Box-Toppers Toppers Box
Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
▪️ Box-Toppers points of the day’s top players.
▪️ A B-T look at today’s pitching matchups.
Astros pitcher Framber Valdez is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s American League Championship Series Game 2.
AL Championship Series Game 2: Astros 3, Yankees 2
Valdez struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs (none earned), four hits and no walks.
The Astros take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven game series, which resumes Saturday in New York.
Valdez earned 16.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 14th overall and fifth among AL pitchers.
This is Valdez’s second Player of the Game honor of the 2022 postseason. He was Player of the Game in the Oct. 13 ALDS Game 2 win over the Mariners (5.2IP 4H 2R ER 3BB 6K ND). Valdez is the fifth player this postseason with multiple Player of the Game honors. Padres closing pitcher Josh Hader has three and three others have two each—Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole and Phillies pitchers Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola.
Valdez had a Box-Toppers game score of +10.0, highest among all Astros players Thursday. Astros top batter was third baseman Alex Bregman with a +2.0 game score (HR 2-4 R 3BI). Yankees starting pitcher Luis Severino had a -0.9 game score (5.1IP 5H 3R BB 6K L).
Thursday’s Player of the Game winners are listed in the chart below.
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).Back to top
| BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +10.0 | HOU 3, NYY 2 | Framber Valdez, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
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 2022 (’22). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’21-22), the period 2017-2022 (’17-22) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2022 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2021 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’22 | ’21‑22 | ’17‑22 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valdez, Framber 4048 | pi sp | hou al | 16.0 | 21.0 | 31.4 | 31.4 | +11.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
NOTE: These are player point totals as of the end of the 2022 regular season. No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.
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Friday’s pitching matchup (for more, see matchups chart below):
NL Championship Series Game 3: Padres at Phillies, series tied, 1-1
Padres—Joe Musgrove, 17.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, ninth overall and sixth among NL pitchers.
Phillies—Ranger Suarez, 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 162nd overall and 58th among NL pitchers.
This is Musgrove’s third appearance this postseason. He was Player of the Game Oct. 9 in the NL Wild Card Game 3 win over the Mets. He also started Oct. 15 in the NL Division Series Game 4 win over the Dodgers.
Suarez did not earn Player of the Game honors in his only appearance this postseason, Oct. 11, in the NL Division Series Game 1 win over the Braves.
A Box-Toppers look at Friday’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 2022 (’22), over a two-year period (’21-22), over a six-year period (’17-22) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’22 | ’21‑22 | ’17‑22 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SD | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | 17.4 | 33.5 | 49.5 | 53.2 |
| PHI | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 5.0 | 14.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 |
* Player has yet to earn 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.
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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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Related
Box-Toppers 2022 player rankings leaders
Box-Toppers 2022 final team rankings
Box-Toppers’ NL Division Series preview: Padres vs. Dodgers, Phillies vs. Braves
Box-Toppers’ AL Division Series previews: Guardians vs. Yankees, Mariners vs. Astros