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
▪️ Saturday’s sidelights sidebar
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
▪️ Subscribe to newsletter
▪️ Support Box-Toppers
Nationals pitcher MacKenzie Gore is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Mets pitcher Sean Manaea rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day
Gore struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, one hit and three walks, in the 5-1 win over the Cubs.
Gore retired the first 12 Cubs batters he faced and gave up his only hit, a home run to Patrick Wisdom, with one out in the seventh inning.
Gore earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, 98th among all players and 40th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day
Rays closing pitcher Drew Rasmussen struck out three over two scoreless and hitless innings, allowing no walks and earning the save, in the 3-2 win over the Blue Jays.
Rasmussen earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and is 121st among AL pitchers, 32nd among AL closing pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day
Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners homered and went 4-for-6, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-4 win over the Rangers.
Rodriguez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.5 for the season, 10th among AL batters.
This is the second straight day Rodriguez has won AL Batter of the Day honors after doing it Friday (2HR 3-5 2R 5BI in the 8-2 win over the Rangers). He has 3.0 Box-Toppers points in the past two days. Rodriguez was also AL Batter of the Day Sept. 13, meaning he has earned 4.5 of his 6.5 points for the season in the past 10 days.
National League Batter of the Day
Elly De La Cruz of the Reds hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 7-1 win over the Pirates.
De La Cruz earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 24th among NL batters.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Saturday, Sept. 21:| 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 | Sean Manaea | pi sp | Mets | 15.4 |
| 9 | Nestor Cortes | pi sp | Yankees | 15.4 |
| 10 | Seth Lugo | pi sp | Royals | 14.1 |
Rankings
Mets pitcher Sean Manaea rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Manaea (7IP 3H 3R 0BB 6K W in the 6-3 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.4 for the season, rising from ninth to eighth place in season player rankings, fifth among NL pitchers.
Manaea is one of three players with 15.4 points. He ranks second among them based on 2023 points. Astros pitcher Framber Valdez ranks ahead, in seventh because he has the most 2023 points among the three (10.0). Manaea ranks second (3.7 points in 2023). And Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes, ninth overall with 15.4, ranks third among them (2.0 points in 2023).
Notable
Two other pitchers with more than 10 Box-Toppers points in 2024 also won Player of the Game honors Saturday:
Carlos Rodon of the Yankees (6IP 5H 0R BB 4K W in the 10-0 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.7 for the season, 20th overall and 10th among AL pitchers.
Max Fried of the Braves (6IP 5H 2R ER BB 6K W in the 6-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season, 31st overall and 16th among NL pitchers.
Saturday’s sidelights sidebar
Top pitching matchup
▪️Ranger Suárez, Phillies10.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 22nd among NL pitchers
▪️Sean Manaea, Mets
14.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 5th among NL pitchers
Result—NYM 6, PHI 3
Manaea is Player of the Game with +4.0 B-T game score (7IP 3H 3R 0BB 6K W).
Suárez had -3.0 B-T game score in loss (5IP 5H 2R 3BB 4K ND).
Manaea earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.4 for the 2024, remaining in 5th among NL pitchers.
High scores, no points
Highest Box-Toppers game scores for the day among players who did not earn Player of the Game honors:▪️+4.0—Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks (HR 2-2 2R 2BI)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. MIL.
Player of the Game—Teammate Merrill Kelly (5IP 2H 0R 0BB 6K W) with +9.0 game score.
▪️+4.0—Miles Mikolas, Cardinals (6IP 4H R 0BB 4K W)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. CLE.
Player of the Game—Teammate Iván Herrera (HR 2B 2-3 3BI) with +4.0 game score. (Though Herrea and Mikolas both have +4.0 game scores, Herrea wins Player of the Game because in cases of game score ties, batters rank ahead of pitchers.)
▪️+4.0—Ryan Helsey, Cardinals (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K Sv)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. CLE.
Player of the Game—Teammate Iván Herrera (HR 2B 2-3 3BI) with +4.0 game score. (Though Herrea and Helsley both have +4.0 game scores, Herrea wins Player of the Game because in cases of game score ties, batters rank ahead of pitchers.)
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores
Out of 424 total players Saturday, 127 pitchers-21.0—Reid Detmers, Angels (2IP 9H 7R 3BB 3K L vs. HOU)
-12.0—JP Sears, Athletics
-11.9—JoJo Romero, Cardinals
-11.8—Brandon Bielak, Athletics
-11.0—Jared Jones, Pirates
Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters
Out of 297 total batters Saturday-5.0—Mark Vientos, Mets 0-5 5K
-5.0—Travis d’Arnaud, Braves 0-5 4K
-5.0—Zach Neto, Angels 0-5 4K
-5.0—Andy Ibáñez, Tigers 0-5 2K
-5.0—Wenceel Pérez, Tigers 0-5 2K
-5.0—James Wood, Nationals 0-5 2K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.
Also notable
Kyle Tucker of the Astros earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Saturday.
Tucker (HR 2B 4-4 R 2BI in the 10-4 win over the Angels) was also Player of the Game in Friday’s 9-7 win over the Angels (HR 4-5 3R BI). He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point each day, giving him 6.0 for the season, 14th among AL batters.
Tucker also won Player of the Game honors Sept. 14, meaning he has earned 3.0 of his 6.0 points for the season in the past nine days.
One more notable thing
Matt Chapman of the Giants was Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s 9-0 win over the Royals, winning the honor on a low-level tiebreaker over teammate LaMonte Wade Jr.
Both Chapman and Wade had identical line scores (2HR 2-4 2R 2BI), both hitting two solo home runs, both striking out once and neither earning a walk. Chapman won on a low-level tiebreaker because he was lower in the batting order, fourth, while Wade batted third.
Chapman earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.5 for the season, seventh among NL batters.
Debut
Rockies pitcher Victor Vodnik made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Vodnik (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 6-3 win over the Dodgers) made his Major League debut Sept. 9, 2023, and was playing in his 67th career game.
Scoring
Gore earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.
Rasmussen earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.
Rodriguez and De La Cruz each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.
All of Saturday’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!
2024 Box-Toppers points—NL pitchers
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) September 22, 2024
1—Zack Wheeler #Phillies 21.4
2—Dylan Cease #Padres 21.1
3—Shota Imanaga #Cubs 19.7
4—Chris Sale #Braves 19.1
5—Sean Manaea #Mets 15.4*
6—Blake Snell #SFGiants 13.7
7—Freddy Peralta #Brewers 13.4
*Earns 1.0 pt as Player of the Game Saturday
Career Box-Toppers points since 1995*
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) September 22, 2024
1—Randy Johnson 282.5
2—Clayton Kershaw #Dodgers 272.4
3—Max Scherzer #Rangers 253.7
4—Justin Verlander #Astros 247.0
5—Pedro Martinez 244.8
6—Zack Greinke 224.5
7—Albert Pujols 207.8
8—CC Sabathia 203.4
*B-T tracking began in 1995
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).| 9/21 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +10.0 | WSH 5, CHC 1 | MacKenzie Gore (W, 10‑12) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | |
| +9.0 | ARI 5, MIL 0 | Merrill Kelly (W, 5‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| AL | +5.0 | TB 3, TOR 2 | Drew Rasmussen (S, 1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| +4.1 | SD 6, CHW 2 | Martín Pérez (W, 5‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | SEA 8, TEX 4 | Julio Rodríguez CF | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| BAT | +4.0 | CIN 7, PIT 1 | Elly De La Cruz SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | STL 6, CLE 5 | Iván Herrera C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | NYM 6, PHI 3 | Sean Manaea (W, 12‑5) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | ||
| +4.0 | NYY 10, OAK 0 | Carlos Rodón (W, 16‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +3.0 | HOU 10, LAA 4 | Kyle Tucker RF | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | DET 6, BAL 4 (F/10) | Riley Greene LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | ATL 6, MIA 2 | Max Fried (W, 10‑10) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| +2.2 | COL 6, LAD 3 | Victor Vodnik (W, 5‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +2.0 | SF 9, KC 0 | Matt Chapman 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 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.
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.4 | 19.1 | 46.5 | 69.3 | +11.7 |
| Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | nyy al | 12.7 | 13.7 | 47.2 | 70.3 | +11.7 |
| Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | atl nl | 11.4 | 20.4 | 63.9 | 64.9 | +2.4 |
| Chapman, Matt 3849 | 3b | sf nl | 8.5 | 12.0 | 30.0 | 37.0 | +5.0 |
| Gore, MacKenzie 4582 | pi sp | dc nl | 7.0 | 14.0 | 18.7 | 18.7 | 0.0 |
| Rodriguez, Julio 4590 | cf | sea al | 6.5 | 10.5 | 18.0 | 18.0 | +2.5 |
| Tucker, Kyle 4277 | rf | hou al | 6.0 | 18.5 | 35.2 | 35.2 | -6.5 |
| Perez, Martin 3213 | pi sp mr | sd nl | 5.7 | 10.4 | 23.2 | 40.2 | +1.0 |
| Greene, Riley 4675 | cf dh lf | det al | 5.2 | 5.2 | 7.7 | 7.7 | +5.2 |
| De La Cruz, Elly 4844 | ss | cin nl | 5.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | -0.5 |
| Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari nl | 2.0 | 15.0 | 41.0 | 41.0 | -11.0 |
| Herrera, Ivan 4954 | dh ca | stl nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +1.0 |
| Rasmussen, Drew 4547 | pi sp | tb al | 1.7 | 8.4 | 21.5 | 21.5 | -5.0 |
| Vodnik, Victor 5116 | pi mr | col nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
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 Sunday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIN | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | 11.7 | 25.1 | 57.2 | 58.9 |
| BOS | Pivetta, Nick 3825 | 9.7 | 18.7 | 34.4 | 54.1 |
| PIT | Skenes, Paul 5005 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| CIN | Greene, Hunter 4651 | 8.7 | 14.4 | 20.4 | 20.4 |
| DET | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BAL | Suarez, Albert 3870 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 |
| ATL | Holmes, Grant* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| MIA | McCaughan, Darren* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TOR | Burr, Ryan* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| TB | Baz, Shane 4560 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| LAA | Canning, Griffin 4134 | 4.7 | 10.7 | 22.4 | 22.4 |
| HOU | Arrighetti, Spencer 5022 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| ARI | Montgomery, Jordan 3814 | 1.0 | 11.4 | 31.5 | 37.5 |
| MIL | Montas, Frankie 3803 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 38.5 | 41.5 |
| SF | Snell, Blake 3688 | 13.7 | 28.4 | 66.6 | 102.8 |
| KC | Lugo, Seth 3729 | 14.1 | 20.5 | 29.5 | 38.5 |
| CLE | Williams, Gavin 4865 | 3.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| STL | Pallante, Andre 4656 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 |
| WSH | Irvin, Jake 4805 | 10.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| CHC | Imanaga, Shota 4960 | 19.7 | 19.7 | 19.7 | 19.7 |
| SEA | Woo, Bryan 4842 | 10.7 | 19.4 | 19.4 | 19.4 |
| TEX | Heaney, Andrew 3515 | 9.0 | 20.4 | 41.8 | 56.5 |
| NYY | Gil, Luis 4498 | 17.4 | 17.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 |
| OAK | Estes, Joey 5000 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| CHW | Burke, Sean* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SD | Darvish, Yu 3003 | 7.7 | 14.7 | 64.7 | 138.7 |
| COL | Senzatela, Antonio 3760 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 13.0 |
| LAD | Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| MIN | Matthews, Zebby* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| BOS | Crawford, Kutter 4660 | 5.7 | 11.4 | 15.4 | 15.4 |
| PHI | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | 21.4 | 36.1 | 81.6 | 105.0 |
| NYM | Megill, Tylor 4464 | 2.7 | 6.7 | 18.4 | 18.4 |
* 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