Yankees’ Gil tops players Friday, Sept. 6; Phillies’ Wheeler regains player rankings lead

Yankees pitcher Luis Gil is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fifth place in season player rankings.

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Yankees pitcher Luis Gil is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fifth place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2024 Box-Toppers points (BTP) through Friday, Sept. 6:
  Player Pos Team BTP
1 Zack Wheeler pi sp Phillies 19.4
2 Shota Imanaga pi sp Cubs 18.7
3 Tarik Skubal pi sp Tigers 18.1
4 Dylan Cease pi sp Padres 17.4
5 Luis Gil pi sp Yankees 17.4
6 Chris Sale pi sp Braves 17.1
7 Framber Valdez pi sp Astros 14.4
8 Bryce Miller pi sp Mariners 13.7
9 Aaron Nola pi sp Phillies 13.4
10 Bailey Ober pi sp Twins 13.4
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Also Friday, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler regains the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. In addition, two other players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors—Astros pitcher Framber Valdez rises to seventh place and Mariners pitcher Bryce Miller rises to eighth place.

Player of the Day

Gil struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks, in the 3-0 win over the Cubs.

Gil earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 17.4 for the season, rising from sixth to fifth place in season player rankings, second among American League pitchers, behind Tarik Skubal of the Tigers (18.1).

This is Gil’s first Player of the Game honor in nearly a month (he last won Aug. 7) and he’s only earned 4.0 points in the past three months, earning 13.4 of his points by June 4. Gil led Box-Toppers season player rankings from May 29 to July 7.

National League Player of the Day

Braves pitcher Max Fried struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run (none earned), five hits and one walk, in the 3-1 win over the Blue Jays.

Fried earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season, 36th among all players and 17th among NL pitchers.

Fried becomes the 41st player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his fourth season with 10 or more points. His best season was 2022 with the Braves, when he had 16.0 points, eighth among NL pitchers. In 2023, he had 9.0 points with the Braves, 21st among NL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day is Braves pitcher Max Fried.

National League Batter of the Day

Mark Vientos of the Mets hit two home runs and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 6-4, 10-inning win over the Reds.

National League Batter of the Day is Mark Vientos of the Mets.

American League Batter of the Day

Seth Brown of the Athletics homered and went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 7-6, 13-inning win over the Tigers.

American League Batter of the Day is Seth Brown of the Athletics.

New Box-Toppers points leader

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

Wheeler (6IP 2H R BB 7K W in the 16-2 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 19.4 for the season, rising from second to first in season player rankings, passing previous leader, Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga (18.7), who only took the lead from Wheeler on Wednesday. Wheeler also passes Imanaga for the lead among NL pitchers.

This is Wheeler’s fourth time leading Box-Toppers season player rankings in 2024, having led previously on May 6 and May 17, both for only one day, and again from Aug. 31 until Imanaga passed him Sept. 4.

Wheeler now has 103.0 career Box-Toppers points, 82nd among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his 1.0 point Friday, he passes two players on the “all-time” career points list—Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and Miguel Tejada (102.3). Wheeler now trails 81st-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0).

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

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

Rankings

In addition to Wheeler and Gil, two other players rose in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

Astros pitcher Framber Valdez is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Friday.

  • Astros pitcher Framber Valdez (7IP 2H 0R 3BB 7K W in the 8-0 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising from eighth to seventh place overall and third among AL pitchers, behind Tarik Skubal of the Tigers (18.1) and Luis Gil of the Yankees (17.4).

  • Mariners pitcher Bryce Miller (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 4K W in the 6-1 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.7 for the season, rising to eighth place overall and fourth among AL pitchers.

Mariners pitcher Bryce Miller is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Friday.

2024 lead changes

Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.  

Date Leader Team BTP
3/20 Evan Phillips lad nl 2.0
3/21 Jake Cronenworth sd nl 2.0
3/28 Corbin Burnes bal al 2.0
4/3 Evan Phillips lad nl 3.0
4/5 Brady Singer kc al 3.0
4/9 Corbin Burnes bal al 3.7
4/12 Freddy Peralta mil nl 4.0
4/27 Ranger Suarez phi nl 6.7
5/6 Zack Wheeler phi nl 6.7
5/7 Shota Imanaga chi nl 7.7
5/8 Dylan Cease sd nl 7.7
5/17 Zack Wheeler phi nl 7.7
5/18 Shota Imanaga chi nl 8.7
5/20 Chris Sale atl nl 8.7
5/21 Ranger Suarez phi nl 9.4
5/23 Luis Gil nyy al 9.7
5/26 Chris Sale atl nl 9.7
5/29 Luis Gil nyy al 11.7
7/7 Tarik Skubal det al 13.4
7/13 Luis Gil nyy al 14.4
7/20 Dylan Cease sd nl 14.4
8/31 Zack Wheeler phi nl 18.4
9/4 Shota Imanaga chi nl 18.7
9/6 Zack Wheeler phi nl 19.4
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations

Notable

Two other players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points also earned Player of the Game honors Friday;

  • Padres pitcher Michael King (6IP 6H R BB 8K W in the 5-1 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.7 for the season, 12th overall and sixth among NL pitchers.

  • Royals pitcher Cole Ragans (6IP 4H 0R BB 7K W in the 5-0 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season, 28th overall and 16th among AL pitchers.

Debut

Angels pitcher Samuel Aldegheri made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Aldegheri (6IP 3H R 3BB 7K W in the 5-1 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut Aug. 30 and was playing in his second career game.

Scoring

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

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

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

  • All of Friday’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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Friday’s sidelights sidebar

Top pitching matchup

▪️Brandon Pfaadt, Diamondbacks
9.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 50th
▪️Framber Valdez, Astros
13.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 8th
Result—HOU 8, ARI 0
Valdez was Player of the Game (7IP 2H 0R 3BB 7K W) with +9.0 B-T game score.
Pfaadt had -8.8 B-T game score in loss (4.2IP 8H 4R 2BB 5K L).
Valdez earns 1.0 B-T point giving him 14.4 for 2024, rising to 7th.

High scores, no points

Highest Box-Toppers game scores for the day among players who did not earn Player of the Game honors:
▪️+6.0—Yordan Alvarez, Astros (2HR 2-4 2R 6BI)
Was not Player of the Game in win vs. ARI.
Player of the Game—Teammate Framber Valdez (7IP 2H 0R 3BB 7K W) with +9.0 game score.
▪️+6.0—Landon Knack, Dodgers (6IP 3H 2R BB 8K L)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. CLE.
Player of the Game—Matthew Boyd, Guardians (6IP 3H R 0BB 6K W) wtih +5.0 game score.
▪️+6.0—Aaron Ashby, Brewers (3IP H 0R 0BB 4K ND)
Was not Player of the Game in loss vs. COL.
Player of the Game—Ryan Feltner, Brewers (6IP 2H R 3BB 6K W) wtih +5.0 game score.

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores

Out of 416 total players Friday, 116 pitchers
-19.0—Austin Kitchen, Marlins (5IP 7H 6R 3BB 4K L vs. PIT).
-10.0—Xzavion Curry, Marlins
-9.0—Zebby Matthews, Twins
-8.8—Brandon Pfaadt, Diamondbacks
-7.9—Kyle Leahy, Cardinals

Lowest Box-Toppers game scores by batters

Out of 300 total batters Friday
-6.0—Trey Sweeney, Tigers 0-6 2K
-5.0—Spencer Torkelson, Tigers 0-6 R 4K
-5.0—Shea Langeliers, Athletics 1-6
-4.0—Griffin Conine, Marlins 0-4 4K
-4.0—Nolan Jones, Rockies 0-4 4K
Box-Toppers uses Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com and other sources to compile this information.

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).
9/6 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +10.0 NYY 3, CHC 0 Luis Gil (W, 13‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 1 0 0 2 7
  +9.0 HOU 8, ARI 0 Framber Valdez (W, 14‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 2 0 0 3 7
NL +8.0 ATL 3, TOR 1 Max Fried (W, 9‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 5 1 0 1 8
  +8.0 BAL 2, TB 0 Dean Kremer (W, 7‑9) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 2 0 0 3 7
  +8.0 PHI 16, MIA 2 Zack Wheeler (W, 14‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 2 1 1 1 7
  +8.0 KC 5, MIN 0 Cole Ragans (W, 11‑9) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 4 0 0 1 7
  +7.0 CLE 3, LAD 1 Matthew Boyd (W, 2‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 3 1 1 0 6
  +5.0 SD 5, SF 1 Michael King (W, 12‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 6 1 1 1 8
  +5.0 LAA 5, TEX 1 Samuel Aldegheri (W, 1‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 3 1 1 3 7
  +5.0 COL 3, MIL 2 Ryan Feltner (W, 2‑10) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 2 1 1 3 6
  +5.0 SEA 6, STL 1 Bryce Miller (W, 11‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 3 0 0 2 4
BAT +4.0 NYM 6, CIN 4 (F/10) Mark Vientos 3B 5 2 3 4   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
BAT +4.0 OAK 7, DET 6 (F/13) Seth Brown PH‑LF 2 1 2 3   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 `BOS 3, CHW 1 Nick Pivetta ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 5 1 1 3 6
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 +/‑
Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp phi nl 19.4 34.1 79.6 103.0 +4.7
Gil, Luis 4498 pi sp nyy al 17.4 17.4 18.4 18.4 +17.4
Valdez, Framber 4048 pi sp hou al 14.4 24.4 53.8 55.8 +4.4
Miller, Bryce 4797 pi sp sea al 13.7 26.8 26.8 26.8 +0.6
King, Michael 4549 pi sp sd nl 12.7 21.7 27.4 27.4 +3.7
Ragans, Cole 4889 pi sp kc al 11.0 15.4 15.4 15.4 +6.6
Fried, Max 4011 pi sp atl nl 10.4 19.4 62.9 63.9 +1.4
Kremer, Dean 4330 pi sp bal al 8.7 18.4 29.8 29.8 -1.0
Pivetta, Nick 3825 pi sp bos al 7.7 16.7 32.4 52.1 -1.3
Brown, Seth 4239 1b lf ph oak al 4.5 9.0 19.0 19.0 0.0
Vientos, Mark 5024 3b nym nl 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 +4.5
Boyd, Matthew 3550 pi sp cle al 3.0 3.0 12.0 31.8 +3.0
Feltner, Ryan 4635 pi sp col nl 1.0 3.0 5.0 5.0 -1.0
Aldegheri, Samuel 5103 pi sp ana al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
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A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’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
WSH Herz, DJ 5032 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.7
PIT Ortiz, Luis 4738 7.0 7.0 8.0 8.0
NYY Schmidt, Clarke 4581 4.0 6.0 10.4 10.4
CHC Assad, Javier 4899 6.0 10.7 10.7 10.7
TB Pepiot, Ryan 4714 9.7 14.7 16.7 16.7
BAL Eflin, Zach 3679 7.7 19.7 38.5 51.2
DET Hurter, Brant 5099 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
OAK Basso, Brady* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
ARI Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 0.0 13.0 34.4 67.2
HOU Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 9.7 19.7 37.1 37.1
CIN Junis, Jakob (Jake) 3857 0.0 5.7 12.7 21.7
NYM Quintana, Jose 3040 7.0 7.0 29.8 90.1
PHI Nola, Aaron 3569 13.4 25.4 69.5 115.1
MIA McCaughan, Darren* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
WSH Parker, Mitchell 4982 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
PIT Keller, Mitch 4230 11.7 24.7 31.7 31.7
LAA Anderson, Tyler 3656 8.0 10.0 32.4 45.4
TEX Leiter, Jack* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
COL Blach, Ty 3754 0.0 2.0 4.0 10.0
MIL Myers, Tobias 5026 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0
CHW Crochet, Garrett 4434 10.7 10.7 11.7 11.7
BOS Criswell, Cooper 4840 5.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
MIN Ober, Bailey 4441 13.4 22.1 31.8 31.8
KC Marsh, Alec 4961 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
SEA Gilbert, Logan 4439 11.0 24.4 45.5 45.5
STL Gibson, Kyle 3312 6.4 15.1 42.2 68.6
TOR Berrios, Jose 3791 8.7 19.1 51.2 78.0
ATL Schwellenbach, Spencer 5035 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
SF Webb, Logan 4258 10.0 22.4 50.3 50.3
SD Cease, Dylan 4231 17.4 27.4 64.2 64.2
CLE Williams, Gavin 4865 3.7 7.7 7.7 7.7
LAD Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
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