Rays’ Kluber tops players for Friday, April 29; Mets’ Megill rises to lead player rankings

Rays pitcher Corey Kluber is Friday’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.
▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
▪️ Box-Toppers points of the day’s top players.
▪️ Top 10 players in 2022 Box-Toppers points.
▪️ A B-T look at today’s pitching matchups.

Rays pitcher Corey Kluber is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Mets pitcher Tylor Megill rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Two other players also rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 Friday—Jose Ramirez of the Guardians rises to fifth place and Yordan Alvarez of the Astros rises to sixth. Plus, C.J. Cron of the Rockies rises to first place among National League batters in 2022 Box-Toppers points Friday.

Player of the Day—Kluber struck out six over six innings, allowing one run, one hit and no walks, in the 6-1 win over the Twins.

Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, 20th among all players and fifth among American League pitchers.

Kluber now has 117.1 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 50th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 2.0 points Friday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Torii Hunter (115.9), Todd Helton (116.4), Mark Buehrle (116.7) and Adrian Beltre (116.8). He now trails 49th-ranked player Barry Zito (117.4). Kluber ranks 14th among active players in career points, fifth among active AL pitchers.

Brewers pitcher Adrian Houser is Friday’s Box-Toppers NL Player of the Day.

National League Player of the Day—Brewers pitcher Adrian Houser struck out six over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks, in the 11-1 win over the Cubs.

Houser earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, his first points of the season.

Victor Robles of the Nationals is Friday’s Box-Toppers NL Batter of the Day.

National League Batter of the Day—Victor Robles of the Nationals doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 14-4 win over the Giants.

Yordan Alvarez of the Astros is Friday’s Box-Toppers AL Batter of the Day.

American League Batter of the Day—Yordan Alvarez of the Astros homered and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-7 win over the Blue Jays.

Alvarez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.2 for the season, sixth among all players and third among AL batters, behind Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (5.0) and Jose Ramirez of the Guardians (4.2), who also earned Player of the Game honors Friday.

Mets pitcher Tylor Megill is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s win over the Phillies.

New leader—Mets pitcher Tylor Megill rises from third to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Megill (5IP 0H 0R 3BB 5K W in the 3-0 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season, passing previous leader Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (5.0 points). Megill also rises to lead NL pitchers, passing previous leader Kyle Wright of the Braves (5.0).

Megill and four relievers pitched a combined no-hitter Friday. Megill exited after 88 pitches.

Jose Ramirez of the Guardians is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s win over the Athletics.

Rankings—Jose Ramirez of the Guardians rises from 10th to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Ramirez (HR 2B 2-3 3R 3BI in the 9-8 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.2 for the season, second among AL batters, behind Ohtani (5.0). Though he has the same 4.2 point total as third-place AL batter Yordan Alvarez of the Astros, Ramirez ranks higher because he had more 2021 Box-Toppers points—13.0 vs. 7.0.

C.J. Cron of the Rockies is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s win over the Reds.

New NL batting leader—C.J. Cron of the Rockies rises to first place in 2022 Box-Toppers points among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Cron (2-2 R BI in the 10-4 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season. He passes previous NL batting leader Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals (3.0). Cron ranks 11th among all players in 2022 Box-Toppers points.

Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s win over the Cardinals.

Streak—Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner has now earned Box-Toppers points in 13 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2022 Friday.

Bumgarner (5IP 3H R BB 2K W in the 6-2 win over the Cardinals) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2010 with the Giants and now has 136.4 career points, 33rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 32nd-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5). Bumgarner ranks ninth in career points among active players, fourth among active NL pitchers.

Bumgarner’s best season was 2014 with the Giants when he had 22.6 Box-Toppers points, third among all players. He had six straight years with 10 or more points (2011-2016) and four straight years with 15 or more points (2012-2015). Bumgarner earned 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021 with the Diamondbacks, 25th among NL pitchers.

Ha-Seong Kim of the Padres is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s win over the Pirates.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2022. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Friday, April 29.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Megill, Tylor 4464 pi sp nym nl 5.7
2 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 dh pi sp ana al 5.0
3 Wright, Kyle 4349 pi sp atl nl 5.0
4 Ryan, Joe 4539 pi sp min al 4.7
5 Ramirez, Jose 3436 3b cle al 4.2
6 Alvarez, Yordan 4209 dh hou al 4.2
7 Musgrove, Joe 3705 pi sp sd nl 4.0
8 Rodon, Carlos 3494 pi sp sf nl 4.0
9 France, Ty 4243 1b sea al 4.0
10 Gilbert, Logan 4439 pi sp sea al 4.0
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Notable—Ha-Seong Kim of the Padres earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Friday.

Kim (HR 2-4 2R 2BI in the 7-3 win over the Pirates) was also NL Batter of the Day Thursday (2-2B 3-4 R 3BI in the 7-5 win over the Reds). Kim now has 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, fourth among NL batters.

Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Houser earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Robles and Alvarez 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 below) 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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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).
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4/29 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +9.0 TB 6, MIN 1 Corey Kluber, (W 1‑1) 6.0 1 1 1 0 6
NL +7.0 MIL 11, CHC 1 Adrian Houser, (W 2‑2) 6.0 2 0 0 3 6
+7.0 NYM 3, PHI 0 Tylor Megill, (W 4‑0) 5.0 0 0 0 3 5
+7.0 `BOS 3, BAL 1 Rich Hill 4.0 1 0 0 0 4
BAT +5.0 WSH 14, SF 4 Victor Robles, CF 5 3 4 3
BAT +5.0 HOU 11, TOR 7 Yordan Alvarez, DH 4 3 3 3
+5.0 CLE 9, OAK 8 Jose Ramírez, 3B 3 3 2 3
+3.0 LAA 5, CHW 1 Austin Warren, (W 2‑0) 2.0 0 0 0 0 1
+2.0 SD 7, PIT 3 Ha‑Seong Kim, SS 4 2 2 2
+2.0 ATL 6, TEX 3 William Contreras, C 4 2 2 2
+2.0 MIA 8, SEA 6 Jesus Aguilar, 1B 3 2 2 1
+2.0 NYY 12, KC 2 (F/8) Kyle Higashioka, C 3 1 1 3
+2.0 COL 10, CIN 4 C.J. Cron, 1B 2 1 2 1
+1.0 ARI 6, STL 2 Madison Bumgarner, (W 1‑1) 5.0 3 1 1 1 2
0.0 LAD 5, DET 1 Justin Turner, 3B 4 1 1 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.
N/A—Not applicable. No Player of the Game was chosen because the game ended in a tie.
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 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 (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’22 ’21‑22 ’17‑22 Career +/‑
Megill, Tylor 4464 pi sp nym nl 5.7 11.7 11.7 11.7 ‑0.3
Ramirez, Jose 3436 3b cle al 4.2 17.2 38.2 43.2 ‑8.8
Alvarez, Yordan 4209 dh hou al 4.2 11.2 14.7 14.7 ‑2.8
Cron, C.J. 3338 1b col nl 4.0 10.5 18.5 29.2 ‑2.5
Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp tb al 3.0 8.0 51.7 117.1 ‑2.0
Aguilar, Jesus 378 1b fla nl 2.5 5.0 19.0 19.0 0.0
KIm, Ha‑Seong 4373 3b ss sd nl 2.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 +0.5
Houser, Adrian 4162 pi sp mil nl 1.7 9.7 12.7 12.7 ‑6.3
Robles, Victor 4087 cf dc nl 1.5 2.5 8.5 8.5 +0.5
Bumgarner, Madison 2753 pi sp ari nl 1.0 11.0 30.7 136.4 ‑9.0
Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp bos al 1.0 7.0 34.4 72.5 ‑5.0
Contreras, Willson 3776 ca chi nl 1.0 6.5 21.0 21.0 ‑4.5
Turner, Justin 2865 3b lad nl 1.0 3.7 13.7 25.7 ‑1.7
Higashioka, Kyle 4505 ca ph nyy al 1.0 3.5 3.5 3.5 ‑1.5
Warren, Austin 4521 pi mr cp ana al 1.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 ‑1.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’s pitching matchups

A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’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.
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Game Starter ’22 ’21‑22 ’17‑22 Career
ARI Kelly, Merrill 4143 1.0 4.0 16.0 16.0
STL Mikolas, Miles 3034 2.0 2.0 16.7 19.4
HOU Garcia, Luis 4423 0.0 10.0 10.0 10.0
TOR Berrios, Jose 3791 1.0 10.4 50.9 50.9
LAA Suarez, Jose 4425 0.0 6.4 6.4 6.4
CHW Velasquez, Vince 3611 0.0 5.7 19.1 27.1
WSH Adon, Joan 4580 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
SF Webb, Logan 4258 1.0 16.5 19.2 19.2
CLE Bieber, Shane 4005 1.0 7.7 43.6 43.6
OAK Irvin, Cole 4140 1.0 5.7 8.7 8.7
MIN Archer, Chris 3194 0.0 0.0 13.7 62.8
TB McClanahan, Shane 4399 2.7 7.4 7.4 7.4
SEA Ray, Robbie 3502 1.0 18.7 52.1 62.8
MIA Luzardo, Jesus 4282 1.0 8.4 13.1 13.1
SD Manaea, Sean 3637 3.0 18.7 40.5 47.2
PIT Brubaker, JT 4382 0.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
ATL Elder, Bryce* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
TEX Dunning, Dane 4317 0.0 2.0 5.0 5.0
BOS Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 0.0 14.1 27.8 53.6
BAL Watkins, Spenser 4479 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
CHC Steele, Justin 4415 1.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
MIL Lauer, Eric 4017 2.0 8.0 21.4 21.4
NYY Cole, Gerrit 3232 1.7 24.1 88.7 124.6
KC Hernandez, Carlos 4466 0.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
PHI Gibson, Kyle 3312 2.0 9.7 29.5 46.5
NYM Walker, Taijuan 3453 0.0 9.4 20.4 41.8
CIN Overton, Connor* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
COL Kuhl, Chad 3687 2.0 4.7 11.7 13.7
DET Briske, Beau* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
LAD Kershaw, Clayton 2494 2.0 15.4 66.9 250.6
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
Starters subject to change.
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