Mariners’ Kirby tops players Sunday, Sept. 15; Yankees’ Judge extends AL batting lead

Mariners pitcher George Kirby is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to 10th place in season player rankings.

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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
▪️ Sunday’s sidelights sidebar
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
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Mariners pitcher George Kirby is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to 10th place in season player rankings.

Also Sunday, Aaron Judge of the Yacnkees increases his 2024 Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters after earning Player of the Game honors. In addition, National League Most Valuable Player favorite Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors, but only ranks 14th among NL batters in 2024 Box-Toppers points.

Player of the Day

Kirby struck out three over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 7-0 win over the Rangers.

Kirby earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season, rising to 10th place among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.

Kirby has the same 2024 Box-Toppers point total (13.7) as teammate Bryce Miller, but ranks ahead because he has more 2023 points—13.7 vs. 13.1. Miller falls to 11th place overall and seventh among AL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day is Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks.

National League Player of the Day

Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, two hits and three walks, in the 6-2 win over the Rockies.

Hendricks earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, 69th among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day is Carlos Santana of the Twins.

American League Batter of the Day

Carlos Santana of the Twins homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 9-2 win over the Reds.

Santana earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 18th among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day is Josh Bell of the Diamondbacks.

National League Batter of the Day

Josh Bell of the Diamondbacks doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in one run, in the 11-10, 10-inning win over the Brewers.

Bell earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, 16th among NL batters.

Aaron Judge of the Yankees earns Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Sunday, Sept. 15:
  Player Pos Team BTP
1 Zack Wheeler pi sp Phillies 20.4
2 Dylan Cease pi sp Padres 19.1
3 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 19.1
4 Shota Imanaga pi sp Cubs 18.7
5 Tarik Skubal pi sp Tigers 18.1
6 Luis Gil pi sp Yankees 17.4
7 Framber Valdez pi sp Astros 15.4
8 Nestor Cortes pi sp Yankees 14.4
9 Seth Lugo pi sp Royals 14.1
10 George Kirby pi sp Mariners 13.7
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Rankings

Aaron Judge of the Yankees increases his 2024 Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Judge (HR 1-2 R 2BI in the 5-2 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season, 15th among all players and increasing his lead among AL batters ahead of second-place Juan Soto of the Yankees (9.5).

This is Judge’s first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor in more than a month. He last did it Aug. 14. Second-place Soto has not won Player of the Game honors since July 29.

Judge has now exceeded his 2023 Box-Toppers point total, when his 12.0 points ranked third among AL batters. He is just short of his 2022 total of 13.2 points, which led AL batters, his best single-season point total.

By reaching 13.0 Box-Toppers points this season, Judge has ensured there will not be a new record set for the lowest Box-Toppers point total to lead AL batters in a season. The lowest total for a season’s AL batting leader is 12.1, set in 2017 by Edwin Encarnacion of Cleveland.

Judge is just one of two batters with 10 or more Box-Toppers points in 2024. The other is Willy Adames of the Brewers (10.5 points). The fewest batters to reach 10 points in a season is four in 2022. However, there are six batters with between 8.5 and 9.7 points who could pass 10 points by winning one Player of the Game or Batter of the Day honor.

Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez now has 11.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Notable

Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez now has 11.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Sanchez (7IP 6H R BB 7K ND in the 2-1 win over the Mets) now ranks 30th among all players and 15th among NL pitchers after earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point Sunday.

Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point as Player of the Game Sunday.

Sunday’s sidelights sidebar

Top pitching matchup

▪️Andrew Heaney, Rangers
9.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 30th among AL pitchers
▪️George Kirby, Mariners
11.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 12th among AL pitchers
Result—SEA 7, TEX 0
Kirby was Player of the Game with +9.0 B-T game score (7IP H 0R 0BB 3K W).
Heaney had -6.0 B-T game score in loss (5IP 7H 3R BB 3K L).
Kirby earns 2.0 B-T points as overall Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for 2024, rising to 6th 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:
▪️+6.2—David Peterson, Mets (7.2IP 4H R BB 6K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. PHI.
Player of the Game—Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies (7IP 6H R BB 7K ND) with +5.0 game score.
▪️+5.0—Charlie Morton, Braves (6IP 3H R 2BB 6K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. LAD.
Player of the Game—Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers (2-2B 2-4 R 2BI) with +2.0 game score.
▪️+5.0—Landen Roupp, Giants (5IP 2H 0R 2BB 4K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. SD.
Player of the Game—Fernando Tatis Jr. (HR 1-1 R BI) with +2.0 game score.

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores

Out of 462 total players Sunday, 137 pitchers
-13.8—Raisel Iglesias, Braves (0.2IP 4H 5R BB K L vs. LAD)
-11.0—DL Hall, Brewers
-10.9—Caden Dana, Angels
-10.8—Kevin Ginkel, Diamondbacks
-9.9—Cal Quantrill, Rockies

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters

Out of 325 total batters Sunday
-5.0—Yanier Diaz, Astros 0-5 2K
-5.0—Matt Wallner, Twins 0-5 2K
-4.0—Max Schuemann, Athletics 0-4 4K
-4.0—Mark Vientos, Mets 0-4 4K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.

Also notable

Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point as Player of the Game Sunday (2-2B 2-4 R 2BI in the 9-2 win over the Braves) giving him 6.0 for the season, 14th among NL batters.

While Ohtani is a favorite for NL Most Valuable Player because of his quest to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases (he currently has 47 homers and 48 steals), his Box-Toppers point total for 2024 puts him outside the top 10 NL batters. Ironically, Ohtani won Player of the Game honors Sunday on a day in which he neither hit a home run nor stole a base.

Ohtani, in his first year with the Dodgers, currently has his second-lowest single-season Box-Toppers point total in his seventh season earning points. The only season in which he had fewer was 2020 with the Angels, the pandemic-shortened season, in which he had 0.0 points playing in 44 games. In 2019, Ohtani had 6.5 points with the Angels, 21st among AL batters, a season like 2024 in which he served solely as a batter and did not also pitch.

Ohtani has earned more than half of his 80.7 career Box-Toppers points as a pitcher (45.5) but underwent elbow surgery a year ago and has not pitched this season. In 2023, he earned 19.4 Box-Toppers points with the Angels, including 9.7 as a batter and 9.7 as a pitcher.

Ohtani with the Angels won the AL Most Valuable Player Award in 2021 and 2023 and finished second in 2022 voting. He was Box-Toppers’ AL MVP in both 2022 and 2023. Box-Toppers’ AL MVP in 2021 was Jose Ramirez of Cleveland. In 2022, Aaron Judge of the Yankees won AL MVP over Ohtani.

Ohtani has a relatively low Box-Toppers point total in 2024, in part, because he is now on a team with other players who share in being the key player to help the Dodgers win games. However, with Sunday’s Player of the Game honor, Ohtani now leads Dodgers batters in Box-Toppers points for 2024, ahead of Freddie Freeman (5.5), Teoscar Hernandez (5.0), Enrique Hernandez (4.5), Will Smith (4.0) and Mookie Betts (3.5). Four Dodgers pitchers have more than 6.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024—Jack Flaherty (12.0), Tyler Glasnow (11.7), Gavin Stone (9.0) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6.4).

(Related: A look at Ohtani’s career prior to 2024—Can Shohei Ohtani continue his lofty, Angelic Box-Toppers rankings with Dodgers?)

Debut

Bryan Ramos of the White Sox made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Ramos (HR 2B 2-3 R BI in the 4-3 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut May 4 and was playing in his 22nd career game.

Scoring

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

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

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

  • All of Sunday’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).
9/15 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +9.0 SEA 7, TEX 0 George Kirby (W, 12‑11) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 1 0 0 0 3
NL +6.0 CHC 6, COL 2 Kyle Hendricks (W, 4‑11) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 2 1 1 3 7
  +6.0 WSH 4, MIA 3 MacKenzie Gore (W, 9‑12) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 2 1 0 2 5
  +5.0 `PHI 2, NYM 1 Cristopher Sánchez ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 6 1 1 1 7
  +5.0 HOU 6, LAA 4 Ronel Blanco (W, 11‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 4 0 0 2 5
BAT +4.0 MIN 9, CIN 2 Carlos Santana 1B 4 3 3 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.1 DET 4, BAL 2 Jason Foley (S, 23) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.1 0 0 0 0 2
  +2.0 TOR 3, STL 2 Davis Schneider LF 3 1 2 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
BAT +2.0 ARI 11, MIL 10 (F/10) Josh Bell DH 3 2 2 1   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 NYY 5, BOS 2 Aaron Judge CF 2 1 1 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 SD 4, SF 3 (F/10) Fernando Tatis Jr. PH 1 1 1 1   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 CLE 2, TB 0 Ben Lively (W, 12‑9) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.0 4 0 0 1 2
  +2.0 PIT 4, KC 3 Aroldis Chapman (S, 9) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 0 0 0 0 1
  +1.0 LAD 9, ATL 2 Shohei Ohtani DH 4 1 2 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +1.0 CHW 4, OAK 3 Bryan Ramos 3B 3 1 2 1   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
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 +/‑
Kirby, George 4595 pi sp sea al 13.7 27.4 38.8 38.8 0.0
Judge, Aaron 3767 dh cf nyy al 13.0 25.0 52.2 68.4 +1.0
Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 pi sp phi nl 11.4 15.4 15.4 15.4 +7.4
Blanco, Ronel 4959 pi sp hou al 9.7 9.7 9.7 9.7 +9.7
Ohtani, Shohei 3933 dh lad nl 6.0 25.4 72.7 80.7 -13.4
Bell, Josh E. 3682 1b dh ari nl 6.0 10.5 25.7 33.7 +1.5
Gore, MacKenzie 4582 pi sp dc nl 5.0 12.0 16.7 16.7 -2.0
Santana, Carlos 2757 1b min al 5.0 7.7 19.2 46.4 +2.3
Lively, Ben 3903 pi sp cle al 5.0 6.0 6.0 8.0 +4.0
Hendricks, Kyle 3386 pi sp chi nl 4.7 9.7 37.8 78.3 -0.3
Foley, Jason 4906 pi cp det al 4.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +3.0
Chapman, Aroldis 2826 pi cp mr pit nl 3.0 7.0 17.0 69.1 -1.0
Schneider, Davis 4890 lf 2b tor al 3.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +1.0
Tatis, Fernando Jr. 4101 rf ph sd nl 2.0 8.0 24.2 24.2 -4.0
Ramos, Bryan 5111 3b chi al 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 Monday’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
MIN Lopez, Pablo 4028 11.7 25.1 57.2 58.9
CLE Boyd, Matthew 3550 3.0 3.0 12.0 31.8
WSH Irvin, Jake 4805 10.0 13.0 13.0 13.0
NYM Manaea, Sean 3637 13.4 17.1 44.5 67.3
LAD Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.4
ATL Fried, Max 4011 10.4 19.4 62.9 63.9
DET Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
KC Lugo, Seth 3729 14.1 20.5 29.5 38.5
OAK Estes, Joey 5000 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7
CHC Imanaga, Shota 4960 18.7 18.7 18.7 18.7
PHI Suarez, Ranger 4228 10.4 14.1 29.1 29.1
MIL Civale, Aaron 4173 5.4 11.4 33.8 33.8
PIT Skenes, Paul 5005 12.0 12.0 12.0 12.0
STL Pallante, Andre 4656 5.7 5.7 7.7 7.7
ARI Kelly, Merrill 4143 1.0 14.0 40.0 40.0
COL Senzatela, Antonio 3760 0.0 0.0 6.0 13.0
CHW Cannon, Jonathan 5036 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
LAA Detmers, Reid 4513 3.7 10.4 18.4 18.4
HOU Arrighetti, Spencer 5022 6.7 6.7 6.7 6.7
SD Darvish, Yu 3003 6.7 13.7 63.7 137.7
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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