Astros’ Verlander tops players for Wednesday, June 29, rises to 2nd in 2022, 5th on ‘all-time’ list

Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

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.
▪️ Top 10 players in 2022 Box-Toppers points.
▪️ Top 10 players in career B-T points since 1995.

Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to second place in season player rankings and rising to fifth on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list.

Also Wednesday, Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani maintains his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Braves pitcher Kyle Wright rises to ninth place in season player rankings.

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 10 players since record keeping began in 1995:
 

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Randy Johnson pi sp retired 282.5
2 Clayton Kershaw pi sp lad nl 251.6
3 Pedro Martinez pi sp retired 244.8
4 Max Scherzer pi sp nym nl 228.3
5 Justin Verlander pi sp hou al 219.6
6 Zack Greinke pi sp kc al 218.8
7 Albert Pujols 1b dh stl nl 205.8
8 CC Sabathia pi sp retired 203.4
9 Curt Schilling pi sp retired 194.1
10 Alex Rodriguez dh retired 187.0
BTP: Box-Toppers points
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations

Player of the Day—Verlander struck out six over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Mets.

Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season, second among all players, behind Ohtani (14.0). He also ranks second among AL pitchers behind Ohtani.

Verlander also now has 219.6 career Box-Toppers points, rising to fifth place in career points since 1995, when player tracking began. With his 2.0 points Wednesday, he passes Royals pitcher Zack Greinke (218.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails fourth-ranked player, Mets pitcher Max Scherzer (228.3). Verlander now ranks third among active players in career points, behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (251.6) and Scherzer. Passing Greinke, Verlander now ranks first among active AL pitchers.

Greinke also pitched Wednesday in the Royals 2-1 win over the Rangers, but fell short of earning Box-Toppers points as Player of the Game (6IP 4H R BB 3K W). He had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0; Player of the Game was closing pitcher Scott Barlow with a game score of +3.0 (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv).

National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Mike Clevinger struck out six over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the Diamondbacks.

Clevinger earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.4 for the season, 40th among NL pitchers.

Padres pitcher Mike Clevinger is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers NL Player of the Day.

National League Batter of the Day—Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates hit three home runs, including a three-run shot, in the 8-7 win over the Nationals. Reynolds went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in six runs.

Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers NL Batter of the Day.

American League Batter of the Day—Amed Rosario of the Guardians hit two doubles and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in one run, in the 7-6, 10-inning win over the Twins.

Amed Rosario of the Guardians is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers AL Batter of the Day.

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 Wednesday, June 29.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 14.0
2 Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp hou al 13.0
3 Cease, Dylan 4231 pi sp chi al 12.0
4 McClanahan, Shane 4399 pi sp tb al 11.7
5 Musgrove, Joe 3705 pi sp sd nl 11.4
6 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 10.4
7 Fried, Max 4011 pi sp atl nl 10.0
8 Alcantara, Sandy 4061 pi sp fla nl 9.7
9 Wright, Kyle 4349 pi sp atl nl 9.7
10 Burnes, Corbin 4029 pi sp mil nl 9.4
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Back to top

Leader—Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani maintained his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Ohtani (5.2IP 5H 0R BB 11K W in the 4-1 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.0 for the season, just ahead of Verlander (13.0), who ranks second overall and among AL pitchers.

Ohtani also leads AL batters, ahead of second-place Jose Ramirez of the Guardians (7.2).

This is Ohtani’s ninth Player of the Game honor of 2022 and his sixth as a starting pitcher. The other three have come as a designated hitter. He qualifies to be ranked among both batters and pitchers since he has more than 25 percent of his Player of the Game honors at both positions (33.3 percent as a batter and 66.7 as a pitcher). He’s earned 10.0 of his 14.0 points as a pitcher and 4.0 as a batter, neither enough by themselves to lead AL pitchers or AL batters, but more than enough when combined to lead both categories.

In 2021, Ohtani earned 16.1 Box-Toppers points but was ranked only as a pitcher because he earned such an overwhelming majority of his Player of the Game honors as a pitcher (nine of 12).

Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s win over the White Sox.

Rankings—Braves pitcher Kyle Wright rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Wright (7IP 3H R 3BB 4K W in the 4-1 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

Braves pitcher Kyle Wright is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s win over the Phillies.

Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor.

  • Sam Haggerty of the Mariners (2-2B 3-3 2R BI in the 9-3 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut Sept. 4, 2019, and was playing in his 73rd career game.

  • Luke Williams of the Marlins (pinch run, 0-0 R 0BI in the 4-3 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut June 8, 2021, and was playing in his 88th career game.

Scoring—Verlander earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Clevinger earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Reynolds and Rosario 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 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.

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.

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

6/29 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +11.0 HOU 2, NYM 0 Justin Verlander, (W 10‑3) 8.0 2 0 0 1 6
+10.2 LAA 4, CHW 1 Shohei Ohtani, (W 7‑4) 5.2 5 0 0 1 11
NL +10.0 SD 4, ARI 0 Mike Clevinger, (W 2‑0) 6.0 1 0 0 1 6
BAT +7.0 PIT 8, WSH 7 Bryan Reynolds, CF 5 3 3 6
BAT +3.0 CLE 7, MIN 6 (F/10) Amed Rosario, SS 4 2 4 1
+3.0 CHC 8, CIN 3 Willson Contreras, C 4 2 3 2
+3.0 SEA 9, BAL 3 Sam Haggerty, RF 3 2 3 1
+3.0 ATL 4, PHI 1 Kyle Wright, (W 9‑4) 7.0 3 1 1 3 4
+3.0 KC 2, TEX 1 Scott Barlow, (S 10) 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
+2.0 BOS 6, TOR 5 (F/10) Alex Verdugo, LF 5 1 2 4
+2.0 MIL 5, TB 3 Rowdy Tellez, 1B 4 2 2 2
+2.0 NYY 5, OAK 3 Giancarlo Stanton, DH 3 1 1 3
+2.0 LAD 8, COL 4 Jake Lamb, LF 1 2 1 0
+2.0 DET 3, SF 2 Gregory Soto, (S 15) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
+1.0 MIA 4, STL 3 Luke Williams, PR 0 1 0 0
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.
Back to top

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 +/‑
Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 14.0 30.1 44.6 44.6 -2.1
Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp hou al 13.0 13.0 80.3 219.6 +13.0
Wright, Kyle 4349 pi sp atl nl 9.7 9.7 10.7 10.7 +9.7
Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 dh nyy al 5.5 11.5 34.2 73.4 -0.5
Verdugo, Alex 4129 lf bos al 4.5 8.0 11.5 11.5 +1.0
Rosario, Amed 3879 ss cle al 4.5 8.0 13.5 13.5 +1.0
Tellez, Rowdy 4078 1b mil nl 4.2 7.7 15.2 15.2 +0.7
Clevinger, Mike 3707 pi sp sd nl 3.4 3.4 47.9 50.9 +3.4
Contreras, Willson 3776 ca chi nl 3.0 8.5 23.0 23.0 -2.5
Barlow, Scott 3981 pi cp kc al 3.0 8.0 12.0 12.0 -2.0
Soto, Gregory 4371 pi cp det al 3.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +1.0
Reynolds, Bryan 4169 cf pit nl 1.5 9.5 15.5 15.5 -6.5
Lamb, Jake 3517 lf 3b lad nl 1.0 2.5 10.4 15.4 -0.5
Haggerty, Sam 4672 rf sea al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
Williams, Luke 4673 pr fla nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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 view.
Back to top

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 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
MIN Archer, Chris 3194 1.0 1.0 14.7 63.8
CLE Bieber, Shane 4005 4.7 11.4 47.3 47.3
ATL Anderson, Ian 4312 3.0 10.0 12.7 12.7
PHI Nola, Aaron 3569 7.0 17.7 72.0 80.7
NYY Severino, Luis 3567 5.0 6.0 46.8 51.8
HOU Garcia, Luis 4423 4.7 14.7 14.7 14.7
MIL Houser, Adrian 4162 1.7 9.7 12.7 12.7
PIT Brubaker, JT 4382 1.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
TB Springs, Jeffrey 4372 4.0 7.0 7.0 7.0
TOR Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 2.0 8.0 13.7 13.7
CIN Ashcraft, Graham 4645 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
CHC Hendricks, Kyle 3386 4.7 8.7 40.5 68.6
OAK Martinez, Adrian 4599 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
SEA Gilbert, Logan 4439 7.7 14.7 14.7 14.7
SD Musgrove, Joe 3705 11.4 27.5 43.5 47.2
LAD White, Mitch 4519 0.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Starters subject to change.
* 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.
Back to top