews (HR 2B 2-4 R 2BI in the 5-2 win over the Yankees) made his Major League debut Aug. 26 and was playing in his third career game.

Scoring

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

  • Peralta earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day.

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

  • All of Wednesday’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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Wednesday’s sidelights sidebar

Top pitching matchup

▪️Michael Wacha, Royals
18.7 Box-Toppers points over 2023-24, 17th among AL pitchers
▪️Tanner Bibee, Guardians
21.7 Box-Toppers points over 2023-24, 10th among AL pitchers
Result—CLE 7, KC 5
Neither starter was Player of the Game.
Wacha had -6.0 B-T game score in loss (6IP 9H 5R 0BB 7K ND).
Bibee had -9.0 B-T game score (5IP 8H 5R 2BB 6K ND).
Player of the Game—Eli Morgan, Guardians (1IP H 0R 0BB 2K W) with +2.1 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:
▪️+7.2—Chris Bassitt, Blue Jays (6.2IP 5H R BB 9K L)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. BOS.
Player of the Game—Brayan Bello, Red Sox (8IP 2H 0R BB 9K W) with +14.0 game score.
▪️+7.0—Yordan Alvarez, Astros (3HR 4-4 3R 4BI)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. PHI.
Player of the Game—Teammate Spencer Arrighetti (7.2IP 2H 0R 4BB 11K W) with +12.2 game score.
▪️+6.0—David Festa, Twins (6IP 2H 2R BB 7K L)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. ATL.
Player of the Game—Chris Sale, Braves (6IP 6H R BB 6K W) with +3.0 game score.

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores

Out of 459 total players Wednesday, 138 pitchers
-20.0—Taijuan Walker, Phillies (6IP 13H 6R BB 0K L vs. HOU)
-19.8—Kyle Hendricks, Cubs
-14.8—David Bednar, Pirates
-11.0—Emilio Pagán, Reds
-9.9—Michael Mercado, Phillies

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters

Out of 321 total batters Wednesday
-5.0—Ryan McMahon, Rockies 0-5 2K
-5.0—Gleyber Torres, Yankees 0-5 2K
-5.0—Andrew Vaughn, White Sox 0-5 K
-5.0—Whit Merrifield, Braves 0-5
-5.0—Jeremy Peña, Astros 0-5

NOTE: Games suspended and completed later—as was the TEX 3, CHW 1 game, suspended Tuesday and finished Wednesday—are counted in official statistics as having happened the day the game began. But Box-Toppers doesn't believe in time travel and counts statistics for games on the date they are completed.
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).
8/28 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +14.0 BOS 3, TOR 0 Brayan Bello (W, 12‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   8.0 2 0 0 1 9
  +12.2 HOU 10, PHI 0 Spencer Arrighetti (W, 7‑11) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.2 2 0 0 4 11
NL +9.0 MIL 5, SF 3 Freddy Peralta (W, 9‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 2 0 0 3 8
BAT +8.0 CHC 14, PIT 10 Christian Bethancourt C 5 3 3 7   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +4.0 ARI 8, NYM 5 Corbin Carroll RF 5 2 2 5   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
BAT +4.0 OAK 9, CIN 6 Seth Brown 1B 4 2 2 4   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.0 COL 8, MIA 2 Nolan Jones LF 3 2 2 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.0 ATL 5, MIN 1 Chris Sale (W, 15‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 6 1 1 1 6
  +3.0 TEX 4, CHW 3 José Ureña (W, 5‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   4.0 2 0 0 1 2
  +3.0 `TEX 3, CHW 1 David Robertson (H, 26) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 0 0 0 0 2
  +3.0 DET 3, LAA 2 Jason Foley (S, 19) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 0 0 0 0 2
  +3.0 LAD 6, BAL 4 Michael Kopech (S, 12) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 0 0 0 0 2
  +2.1 CLE 7, KC 5 Eli Morgan (W, 2‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.1 1 0 0 0 2
  +2.0 SEA 6, TB 2 Randy Arozarena LF 4 2 3 1   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 STL 4, SD 3 Ryan Helsley (W, 6‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 1 0 0 0 2
  +1.0 WSH 5, NYY 2 Dylan Crews RF 4 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 +/‑
Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp atl nl 15.4 24.1 37.1 168.7 +6.7
Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 12.4 30.1 60.2 68.9 -5.3
Helsley, Ryan 4589 pi cp stl nl 10.0 14.0 20.0 20.0 +6.0
Bello, Brayan 4727 pi sp bos al 7.7 9.7 10.7 10.7 +5.7
Arrighetti, Spencer 5022 pi sp hou al 6.7 6.7 6.7 6.7 +6.7
Carroll, Corbin 4818 rf ph ari nl 3.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 +0.5
Brown, Seth 4239 1b lf oak al 3.0 7.5 17.5 17.5 -1.5
Robertson, David 2774 pi mr tex al 3.0 7.0 9.0 44.0 -1.0
Foley, Jason 4906 pi cp mr det al 3.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 +2.0
Arozarena, Randy 4331 lf sea al 2.5 8.5 20.0 20.0 -3.5
Kopech, Michael 4385 pi sp cp lad nl 2.0 10.0 24.7 24.7 -6.0
Urena, Jose 3492 pi sp mr tex al 2.0 2.0 5.0 25.4 +2.0
Bethancourt, Christian 3407 ca chi nl 1.5 1.5 3.0 8.0 +1.5
Jones, Nolan 4686 lf col nl 1.0 4.5 7.0 7.0 -2.5
Morgan, Eli 4497 pi mr sp cle al 1.0 1.0 8.4 8.4 +1.0
Crews, Dylan 5093 rf dc nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Thursday’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
LAA Kochanowicz, Jack* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
DET Montero, Keider 5057 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7
SF Birdsong, Hayden 5063 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
MIL Civale, Aaron 4173 3.7 9.7 32.1 32.1
TEX Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 10.0 19.7 44.8 79.3
CHW Nastrini, Nick* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
SD King, Michael 4549 11.7 20.7 26.4 26.4
STL Gray, Sonny 3259 9.4 19.8 57.4 107.3
MIA Bellozo, Valente 5082 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
COL Blalock, Bradley* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
NYM Peterson, David 4347 2.0 5.0 15.0 15.0
ARI Nelson, Ryne 4728 7.4 14.1 15.8 15.8
OAK Ginn, J.T.* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
CIN Aguiar, Julian* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
ATL Morton, Charlie 2503 9.4 19.4 63.3 113.5
PHI Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 8.4 12.4 12.4 12.4
TOR Francis, Bowden 5034 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7
BOS Crawford, Kutter 4660 5.7 11.4 15.4 15.4
KC Singer, Brady 4337 10.0 15.0 33.7 33.7
HOU Brown, Hunter 4729 11.0 21.1 22.1 22.1
BAL Povich, Cade 5029 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
LAD Miller, Bobby 4820 2.0 10.7 10.7 10.7
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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