Red Sox’ Pivetta tops players Wednesday, Sept. 11; Phillies’ Wheeler extends 2024 lead

Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta is Wednesday’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
▪️ Wednesday’s sidelights sidebar
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers

Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Wednesday, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day

Pivetta struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, in the 5-3, 10-inning win over the Orioles. Pivetta did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Orioles tied the game after he exited.

Pivetta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season, 47th among all players and 23rd among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day is Pirates pitcher Bailey Falter.

National League Player of the Day

Pirates pitcher Bailey Falter struck out five over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks, in the 3-1 win over the Marlins.

Falter earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season, 85th among NL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day is Eugenio Suarez of the Diamondbacks.

National League Batter of the Day

Eugenio Suarez of the Diamondbacks hit two home runs, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 14-4 win over the Rangers.

Suarez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.5 for the season, fourth among NL batters.

American League Batter of the Day is Lane Thomas of the Guardians.

American League Batter of the Day

Lane Thomas of the Guardians went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 6-4 win over the White Sox.

Thomas earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.5 for the season, 13th among AL batters.

This is the second straight day Thomas has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He also did it Tuesday in the 5-0 win over the White Sox (HR 2B 2-4 2R 3BI).

Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler extends his lead 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, Sept. 11:
  Player Pos Team BTP
1 Zack Wheeler pi sp Phillies 20.4
2 Shota Imanaga pi sp Cubs 18.7
3 Tarik Skubal pi sp Tigers 18.1
4 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 18.1
5 Dylan Cease pi sp Padres 17.4
6 Luis Gil pi sp Yankees 17.4
7 Framber Valdez pi sp Astros 14.4
8 Seth Lugo pi sp Royals 14.1
9 Bryce Miller pi sp Mariners 13.7
10 Aaron Nola pi sp Phillies 13.4
Back to top

Rankings

Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Wheeler (6IP 4H 2R 3BB 9K W in the 3-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.4 for the season. He leads over second-place player, Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga (18.7 points) by 1.7 points. Wheeler also leads NL pitchers ahead of Imanaga.

Wheeler becomes the first player in 2024 to reach 20 Box-Toppers points. It is his second season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points. He also did it in 2021 with the Phillies when he had 21.1 points, third overall and second among NL pitchers.

Wheeler also now has 104.0 career Box-Toppers points, 81st-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his 1.0 point Wednesday, he passes Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” career points list and now trails 80th-ranked player Scott Kazmir (105.1).

Wheeler ranks 13th among active players in career points, eighth among active NL pitchers.

Notable

In addition to Wheeler, four other players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points in 2024 earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

Mets pitcher Sean Manaea is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Wednesday.

Mets pitcher Sean Manaea (6.2IP 3H R 4BB 8K ND in the 6-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.4 for the season, 12th overall and sixth among NL pitchers.

Giants pitcher Blake Snell is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Wednesday.

Giants pitcher Blake Snell (5IP 4H R 2BB 8K W in the 13-2 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season, 23rd overall and 11th among NL pitchers.

Snell also becomes the 93rd player to reach 100 career Box-Toppers points since player tracking began in 1995. With his 1.0 point Wednesday, Snell now has 100.8 career Box-Toppers points, 88th-most since 1995, rising past five players on the “all-time” career points list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7), Matt Cain (100.7) and Matt Holliday (100.8). Snell now trails 87th-ranked player Jason Schmidt (101.2.). Snell ranks 14th among active players in career points, ninth among active NL pitchers.

Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Wednesday.

Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo (6.2IP 2H 2R BB 5K W in the 5-2 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, 35th overall and 18th among AL pitchers. Woo is the 45th player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2024. It is his first season with 10 or more points. In his previous season earning points, he had 8.7 points in 2023 with the Mariners, 38th among AL pitchers.

Nationals pitcher Jake Irvin is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Wednesday.

Nationals pitcher Jake Irvin (6IP 2H R BB 5K W in the 5-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, 45th overall and 23rd among NL pitchers. Irvin is the 44th player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2024. It is his first season with 10 or more points. In his previous season earning points, he had 3.0 points in 2023 with the Nationals.

Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn now has 123.5 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Wednesday’s sidelights sidebar

Top pitching matchup

▪️Cole Ragans, Royals
11.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 16th among AL pitchers
▪️Luis Gil, Yankees
17.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 2nd among AL pitchers
Result—NYY 4, KC 3 (F/11)
Neither starter was Player of the Game.
Ragans had +3.0 B-T game score in loss (6IP 3H 2R 3BB 7K ND).
Gil had +1.0 B-T game score (5IP 5H R 2BB 5K ND).
Player of the Game—Luke Weaver, Yankees (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W) with +4.2 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:
▪️+5.2—Xzavion Curry, Marlins (4.2IP 2H 0R 0BB 3K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. PIT.
Player of the Game—Bailey Falter, Pirates (7.1IP 2H 0R 3BB 5K W) with +7.1 game score.
▪️+5.0—Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks (HR 2B 3-4 2R 4BI)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. TEX.
Player of the Game—Teammate Eugenio Suárez (2HR 2B 4-4 4R 2BI) with +6.0 game score.
▪️+5.0—Bowden Francis, Blue Jays (8IP H R BB K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. NYM.
Player of the Game—Sean Manaea, Mets (6.2IP 3H R 4BB 8K ND) with +5.2 game score.

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores

Out of 470 total players Wednesday, 133 pitchers
-27.0—Colin Rea, Brewers (4IP 11H 10R BB K L vs. SF)
-21.0—Jordan Wicks, Cubs
-19.9—Tanner Gordon, Rockies
-17.8—Cody Bradford, Rangers
-14.9—Bobby Miller, Dodgers

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters

Out of 337 total batters Wednesday
-5.0—Andrew Vaughn, White Sox 0-5 3K
-5.0—Seth Brown, Athletics 0-5 2K
-5.0—Freddy Fermin, Royals 0-5 2K
-5.0—Cedric Mullins, Orioles 0-5 2K
-5.0—Freddy Freeman, Dodgers 0-5 K
-5.0—Maikel Garcia, Royals 0-5 K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.

Also notable

Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn now has 123.5 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Lynn (5IP 5H R BB 7K ND in the 2-1 win over the Reds) ranks 49th among all players in career Box-Toppers points since tracking began in 1995. He trails 48th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1). (Sheffield began his career before the advent of Box-Toppers. If his entire career from 1988 to 2009 were tracked, Box-Toppers estimates he would have roughly 155 career points.) Lynn ranks eighth among active, signed players in career points, fourth among active NL pitchers.

Lynn now has 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 60th among NL pitchers.

Scoring

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

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

  • Suarez and Thomas 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.

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 (X).

Your support via Buy Me a Coffee keeps Box-Toppers percolating. Thanks for your contributions!

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).
9/11 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +8.0 `BOS 5, BAL 3 (F/10) Nick Pivetta ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 4 1 1 1 9
NL +7.1 PIT 3, MIA 1 Bailey Falter (W, 8‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.1 2 0 0 3 5
BAT +6.0 ARI 14, TEX 4 Eugenio Suárez 3B 4 4 4 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +6.0 WSH 5, ATL 1 Jake Irvin (W, 10‑12) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 2 1 1 1 5
  +5.2 `NYM 6, TOR 2 Sean Manaea ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.2 3 1 1 4 8
  +5.0 SF 13, MIL 2 Blake Snell (W, 3‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.0 4 1 1 2 8
  +4.2 SEA 5, SD 2 Bryan Woo (W, 8‑2) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.2 2 2 2 1 5
  +4.2 NYY 4, KC 3 (F/11) Luke Weaver (W, 5‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.2 0 0 0 0 3
BAT +4.0 CLE 6, CHW 4 Lane Thomas CF 4 1 3 4   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +4.0 PHI 3, TB 2 Zack Wheeler (W, 15‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 4 2 2 3 9
  +4.0 `STL 2, CIN 1 Lance Lynn ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.0 5 1 1 1 7
  +4.0 `MIN 6, LAA 4 Griffin Jax (H, 24) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   2.0 0 0 0 1 3
  +3.0 LAD 10, CHC 8 Tommy Edman CF 5 2 2 4   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 DET 7, COL 4 Kerry Carpenter DH 4 1 4 1   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +1.0 OAK 5, HOU 4 Max Schuemann 3B 3 2 2 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
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 +/‑
Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp phi nl 20.4 35.1 80.6 104.0 +5.7
Manaea, Sean 3637 pi sp nym nl 13.4 17.1 44.5 67.3 +9.7
Snell, Blake 3688 pi sp sf nl 11.7 26.4 64.6 100.8 -3.0
Woo, Bryan 4842 pi sp sea al 10.7 19.4 19.4 19.4 +2.0
Irvin, Jake 4805 pi sp dc nl 10.0 13.0 13.0 13.0 +7.0
Pivetta, Nick 3825 pi sp bos al 9.7 18.7 34.4 54.1 +0.7
Suarez, Eugenio 3355 3b ari nl 8.5 11.0 28.0 53.0 +6.0
Thomas, Lane 4623 rf cf cle al 5.5 9.2 10.2 10.2 +1.8
Lynn, Lance 2992 pi sp stl nl 5.0 9.7 55.9 123.5 +0.3
Schuemann, Max 5014 3b ss oak al 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +5.0
Falter, Bailey 4473 pi sp pit nl 3.7 8.4 13.4 13.4 -1.0
Carpenter, Kerry 4711 dh ph det al 3.0 4.5 7.5 7.5 +1.5
Edman, Tommy 4255 cf ss lad nl 2.0 7.0 14.5 14.5 -3.0
Weaver, Luke 3719 pi mr cp nyy al 2.0 2.0 14.0 27.7 +2.0
Jax, Griffin 4478 pi mr min al 1.0 1.0 5.7 5.7 +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 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.
Back to top
Game Starter ’24 ’23‑24 ’19‑24 Career
COL Feltner, Ryan 4635 1.0 3.0 5.0 5.0
DET Skubal, Tarik 4414 18.1 28.8 48.2 48.2
CIN Junis, Jakob (Jake) 3857 0.0 5.7 12.7 21.7
STL Gray, Sonny 3259 11.4 21.8 59.4 109.3
OAK Spence, Mitch 4986 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.7
HOU Valdez, Framber 4048 14.4 24.4 53.8 55.8
MIA McCaughan, Darren* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
WSH Parker, Mitchell 4982 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
BOS Criswell, Cooper 4840 5.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
NYY Cortes, Nestor 4160 13.4 15.4 37.8 37.8
TB Pepiot, Ryan 4714 9.7 14.7 16.7 16.7
CLE Williams, Gavin 4865 3.7 7.7 7.7 7.7
TEX Rocker, Kumar* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
SEA Miller, Bryce 4797 13.7 26.8 26.8 26.8
MIL Montas, Frankie 3803 4.0 4.0 36.5 39.5
SF Birdsong, Hayden 5063 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
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