Blog
Source: MLB.com
Both American League Division Series begin Saturday.
The Detroit Tigers face the Cleveland Guardians in one best-of-five game series and the Kansas City Royals face the New York Yankees in the other. The top two AL seeds, the Yankees (first) and the Guardians (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played this week.
Read MoreWhite Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Dodgers closing pitcher Evan Phillips rises to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreGuardians pitcher Shane Bieber is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Friday’s spring training games.
Bieber struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 10-0 win over the Rangers.
Read MoreGuardians pitcher Shane Bieber is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Sunday’s spring training games.
Meanwhile, Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen, who ranked fourth among National League pitchers in Box-Toppers points in 2023, was Sunday’s NL Player of the Day.
Read MoreAnalyzing 29 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching and batting in both leagues.
In 2023, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, American League Most Valuable Player, was the only player who won a major postseason award and also led his Box-Toppers category (leading AL batters with 19.4). Also, Pete Alonso of the Mets became the ninth batter since 1995 to lead his league’s batters in Box-Toppers points more than once, leading NL batters for the second straight season.
Read MoreGuardians pitcher Shane Bieber is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Marlins pitcher Braxton Garrett rises to ninth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreGuardians pitcher Shane Bieber is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Saturday’s spring training games.
Bieber struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 4-2 win over the Rockies.
Read MoreIn 2022, Justin Verlander led American League pitchers in season Box-Toppers points for the third time in his career, tied for the seventh-most times a player has led a season points category.
Also in 2022, the New York Mets and Miami Marlins each had their first Box-Toppers points category leader—Pete Alonso and Sandy Alcantara— leaving the Pittsburgh Pirates as the only team to never have a player lead a category since tracking began in 1995.
Read More
The New York Yankees and New York Mets lead Box-Toppers offseason rankings after landing the winter’s two biggest free agents.
The Yankees rank first after Carlos Rodon Thursday agreed to a free agent deal. Rodon earned 19.8 Box-Toppers points in 2022 with the Giants, sixth overall and third among National League pitchers. He ranked second among all free agents going into the 2023 season.
Read MoreThe two pitchers who led their league in Box-Toppers points in 2022 also won both Cy Young Awards Wednesday.
Justin Verlander of the Astros, who led all players in 2022 with 26.0 Box-Toppers points, won the American League Cy Young Award. And Sandy Alcantara of the Marlins, who led all National League players with 21.1 Box-Toppers points, won the NL Cy Young Award.
Read MorePhillies pitcher Aaron Nola tops players in Friday’s three league division series playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Friday’s league division series games: Padres closing pitcher Josh Hader and Guardians closing pitcher Emmanuel Clase.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Framber Valdez is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s National League Division Series playoff game.
Valdez struck out six over 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned), four hits and three walks. Valdez did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Astros were trailing when he exited.
Read MoreBraves pitcher Kyle Wright and Jake Cronenworth of the Padres are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Wednesday’s two National League Division series games.
Read MoreBoth American League Division Series begin Tuesday.
The Houston Astros face the Seattle Mariners in one best-of-five game series and the New York Yankees face the Cleveland Guardians in the other. The top two AL seeds, the Astros (first) and the Yankees (second) received byes from the first round of playoffs and face the winners of the best-of-three Wild Card series played over the weekend.
Read MoreGuardians pitcher Shane Bieber tops players in Friday’s four Wild Card playoff games:
Other Player of the Game winners in Friday’s Wild Card series games: Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, Mariners pitcher Luis Castillo and Jurickson Profar of the Padres.
Read More
Source: MLB.com.
The new Wild Card round of Major League Baseball’s postseason begins Friday with four best-of-three series. Here is a Box-Toppers look at the eight teams competing in the four Wild Card round series.
Read MoreCardinals pitcher Jose Quintana is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani earns American League Player of the Day honors as a starting pitcher. He maintains second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, but loses his status to rank among batters because he’s now earned the overwhelming majority of his Player of the Game honors as a pitcher. And because of this, he falls from first place among AL batters in 2022 Box-Toppers points, giving the lead to Aaron Judge of the Yankees.
Read MoreMets pitcher Taijuan Walker is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen maintains fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreMariners pitcher Logan Gilbert is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Gilbert struck out nine over six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the White Sox.
Read MoreGuardians pitcher Shane Bieber is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani maintains second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors, but loses his status to be ranked among batters since he’s now earned an overwhelming share of his Player of the Game honors as a starting pitcher.
Read MoreBox-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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.