D-backs’ Gallen tops players Wednesday, Sept. 25; Mariners’ Kirby rises to 9th place

Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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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
▪️ Wednesday’s sidelights sidebar
▪️ Upcoming pitching matchups
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Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Wednesday, Mariners pitcher George Kirby rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.

In addition, National League Most Valuable Player favorite Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers rises to fourth place among NL batters in 2024 Box-Toppers points (9.5) after earning his fourth Player of the Game honor in 11 days Wednesday.

Player of the Day

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Wednesday, Sept. 25:
  Player Pos Team BTP
1 Zack Wheeler pi sp Phillies 21.4
2 Tarik Skubal pi sp Tigers 21.1
3 Dylan Cease pi sp Padres 21.1
4 Shota Imanaga pi sp Cubs 20.7
5 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 19.1
6 Luis Gil pi sp Yankees 17.4
7 Blake Snell pi sp Giants 15.7
8 Bryce Miller pi sp Mariners 15.7
9 George Kirby pi sp Mariners 15.4
10 Framber Valdez pi sp Astros 15.4
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Gallen struck out 11 over six innings, allowing one run, two hits and two walks, in the 8-2 win over the Giants.

Gallen earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, 23rd among all players and 11th among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day

Mariners pitcher George Kirby struck out six over six innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, in the 8-1 win over the Astros.

Kirby earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 15.4 for the season, rising to ninth place in season player rankings, fourth among AL pitchers.

Kirby is one of four players with 15.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024, but ranks first among them because he has the most 2023 Box-Toppers points (13.7). The other three players with 15.4 points in 2024:

  • Astros pitcher Framber Valdez is 10th overall (10.0 points in 2023).

  • Mets pitcher Sean Manaea is 11th overall (3.7 points in 2023).

  • Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes is 12th overall (2.0 points in 2023).

American League Player of the Day is Mariners pitcher George Kirby.

American League Batter of the Day

Jose Ramirez of the Guardians hit a three-run homer, tripled, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-2 win over the Reds.

Ramirez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 9.9 for the season, 56th among all players and third among AL batters, behind Aaron Judge of the Yankees (13.0) and Juan Soto of the Yankees (11.0).

American League Batter of the Day is Jose Ramirez of the Guardians.

National League Batter of the Day

Bryson Stott of the Phillies doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-6 win over the Cubs.

Stott earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, 19th among NL batters.

National League Batter of the Day is Bryson Stott of the Phillies.

Notable

NL Most Valuable Player favorite Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers rises to fourth place among NL batters in 2024 Box-Toppers points (9.5) after earning his fourth Player of the Game honor in 11 days Wednesday.

Ohtani (2B 2-3 R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and has now earned 4.5 of his 9.5 points for the season since Sept. 15. While he is now in fourth place among NL batters, he is only 1.0 point behind Willy Adames of the Brewers, who leads NL batters with 10.5 points.

While Ohtani has been the overwhelming, perhaps unanimous favorite to win NL MVP in 2024, he was outside the top 10 NL batters in Box-Toppers points all season until earning NL Batter of the Day honors on Sept 19. With Player of the Game honors Sept. 15, Sept. 19, Sept. 20 and now Sept. 25, Ohtani has earned nearly half of his Box-Toppers point total for the season in less than two weeks. With four days left in the season, Ohtani now needs just 1.0 Box-Toppers point to take the lead among NL batters.

Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers rises to fourth among NL batters in 2024 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Wednesday’s sidelights sidebar

Top pitching matchup

▪️Dylan Cease, Padres
21.1 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 2nd among NL pitchers
▪️Jack Flaherty, Dodgers
12.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 12th among NL pitchers
Result—LAD 4, SD 3
Neither starter was Player of the Game.
Cease had -5.0 B-T game score in loss (5IP 5H 3R 3BB 4K ND).
Flaherty had -3.0 B-T game score (5IP 4H 3R 3BB 5K ND).
Player of the Game—Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers (2B 2-3 R 2BI) with +2.0 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:
▪️+7.0—Yusei Kikuchi, Astros (6IP 4H 2R 0ER BB 8K L)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. SEA.
Player of the Game—George Kirby, Mariners (6IP 4H R BB 6K W) with +5.0 game score.
▪️+4.1—Freddy Peralta, Brewers (5.1IP 2H 2R 2BB 7K L)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. PIT.
Player of the Game—Luis L. Ortiz, Pirates (7IP 4H R BB 5K W) with +5.0 game score.
▪️+4.0—Nico Hoerner, Cubs (2HR 2-4 2R 4BI)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. PHI.
Player of the Game—Bryson Stott, Phillies (2B 3-4 2R 2BI) with +3.0 game score.

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores

Out of 429 total players Wednesday, 133 pitchers
-19.9—Javier Assad, Cubs (4.1IP 8H 8R 3BB 3K L vs. PHI)
-17.9—Marcus Stroman, Yankees
-12.8—Mason Black, Giants
-11.0—Brady Basso, Athletics
-10.9—Matt Bowman, Orioles

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters

Out of 296 total batters Wednesday
-5.0—Randy Arozarena, Mariners 0-5 4K
-4.0—Grant McCray, Giants 0-4 4K
-4.0—Donovan Solano, Padres 0-4 3K
-4.0—Matt Chapman, Giants 0-4 2K
-4.0—Yainer Diaz, Astros 0-4 2K
-4.0—Justin Foscue, Rangers 0-4 2K
-4.0—Joey Gallo, Nationals 0-4 2K
-4.0—Bryan Reynolds, Pirates 0-4 2K
-4.0—Tyler Soderstrom, Athletics 0-4 2K
-4.0—Tyler O'Neill, Red Sox 0-4 2K
-4.0—Jurickson Profar, Padres 0-4 2K
-4.0—Ezequiel Tovar, Rockies 0-4 2K
-4.0—Sam Hilliard, Rockies 0-4 2K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.

Debut

Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:

  • Tigers pitcher Sean Guenther (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 7-1 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Aug. 4, 2021, and was playing in his 30th career game.

  • Jonatan Clase of the Blue Jays (HR 3-3 2R 2BI in the 6-1 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut April 15 and was playing in his 24th career game.

  • Korey Lee of the White Sox (HR 2-2 R 2BI in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Angels) made his Major League debut July 1, 2022, and was playing in his 159th career game.

Scoring

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

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

  • Ramirez and Stott 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.

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Padres pitcher Dylan Cease likely eliminated from Box-Toppers Player of the Year contention after failing to win B-T Player of the Game honors in his final regular-season start of 2024 Wednesday, a loss to the Dodgers (5IP 5H 3R 3BB 4K ND). Cease is third in 2024 B-T points (21.1). Two players now vie for Box-Toppers Player of the Year: Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, 21.4 B-T points, first overall, could secure the title in his scheduled start Saturday. Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga, 20.7 B-T points, fourth overall. If Wheeler does not win Player of the Game Saturday, Imanaga could pass him Sunday in his scheduled start. There’s a remote chance Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (21.1 Box-Toppers points, second overall) could rise to win 2024 B-T Player of the Year if he's called upon Sunday to pitch on short rest and wins Player of the Game honors. Skubal made his last scheduled start of the regular season on Tuesday.

- Shawn Plank

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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).
9/25 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +11.0 ARI 8, SF 2 Zac Gallen (W, 14‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 2 1 1 2 11
  +8.0 STL 5, COL 2 Erick Fedde (W, 9‑9) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 6 1 1 1 10
  +5.0 PIT 2, MIL 1 Luis L. Ortiz (W, 7‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 4 1 1 1 5
AL +5.0 SEA 8, HOU 1 George Kirby (W, 14‑11) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 4 1 1 1 6
  +5.0 DET 7, TB 1 Sean Guenther (W, 3‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   2.0 0 0 0 0 3
  +4.2 `MIN 8, MIA 3 Jorge Alcala ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.2 0 0 0 0 3
BAT +4.0 CLE 5, CIN 2 José Ramírez 3B 4 2 3 3   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +4.0 TOR 6, BOS 1 Jonatan Clase CF 3 2 3 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
BAT +3.0 PHI 9, CHC 6 Bryson Stott 2B 4 2 3 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.0 CHW 4, LAA 3 (F/10) Korey Lee C 2 1 2 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.1 TEX 5, OAK 1 Matt Festa (W, 6‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   2.1 2 0 0 0 2
  +2.1 `KC 3, WSH 0 Michael Lorenzen ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   2.1 0 0 0 2 2
  +2.0 BAL 9, NYY 7 Gunnar Henderson SS 5 2 3 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 LAD 4, SD 3 Shohei Ohtani DH 3 1 2 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
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 15.4 29.1 40.5 40.5 +1.7
Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 12.4 29.1 63.5 63.5 -4.3
Ramirez, Jose 3436 3b cle al 9.9 16.1 45.8 66.8 +3.7
Ohtani, Shohei 3933 dh lad nl 9.5 28.9 76.2 84.2 -9.9
Ortiz, Luis 4738 pi sp pit nl 9.0 9.0 10.0 10.0 +9.0
Fedde, Erick 4065 pi sp stl nl 8.7 8.7 25.5 27.2 +8.7
Henderson, Gunnar 4739 ss bal al 6.0 13.5 16.7 16.7 -1.5
Stott, Bryson 4607 2b phi nl 6.0 9.0 11.5 11.5 +3.0
Lorenzen, Michael 3479 pi sp kc al 5.0 13.7 20.7 28.2 -3.7
Alcala, Jorge 4493 pi mr cp min al 2.0 2.0 4.0 4.0 +2.0
Festa, Matt 4692 pi mr cp tex al 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 +1.0
Clase, Jonatan 5120 cf tor al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
Guenther, Sean 5119 pi mr det al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
Lee, Korey 5121 ca 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 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
MIL Civale, Aaron 4173 5.4 11.4 33.8 33.8
PIT Keller, Mitch 4230 11.7 24.7 31.7 31.7
KC Wacha, Michael 3276 10.4 21.4 40.9 71.6
WSH Corbin, Patrick 3027 5.0 12.1 39.2 97.4
TB Alexander, Tyler 4196 5.7 8.4 18.4 18.4
DET Olson, Reese 4861 3.0 10.4 10.4 10.4
LAA Anderson, Tyler 3656 8.0 10.0 32.4 45.4
CHW Flexen, Chris 4368 2.7 2.7 16.4 16.4
STL Gibson, Kyle 3312 7.4 16.1 43.2 69.6
COL Freeland, Kyle 3763 2.0 7.7 22.7 41.1
TEX Rocker, Kumar 5108 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
OAK Ginn, J.T.* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
BAL Burnes, Corbin 4029 11.7 23.4 64.6 67.6
NYY Cole, Gerrit 3232 7.7 24.7 102.1 163.0
MIA Bellozo, Valente 5082 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
MIN Festa, David 5067 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7
SD Musgrove, Joe 3705 9.7 16.7 60.2 69.9
LAD Buehler, Walker 3943 1.7 1.7 44.5 59.6
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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