Yankees’ Cole tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 7, rising to 9th in player rankings

Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole 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.
▪️ A B-T look at today’s pitching matchups.

Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to ninth in season player rankings.

Cole struck out 14 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, five hits and two walks, in the 7-1 win over the Twins.

Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 15.4 for the season, ninth among all players and fourth among American League pitchers.

Cole now has 138.3 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 33rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 2.0 points Wednesday, he passes Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner (138.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 32nd-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5). Passing Bumgarner, Cole now ranks ninth among active players in career points, fourth among active AL pitchers.

Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers NL Player of the Day.

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 10-0 win over the Pirates.

deGrom earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.4 for the season, 23rd among NL pitchers.

deGrom has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in all five Mets wins in which he has pitched this season. deGrom has made seven starts this season and did not make his first start until Aug. 2, because he was out with injuries.

deGrom now has 130.5 career Box-Toppers points, 38th among all players since player tracking began in 1995. He trails 37th-ranked player Jason Giambi (133.4). deGrom ranks 13th among active players in career points, seventh among active NL pitchers.

Eloy Jimenez of the White Sox is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers AL Batter of the Day.

American League Batter of the Day—Eloy Jimenez of the White Sox homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-6 win over the Mariners.

Aristides Aquino of the Reds is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers NL Batter of the Day.

National League Batter of the Day—Aristides Aquino of the Reds hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-1 win over the Cubs.

Notable—Three other players with 10.0 Box-Toppers points this season earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

Braves pitcher Spencer Strider is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s win over the Athletics.

• Braves pitcher Spencer Strider (6IP 2H 2R 3BB 9K W in the 7-3 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season, 17th overall and 10th among NL pitchers.

Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s win over the Orioles.

• Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah (8IP 3H R BB 5K W in the 4-1 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season, 17th among AL pitchers.

Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s win over the Pirates.

• Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt (7IP 5H R BB 10K W in the 5-1 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, 17th among NL pitchers.

Bassitt and Manoah become the 39th and 40th players to reach 10.0 Box-Toppers points this season. It is the second season to 10.0 Box-Toppers points for both players after they both did it in 2021. Bassitt had 13.7 points in 2021 with the Athletics, seventh among AL pitchers. Manoah had 10.7 points in 2021 with the Blue Jays, 15th among AL pitchers.

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s win over the Giants.

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, Sept. 7.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp hou al 22.0
2 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 21.0
3 Cease, Dylan 4231 pi sp chi al 18.7
4 Alcantara, Sandy 4061 pi sp fla nl 18.1
5 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 16.7
6 Urias, Julio 3652 pi sp lad nl 16.4
7 Rodon, Carlos 3494 pi sp sf nl 16.4
8 Fried, Max 4011 pi sp atl nl 16.0
9 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 15.4
10 Musgrove, Joe 3705 pi sp sd nl 15.4
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Also notable—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extended his lead among active players in career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Kershaw (6IP 5H 2R 0BB 8K ND in the 7-3 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 255.6 career points. He ranks second among all players in career points since 1995 (when player tracking began), trailing only Randy Johnson (282.5). (It should be noted Johnson would have an estimated 380 points if his entire career from 1988 were tracked.) Kershaw leads active players in career points, ahead of second-place player, Mets pitcher Max Scherzer (234.3).

Kershaw now has 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 30th among NL pitchers.

Scoring—Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and deGrom earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Jimenez and Aquino 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.

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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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9/7 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +11.2 NYY 7, MIN 1 Gerrit Cole, (W 11‑7) 6.2 5 1 1 2 14
NL +11.0 NYM 10, PIT 0 Jacob deGrom, (W 5‑1) 7.0 3 0 0 1 8
+9.0 NYM 5, PIT 1 Chris Bassitt, (W 13‑7) 7.0 5 1 1 1 10
+9.0 COL 8, MIL 4 Kyle Freeland, (W 8‑9) 6.0 2 1 1 1 8
+7.0 TOR 4, BAL 1 Alek Manoah, (W 14‑7) 8.0 3 1 1 1 5
+6.0 ATL 7, OAK 3 Spencer Strider, (W 10‑4) 6.0 2 2 2 3 9
+5.2 `STL 6, WSH 5 Jordan Montgomery 6.2 3 1 1 2 6
+5.0 `LAD 7, SF 3 Clayton Kershaw 6.0 5 2 2 0 8
BAT +4.0 CHW 9, SEA 6 Eloy Jiménez, DH 4 2 3 3
BAT +4.0 CIN 7, CHC 1 Aristides Aquino, RF 4 2 3 3
+4.0 PHI 4, MIA 3 Edmundo Sosa, SS 3 1 3 3
+3.1 `HOU 4, TEX 3 (F/10) Cristian Javier 5.1 4 3 1 2 8
+3.0 `TB 1, BOS 0 Jeffrey Springs 3.0 1 0 0 1 2
+2.0 DET 5, LAA 4 Eric Haase, C 5 1 5 1
+1.0 SD 6, ARI 3 Jake Cronenworth, 2B 4 1 3 1
+1.0 KC 2, CLE 1 Scott Barlow, (W 6‑4) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
+0.2 NYY 5, MIN 4 (F/12) Greg Weissert, (W 3‑0) 0.2 0 0 0 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.
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 +/‑
Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 15.4 37.8 102.4 138.3 -7.0
Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 12.4 12.4 12.4 12.4 +12.4
Manoah, Alek 4424 pi sp tor al 10.4 21.1 21.1 21.1 -0.3
Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp nym nl 10.0 23.7 38.8 42.8 -3.7
Javier, Cristian 4290 pi sp hou al 9.7 15.7 17.7 17.7 +3.7
Springs, Jeffrey 4372 pi sp tb al 9.7 12.7 12.7 12.7 +6.7
Montgomery, Jordan 3814 pi sp stl nl 9.4 19.1 26.1 26.1 -0.3
deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 8.4 25.1 85.4 130.5 -8.3
Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 7.0 20.4 71.9 255.6 -6.4
Freeland, Kyle 3763 pi sp col nl 6.0 13.0 33.4 33.4 -1.0
Barlow, Scott 3981 pi cp kc al 6.0 11.0 15.0 15.0 +1.0
Haase, Eric 4461 ca det al 5.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 +2.0
Cronenworth, Jake 4380 2b sd nl 4.5 9.5 9.5 9.5 -0.5
Aquino, Aristides 4223 dh rf ph cin nl 3.0 5.0 7.0 7.0 +1.0
Jimenez, Eloy 4107 lf dh chi al 2.5 6.2 19.2 19.2 -1.2
Sosa, Edmundo 4495 ss ph phi nl 2.0 4.5 4.5 4.5 -0.5
Weissert, Greg 4724 pi mr cp nyy al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
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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.
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Game Starter ’22 ’21‑22 ’17‑22 Career
WSH Gray, Josiah 4503 4.7 5.7 5.7 5.7
STL Wainwright, Adam 2150 10.0 22.0 40.3 152.3
CIN Cessa, Luis 3703 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0
CHC Sampson, Adrian 4147 2.0 3.0 6.0 6.0
SF Alexander, Scott* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
MIL Burnes, Corbin 4029 11.4 29.5 40.2 40.2
MIA Alcantara, Sandy 4061 18.1 27.8 37.2 37.2
PHI Gibson, Kyle 3312 8.0 15.7 35.5 52.5
MIN Gray, Sonny 3259 11.1 17.5 53.7 86.5
NYY Cortes, Nestor 4160 11.4 16.4 18.4 18.4
SF Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
MIL Peralta, Freddy 3965 7.4 20.1 38.8 38.8
CHW Cease, Dylan 4231 18.7 33.1 35.1 35.1
OAK Sears, JP 4627 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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