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.
▪️ A B-T look at today’s pitching matchups.
Cubs pitcher Justin Steele is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease maintains his third-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Steele struck out 10 over 4 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Marlins.
Steele did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited and he also did not pitch the required five innings for a starter to earn the win.
Steele earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, 152nd among all players and 54th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer struck out two over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Pirates.
Kremer earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season, 61st among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Trey Mancini of the Astros hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 9-3 win over the Guardians. Mancini went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs.
This was Mancini’s first Player of the Game honor since being traded this week from the Orioles. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 2.5 for the season, 56th among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in no runs, in the 4-3 win over the Yankees.
Arenado earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.5 for the season, 10th among NL batters.
Rankings—White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease maintains his third-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Cease (6IP 2H R 3BB 5K W in the 2-1 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.7 for the season. He trails Astros pitcher Justin Verlander (19.0 points) and Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani (17.0 points). Cease also ranks third among AL pitchers behind Verlander and Ohtani.
Notable—Diamondbacks pitcher Chris Devenski earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Friday for the first time in more than five years.
Devenski (1IP H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 6-5 win over the Rockies) last earned Player of the Game honors July 2, 2017, when he was with the Astros. Devenski earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2017, fourth among AL middle relievers, but earned no points in each season from 2018 to 2021.
Devenski pitched in 62 games in 2017, his best season. In 2018, he pitched in 50 games and in 2019, 61 games, but did not earn Player of the Game honors in any of those. His ERA in 2017 was 2.68, but rose to 4.18 in 2018 and 4.83 in 2019. His appearances since 2019 have been limited due to injury. In 2020, he had a bone spur removed from his right pitching elbow and in 2021, he underwent Tommy John surgery after making eight appearances.
Devenski now has 9.7 career Box-Toppers points.
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, Aug. 5.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 19.0 |
| 2 | Ohtani, Shohei 3933 | pi sp dh | ana al | 17.0 |
| 3 | Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | chi al | 16.7 |
| 4 | Alcantara, Sandy 4061 | pi sp | fla nl | 15.4 |
| 5 | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | pi sp | tb al | 14.4 |
| 6 | Fried, Max 4011 | pi sp | atl nl | 13.0 |
| 7 | Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.7 |
| 8 | Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | sf nl | 12.7 |
| 9 | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 12.4 |
| 10 | Alonso, Pete 4118 | 1b | nym nl | 12.2 |
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Scoring—Steele earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kremer earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Mancini and Arenado 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).Back to top
| 8/5 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | +9.2 | `CHC 2, MIA 1 | Justin Steele | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| +7.0 | PHI 7, WSH 2 | Kyle Gibson, (W 7‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +7.0 | LAD 8, SD 1 | Tony Gonsolin, (W 13‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| AL | +4.1 | BAL 1, PIT 0 | Dean Kremer, (W 4‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| +4.1 | ATL 8, NYM 6 | A.J. Minter, (W 5‑3) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | +4.0 | HOU 9, CLE 3 | Trey Mancini, DH | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | CHW 2, TEX 1 | Dylan Cease, (W 12‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| +3.1 | `LAA 4, SEA 3 (F/10) | Patrick Sandoval | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | ||
| +3.0 | MIN 6, TOR 5 (F/10) | Nick Gordon, LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | ARI 6, COL 5 | Chris Devenski, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +2.2 | MIL 5, CIN 1 | Devin Williams, (S 7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +2.0 | TB 5, DET 3 | Brandon Lowe, 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | BOS 7, KC 4 | Xander Bogaerts, SS | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| BAT | +1.0 | STL 4, NYY 3 | Nolan Arenado, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’22 | ’21‑22 | ’17‑22 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cease, Dylan 4231 | pi sp | chi al | 16.7 | 31.1 | 33.1 | 33.1 | +2.3 |
| Gonsolin, Tony 4211 | pi sp | lad nl | 9.7 | 14.4 | 22.1 | 22.1 | +5.0 |
| Gibson, Kyle 3312 | pi sp | phi nl | 6.0 | 13.7 | 33.5 | 50.5 | -1.7 |
| Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | stl nl | 5.5 | 14.5 | 38.7 | 59.4 | -3.5 |
| Sandoval, Patrick 4357 | pi sp | ana al | 5.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | +3.0 |
| Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | bos al | 4.5 | 13.0 | 33.2 | 39.7 | -4.0 |
| Steele, Justin 4415 | pi sp | chi nl | 4.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | +1.0 |
| Kremer, Dean 4330 | pi sp | bal al | 3.7 | 5.7 | 7.4 | 7.4 | +1.7 |
| Lowe, Brandon 4108 | 2b | tb al | 3.5 | 14.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | -7.0 |
| Mancini, Trey 3766 | dh | hou al | 2.5 | 5.0 | 15.2 | 15.2 | 0.0 |
| Williams, Devin 4319 | pi cp mr | mil nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -1.0 |
| Gordon, Nick 4557 | cf lf | min al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +1.0 |
| Minter, A.J. 3946 | pi mr cp | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | +1.0 |
| Devenski, Chris 3702 | pi mr | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 9.7 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATL | Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | 6.4 | 10.4 | 40.9 | 67.0 |
| NYM | Peterson, David 4347 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| MIA | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | 8.7 | 18.1 | 31.8 | 31.8 |
| CHC | Smyly, Drew 3009 | 3.0 | 11.0 | 15.0 | 50.5 |
| LAA | Undecided | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| SEA | Flexen, Chris 4368 | 2.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 | 13.7 |
| PIT | Brubaker, JT 4382 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| BAL | Voth, Austin 4082 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| WSH | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | 2.0 | 8.7 | 50.8 | 83.3 |
| PHI | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 3.0 | 12.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| HOU | Garcia, Luis 4423 | 6.7 | 16.7 | 16.7 | 16.7 |
| CLE | Quantrill, Cal 4195 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 |
| TB | McClanahan, Shane 4399 | 14.4 | 19.1 | 19.1 | 19.1 |
| DET | Hill, Garrett 4677 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| CHW | Kopech, Michael 4385 | 7.0 | 12.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 |
| TEX | Dunning, Dane 4317 | 1.7 | 3.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| SF | Rodon, Carlos 3494 | 12.7 | 24.4 | 33.4 | 49.5 |
| OAK | Oller, Adam* | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| ATL | Fried, Max 4011 | 13.0 | 24.8 | 41.5 | 41.5 |
| NYM | Scherzer, Max 2588 | 6.0 | 31.1 | 100.6 | 232.3 |
| BOS | Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | 5.0 | 19.1 | 32.8 | 58.6 |
| KC | Lynch, Daniel 4488 | 4.7 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| TOR | White, Mitch 4519 | 2.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| MIN | Bundy, Dylan 3655 | 4.7 | 6.7 | 35.5 | 41.5 |
| CIN | Lodolo, Nick 4586 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| MIL | Ashby, Aaron 4511 | 5.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 |
| NYY | German, Domingo 3957 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 23.4 | 23.4 |
| STL | Montgomery, Jordan 3814 | 2.7 | 12.4 | 19.4 | 19.4 |
| COL | Senzatela, Antonio 3760 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| ARI | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | 8.0 | 11.0 | 23.0 | 23.0 |
| SD | Clevinger, Mike 3707 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 48.9 | 51.9 |
| LAD | Heaney, Andrew 3515 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 29.1 | 33.1 |
| LAA | Detmers, Reid 4513 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| SEA | Kirby, George 4595 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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