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
▪️ Thursday’s sidelights sidebar
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers
Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Eovaldi struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks, in the 2-1 win over the White Sox.
Eovaldi earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season, 15th among all players and eighth among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day
Brewers pitcher Aaron Civale struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 6-0 win over the Giants.
Civale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 5.4 for the season, 51st among NL pitchers.
AL & NL Batters of the Day
There are no AL and NL Batter of the Day winners for Thursday because no batter won Player of the Game honors in the 11 games completed.
Notable
Astros pitcher Hunter Brown is the highest-ranking player in Box-Toppers season player rankings among those who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Brown (6.2IP 2H 2R 0ER 2BB 4K ND in the 6-3 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.0 for the season, 14th among all players and seventh among AL pitchers.
Though Brown and Eovaldi both have 12.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, Brown ranks one spot higher (in 14th over Eovaldi’s 15th-place ranking) because he has more 2023 points—10.1 vs. 9.7.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Thursday, Aug. 29:| 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 |
Also notable
Cardinals pitcher Sonny Gray becomes the 37th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Gray (6IP 3H R 0BB 4K W in the 4-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season, 30th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.
This is Gray’s sixth season with 10 or more points and his third in a row. His best season was 2015 with the Athletics when he had 17.8 points, sixth among AL pitchers. In 2023, he had 10.4 points with the Twins, 20th among AL pitchers.
Thursday’s sidelights sidebar
Top pitching matchup
▪️Brady Singer, Royals10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 19th among AL pitchers
▪️Hunter Brown, Astros
11.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 13th among AL pitchers
Result—HOU 6, KC 3
Brown was Player of the Game (6.2IP 2H 2R 0ER 2BB 4K ND) with +4.2 B-T game score.
Singer had +2.0 B-T game score in loss (6IP 5H 2R BB 6K ND).
Brown earns 1.0 B-T point, giving him 12.0 for 2024, rising to 7th among AL pitchers.
High scores, no points
Highest Box-Toppers game scores for the day among players who did not earn Player of the Game honors:▪️+6.0—Lawrence Butler, Athletics (3HR 3-4 2R 4BI)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. CIN.
Player of the Game—Tony Santillan, Reds (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 4K ND) with +5.2 game score.
▪️+4.0—JJ Bleday, Athletics (HR 2B 5-5 3R BI)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. CIN.
Player of the Game—Tony Santillan, Reds (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 4K ND) with +5.2 game score.
▪️+4.0—Brendan Rodgers, Rockies (2HR 3-5 3R 3BI)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. MIA.
Player of the Game—Jesus Tinoco (2.1IP 2H 0R 0BB 3K W) with +3.1 game score.
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores
Out of 316 total players Thursday, 85 pitchers-18.0—Julian Aguiar, Reds (4IP 10H 6R BB K ND vs. OAK)
-16.0—Bradley Blalock, Rockies
-14.9—Cade Povich, Orioles
-13.0—Vincente Bellozo, Marlins
-11.0—Grant Holman, Athletics
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters
Out of 231 total batters Thursday-5.0—Marcus Semien, Rangers 0-5 3K
-5.0—Jesús Sánchez, Marlins 0-5 2K
-5.0—Griffin Conine, Marlins 0-5 2K
-5.0—Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers 0-5 K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.
Gray also now has 108.3 career Box-Toppers points, 73rd among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his 1.0 Box-Toppers point Thursday, Gray passes two players on the “all-time” career points list—Lance Berkman (108.1) and Kevin Millwood (108.3). Gray now trails 72nd-ranked player Carlos Beltran (108.6).
Gray ranks 13th among active, signed players in career points, seventh among active NL pitchers.
Debut
Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Thursday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Angels pitcher Jack Kochanowicz (6IP 5H 0R 0BB 4K W in the 3-0 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut July 11 and was playing in his sixth career game.
Marlins pitcher Jesus Tinoco (2.1IP 2H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 12-8 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut May 31, 2019, and was playing in his 71st career game.
Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 5-4 win over the Braves) made his Major League debut Sept. 24, 2023, and was playing in his 55th career game.
Scoring
Eovaldi earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Civale earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day.
All of Thursday’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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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).| 8/29 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +14.0 | TEX 2, CHW 1 | Nathan Eovaldi (W, 10‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| +11.0 | TOR 2, BOS 0 | Bowden Francis (W, 8‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| NL | +10.0 | MIL 6, SF 0 | Aaron Civale (W, 5‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| +5.2 | `CIN 10, OAK 9 | Tony Santillan (H, 2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +5.0 | STL 4, SD 1 | Sonny Gray (W, 12‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +5.0 | LAA 3, DET 0 | Jack Kochanowicz (W, 2‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +4.2 | `HOU 6, KC 3 | Hunter Brown | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| +4.1 | `LAD 6, BAL 3 | Blake Treinen (H, 11) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.1 | MIA 12, COL 8 | Jesus Tinoco (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.1 | PHI 5, ATL 4 | Orion Kerkering (W, 3‑2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | NYM 3, ARI 2 | Edwin Díaz (S, 15) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
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 (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’24 | ’23‑24 | ’19‑24 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown, Hunter 4729 | pi sp | hou al | 12.0 | 22.1 | 23.1 | 23.1 | +1.9 |
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | tex al | 12.0 | 21.7 | 46.8 | 81.3 | +2.3 |
| Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | stl nl | 10.4 | 20.8 | 58.4 | 108.3 | 0.0 |
| Francis, Bowden 5034 | pi sp | tor al | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | +6.7 |
| Civale, Aaron 4173 | pi sp | mil nl | 5.4 | 11.4 | 33.8 | 33.8 | -0.6 |
| Diaz, Edwin 3690 | pi cp | nym nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 19.7 | 44.7 | +3.0 |
| Treinen, Blake 3495 | pi mr cp | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 10.0 | 22.0 | +1.0 |
| Santillan, Tony 4450 | pi mr sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +1.0 |
| Kerkering, Orion 5096 | pi mr | phi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Kochanowicz, Jack 5094 | pi sp | ana al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Tinoco, Jesus 5095 | pi mr | fla nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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A Box-Toppers look at Friday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIL | Rea, Colin 3582 | 10.4 | 15.4 | 15.4 | 19.1 |
| CIN | Martinez, Nick 3430 | 5.7 | 13.1 | 18.1 | 24.8 |
| ATL | Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 | 9.8 | 10.8 | 31.3 | 39.0 |
| PHI | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 9.4 | 13.1 | 28.1 | 28.1 |
| BOS | Houck, Tanner 4342 | 11.4 | 13.4 | 25.1 | 25.1 |
| DET | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIL | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CIN | Lowder, Rhett* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| CHC | Imanaga, Shota 4960 | 15.7 | 15.7 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| WSH | Irvin, Jake 4805 | 9.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| SD | Perez, Martin 3213 | 4.7 | 9.4 | 22.2 | 39.2 |
| TB | Bradley, Taj 4780 | 10.4 | 15.4 | 15.4 | 15.4 |
| STL | Fedde, Erick 4065 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 24.5 | 26.2 |
| NYY | Stroman, Marcus 3327 | 3.0 | 10.7 | 34.4 | 65.2 |
| PIT | Falter, Bailey 4473 | 2.0 | 6.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 |
| CLE | Lively, Ben 3903 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 |
| OAK | Sears, JP 4627 | 7.7 | 11.7 | 16.7 | 16.7 |
| TEX | Gray, Jon 3634 | 6.7 | 14.4 | 36.4 | 59.8 |
| KC | Lugo, Seth 3729 | 12.1 | 18.5 | 27.5 | 36.5 |
| HOU | Valdez, Framber 4048 | 11.4 | 21.4 | 50.8 | 52.8 |
| NYM | Megill, Tylor 4464 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 |
| CHW | Cannon, Jonathan 5036 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| TOR | Gausman, Kevin 3191 | 9.0 | 27.7 | 58.1 | 97.1 |
| MIN | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | 10.7 | 24.1 | 56.2 | 57.9 |
| BAL | Suarez, Albert 3870 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 |
| COL | Gomber, Austin 3985 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 18.0 | 22.7 |
| SEA | Kirby, George 4595 | 11.7 | 25.4 | 36.8 | 36.8 |
| LAA | Aldegheri, Samuel* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| LAD | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | 2.0 | 13.1 | 57.6 | 272.4 |
| ARI | Gallen, Zac 4171 | 7.7 | 24.4 | 58.8 | 58.8 |
| MIA | Oller, Adam 4719 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| SF | Snell, Blake 3688 | 9.0 | 23.7 | 61.9 | 98.1 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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