Padres’ Cease tops players Wednesday, Sept. 18, rising to 2nd; Skubal increases AL lead

Padres pitcher Dylan Cease is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to second place in season player rankings.

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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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Padres pitcher Dylan Cease is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to second place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Wednesday, Sept. 18:
  Player Pos Team BTP
1 Zack Wheeler pi sp Phillies 21.4
2 Dylan Cease pi sp Padres 21.1
3 Shota Imanaga pi sp Cubs 19.7
4 Tarik Skubal pi sp Tigers 19.1
5 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 19.1
6 Luis Gil pi sp Yankees 17.4
7 Framber Valdez pi sp Astros 15.4
8 Nestor Cortes pi sp Yankees 15.4
9 Sean Manaea pi sp Mets 14.4
10 Seth Lugo pi sp Royals 14.1
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Also Wednesday, Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal increases his lead among American League pitchers in Box-Toppers season player rankings, rising to fourth place overall, after earning Player of the Game honors. In addition, Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes rises to eighth place in season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day

Cease struck out five over 8 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 4-0 win over the Astros.

Cease earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 21.1 for the season, rising from third to second place overall behind Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (21.4 points). Cease also ranks second among National League pitchers behind Wheeler.

Cease becomes the second player this season to reach 20 Box-Toppers points. It is his second season with 20 or more points. He also did it in 2022 with the White Sox, when his 20.4 points was fifth overall and third among AL pitchers. In 2023, Cease had 10.0 points with the White Sox, 25th among AL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day

Rangers pitcher Cody Bradford struck out six over seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Blue Jays.

Bradford earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 8.4 for the season, 34th among AL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day is Rangers pitcher Cody Bradford.

National League Batter of the Day

Marcell Ozuna of the Braves homered, hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-1 win over the Reds.

Ozuna earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.5 for the season, sixth among NL batters.

National League Batter of the Day is Marcell Ozuna of the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day

Josh Naylor of the Guardians hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Twins.

Naylor earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 9.0 for the season, third among AL batters behind Aaron Judge (13.0) and Juan Soto (11.0), both of the Yankees.

American League Batter of the Day is Josh Naylor of the Guardians.

Rankings

In addition to Cease, two other players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Wednesday.

  • Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (5IP 3H R BB 7K W in the 4-2 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 19.1 for the season, rising from fifth to fourth place overall and increasing his lead among AL pitchers ahead of Luis Gil of the Yankees (17.4 points). Skubal has the same 19.1-point total for 2024 as Braves pitcher Chris Sale but ranks ahead because he has more 2023 points than fifth-place Sale—10.7 vs. 8.7.

  • Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes (6IP 4H 0R 3BB 6K ND in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.4 for the season, rising from ninth to eighth place overall and fourth among AL pitchers. Cortes has the same 15.4-point total for 2024 as Astros pitcher Framber Valdez but ranks behind because he has fewer 2024 points than seventh-ranked Valdez—2.0 vs. 10.0.

Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Wednesday.

Notable

Two other players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points also earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Wednesday.

  • Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta (5IP 2H R 2BB 9K ND in the 2-1 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.4 for the season, 14th overall and seventh among NL pitchers.

  • Mets pitcher Jose Quintana (7IP 2H 0R 2BB 4K W in the 10-0 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, 51st overall and 24th among NL pitchers. Quintana becomes the 51st player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2024. It is his fifth season with 10 or more points. His best season was 2022 with the Pirates and Cardinals when he had 11.4 points, 18th among NL pitchers. In 2023, he had 0.0 points with the Mets.

Mets pitcher Jose Quintana is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Wednesday.

Wednesday’s sidelights sidebar

Top pitching matchup

▪️Framber Valdez, Astros
15.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 7th
▪️Dylan Cease, Padres
19.1 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 3rd
Result—SD 4, HOU 0
Cease was Player of the Game (8.1IP 2H 0R 0BB 5K W) with +11.1 B-T game score.
Valdez had +4.0 B-T game score in loss (7IP 5H R 2BB 6K L).
Cease earns 2.0 B-T points as overall Player of the Day, giving him 21.1 for 2024, rising to 2nd.

High scores, no points

Highest Box-Toppers game scores for the day among players who did not earn Player of the Game honors:
▪️+14.0—Ryan Pepiot, Rays (6IP 2H R 0BB 12K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. BOS, despite having the day’s highest B-T game score.
Player of the Game—Trevor Story, Red Sox (HR 2-3 2R BI) with +3.0 game score.
▪️+11.0—Bailey Ober, Twins (7IP 4H 2R 0BB 12K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. CLE.
Player of the Game—Josh Naylor, Guardians (2HR 2-4 3R 2BI) with +3.0 game score.
▪️+10.0—Aaron Nola, Phillies (7IP 3H R BB 9K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. MIL.
Player of the Game—Freddy Peralta, Brewers (5IP 2H R 2BB 9K ND) with +8.0 game score.

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores

Out of 454 total players Wednesday, 135 pitchers
-15.0—Austin Gomber, Rockies (2IP 6H 6R 5ER BB K L vs. ARI)
-14.9—DJ Herz, Nationals
-10.8—Jalen Beeks, Pirates
-9.9—Ryan Weathers, Marlins

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters

Out of 319 total batters Wednesday
-5.0—Brandon Drury, Angels 0-5 2K
-5.0—Joey Bart, Pirates 0-5 2K
-5.0—Carlos Santana, Twins 0-5 K
-5.0—Mookie Betts, Dodgers 0-5
-5.0—Gavin Sheets, White Sox 0-5
-5.0—Gleyber Torres, Yankees 0-5
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.

Debut

Cardinals pitcher Michael McGreevy made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

McGreevy (3IP 2H 0R 0BB 4K W in the 10-5 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut July 31 and was playing in his second career game.

Scoring

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

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

  • Ozuna and Naylor 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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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).
9/18 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +11.1 SD 4, HOU 0 Dylan Cease (W, 14‑11) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   8.1 2 0 0 0 5
AL +8.0 TEX 2, TOR 0 Cody Bradford (W, 6‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 5 0 0 0 6
  +8.0 LAD 8, MIA 4 Landon Knack (W, 3‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.0 2 0 0 2 7
  +8.0 `MIL 2, PHI 1 Freddy Peralta ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.0 2 1 1 2 9
  +7.1 ARI 9, COL 4 Eduardo Rodriguez (W, 3‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.1 5 2 2 1 11
  +7.0 NYM 10, WSH 0 Jose Quintana (W, 10‑9) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 2 0 0 2 4
  +6.0 DET 4, KC 2 Tarik Skubal (W, 17‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.0 3 1 1 1 7
  +5.0 STL 10, PIT 5 Michael McGreevy (W, 2‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   3.0 2 0 0 0 4
  +5.0 `LAA 4, CHW 3 (F/13) Jack Kochanowicz ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 5 1 1 0 5
  +5.0 `NYY 2, SEA 1 (F/10) Nestor Cortes ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 4 0 0 3 6
BAT +3.0 ATL 7, CIN 1 Marcell Ozuna DH 4 2 3 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
BAT +3.0 CLE 5, MIN 4 (F/10) Josh Naylor 1B 4 3 2 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 SF 5, BAL 3 Michael Conforto DH 4 2 3 1   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 OAK 5, CHC 3 Tyler Soderstrom 1B 4 2 2 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 BOS 2, TB 1 Trevor Story SS 3 2 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 +/‑
Cease, Dylan 4231 pi sp sd nl 21.1 31.1 67.9 67.9 +11.1
Skubal, Tarik 4414 pi sp det al 19.1 29.8 49.2 49.2 +8.4
Cortes, Nestor 4160 pi sp nyy al 15.4 17.4 39.8 39.8 +13.4
Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 13.4 31.1 61.2 69.9 -4.3
Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp nym nl 10.0 10.0 32.8 93.1 +10.0
Naylor, Josh 4154 1b cle al 9.0 16.0 21.0 21.0 +2.0
Bradford, Cody 4938 pi sp tex al 8.4 9.4 9.4 9.4 +7.4
Ozuna, Marcell 3190 dh atl nl 7.5 15.0 34.0 64.2 0.0
Conforto, Michael 3622 lf dh sf nl 3.0 7.5 18.2 35.7 -1.5
Knack, Landon 5009 pi sp lad nl 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 +3.0
Kochanowicz, Jack 5094 pi sp ana al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
Soderstrom, Tyler 5039 1b oak al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 pi sp ari nl 1.0 14.0 35.4 68.2 -12.0
Story, Trevor 3607 (first of 2016) ss 2b bos al 1.0 1.0 22.7 37.7 +1.0
McGreevy, Michael 5113 pi cp stl 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
SF Webb, Logan 4258 10.0 22.4 50.3 50.3
BAL Eflin, Zach 3679 7.7 19.7 38.5 51.2
ATL Sale, Chris 2806 19.1 27.8 40.8 172.4
CIN Aguiar, Julian* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
MIN Woods Richardson, Simeon 4974 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7
CLE Cantillo, Joey 5106 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
TOR Gausman, Kevin 3191 9.0 27.7 58.1 97.1
TEX Rocker, Kumar 5108 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
NYY Schmidt, Clarke 4581 4.0 6.0 10.4 10.4
SEA Gilbert, Logan 4439 11.0 24.4 45.5 45.5
LAD Flaherty, Jack 3971 12.0 16.0 44.2 57.3
MIA Cabrera, Edward 4641 2.0 5.7 12.1 12.1
BOS Bello, Brayan 4727 7.7 9.7 10.7 10.7
TB Littell, Zack 4533 6.7 8.7 12.7 12.7
ARI Pfaadt, Brandon 4812 9.4 13.1 13.1 13.1
MIL Myers, Tobias 5026 9.0 9.0 9.0 9.0
PHI Walker, Taijuan 3453 1.0 8.7 31.8 58.2
NYM Severino, Luis 3567 6.7 11.4 21.1 64.9
PIT Ortiz, Luis 4738 7.0 7.0 8.0 8.0
STL Fedde, Erick 4065 7.7 7.7 24.5 26.2
WSH Corbin, Patrick 3027 5.0 12.1 39.2 97.4
CHC Assad, Javier 4899 6.0 10.7 10.7 10.7
LAA Suarez, Jose 4425 1.0 2.0 17.4 17.4
HOU Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 9.7 19.7 37.1 37.1
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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