Rays’ Paredes tops players for Tuesday, May 16; Reds’ Williamson tops NL players

Isaac Paredes of the Rays is Tuesday’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 2023 Box-Toppers points.
▪️ A B-T look at upcoming pitching matchups.

Isaac Paredes of the Rays is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Paredes hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, in the 8-5 win over the Mets. Paredes went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in five runs.

Paredes earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season, 22nd among all players and fourth among American League batters.

This is the fifth time this season a batter has won overall Player of the Day honors. On the other 43 days this season, a pitcher won Player of the Day honors. The other four times a batter won Player of the Day honors in 2023:

Paredes had a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0, the same as another of Tuesday’s Player of the Game winners, Tigers pitcher Michael Lorenzen (6IP 5H 0R 2BB 7K W in the 4-0 win over the Pirates). But Paredes beat Lorenzen, winning Player of the Day honors, on a tiebreaker because in cases of game score ties, batters rank higher than pitchers.

Reds pitcher Brandon Williamson is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers National League Player of the Day.

National League Player of the Day—Reds pitcher Brandon Williamson struck out six over 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run, two hits and two walks, in the 3-1 win over the Rockies. Williamson did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Reds trailed when he exited.

Williamson earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and ranks 52nd among NL pitchers.

This was Williamson’s Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor. It was also his Major League debut.

AL and NL Batters of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall Player of the Day is AL batter Isaac Paredes. There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.

Marlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Tuesday’s win over the Nationals.

Notable—Marlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo has the most 2023 Box-Toppers points among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Luzardo (6IP 5H R BB 7K ND in the 5-4 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.7 for the season, 14th among all players and fifth among NL pitchers.

White Sox pitcher Lance Lynn is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Tuesday’s win over the Guardians.

Also notable—White Sox pitcher Lance Lynn now has 114.8 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Lynn (7IP 7H 3R ER 0BB 7K W in the 8-3 win over the Guardians) ranks 59th among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when player tracking began. With his 1.0 point Tuesday, he passes Ervin Santana (114.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 58th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9).

Lynn ranks 15th among active players in career points, sixth among active AL pitchers.

This is Lynn’s first Box-Toppers point of 2023.

Ryan Noda of the Athletics is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Tuesday’s win over the Diamondbacks.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2023. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Tuesday, May 16.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 7.7
2 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp tex al 7.7
3 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 7.4
4 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 7.0
5 McClanahan, Shane 4399 pi sp tb al 6.7
6 Rasmussen, Drew 4547 pi sp tb al 6.7
7 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 6.1
8 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 6.0
9 Keller, Mitch 4230 pi sp pit nl 6.0
10 Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 pi sp det al 6.0
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One more notable thing—The five batters who won Player of the Game honors Tuesday are all among the top 10 American League batters in 2023 Box-Toppers points:

  • 2. Ryan Noda of the Athletics (GS 1-3 R 4BI in the 9-8, 12-inning win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to second place, passing Aaron Judge of the Yankees (4.5) and trailing only Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (7.4).

  • 4. Isaac Paredes of the Rays, overall Player of the Day.

  • 6. Masataka Yoshida of the Red Sox (3B 2B 2-5 2R 3BI in the 9-4 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.5 for the season.

  • 7. Ryan Mountcastle of the Orioles (HR 2B 2-2 R 2BI in the 7-3 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.2 for the season.

  • 10. Adolis Garcia of the Rangers (HR 1-3 2R 2BI in the 7-4 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.

Scoring—Paredes earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lorenzen earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. All of Tuesday’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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5/16 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +6.0 TB 8, NYM 5 Isaac Paredes, 3B‑1B 3 2 2 5
+6.0 DET 4, PIT 0 Michael Lorenzen, (W 2‑2) 6.0 5 0 0 2 7
NL +5.2 `CIN 3, COL 1 Brandon Williamson 5.2 2 1 1 2 6
+5.0 HOU 7, CHC 3 Cristian Javier, (W 4‑1) 6.0 2 1 1 2 5
+5.0 `MIA 5, WSH 4 Jesus Luzardo 6.0 5 1 1 1 7
+5.0 `NYY 6, TOR 3 Domingo Germán 3.0 0 0 0 0 2
+3.2 `SF 4, PHI 3 John Brebbia 1.2 1 0 0 0 3
+3.0 OAK 9, ARI 8 (F/12) Ryan Noda, PH‑1B 3 1 1 4
+3.0 BAL 7, LAA 3 Ryan Mountcastle, PH‑DH 2 1 2 2
+3.0 CHW 8, CLE 3 Lance Lynn, (W 2‑5) 7.0 7 3 1 0 7
+3.0 MIN 5, LAD 1 Bailey Ober, (W 3‑0) 6.0 6 1 1 1 6
+2.2 MIL 3, STL 2 Joel Payamps, (W 2‑0) 1.2 2 0 0 1 4
+2.0 BOS 9, SEA 4 Masataka Yoshida, LF 5 2 2 3
+2.0 TEX 7, ATL 4 Adolis García, RF 3 2 1 2
+2.0 KC 5, SD 4 Scott Barlow, (S 5) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
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 would 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 2023 (’23). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’22-23), the period 2018-2023 (’18-23) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2023 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2022 total (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’23 ’22‑23 ’18‑23 Career +/‑
Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 5.7 9.7 21.8 21.8 +1.7
Javier, Cristian 4290 pi sp hou al 5.0 20.7 28.7 28.7 -10.7
Noda, Ryan 4791 1b ph oak al 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +5.0
Paredes, Isaac 4666 3b 1b 2b tb al 4.5 9.0 9.0 9.0 0.0
Yoshida, Masataka 4763 lf bos al 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 +4.5
Mountcastle, Ryan 4325 1b dh ph bal al 4.2 9.2 13.7 13.7 -0.8
Garcia, Adolis 4387 rf tex al 3.0 8.0 13.0 13.0 -2.0
German, Domingo 3957 pi sp nyy al 3.0 4.0 27.4 27.4 +2.0
Ober, Bailey 4441 pi sp min al 2.7 5.7 12.4 12.4 -0.3
Barlow, Scott 3981 pi cp kc al 2.0 9.0 18.0 18.0 -5.0
Williamson, Brandon 4813 pi sp cin nl 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 +1.7
Lynn, Lance 2992 pi sp chi al 1.0 10.7 50.2 114.8 -8.7
Lorenzen, Michael 3479 pi sp det al 1.0 5.0 9.5 15.5 -3.0
Payamps, Joel 4527 pi mr mil nl 1.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 0.0
Brebbia, John 4080 pi mr sf nl 1.0 2.0 7.0 7.0 0.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Wednesday’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 2023 (’23), over a two-year period (’22-23), over a six-year period (’18-23) and their career point total.
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Game Starter ’23 ’22‑23 ’18‑23 Career
PIT Hill, Rich 2215 1.0 8.7 29.4 80.2
DET Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 6.0 6.0 40.8 60.2
MIN Gray, Sonny 3259 5.7 17.8 52.0 93.2
LAD May, Dustin 4214 3.0 6.0 11.7 11.7
CIN Ashcraft, Graham 4645 1.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
COL Gomber, Austin 3985 1.0 4.0 18.7 18.7
ARI Nelson, Ryne 4728 0.0 1.7 1.7 1.7
OAK Medina, Luis* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
PHI Walker, Taijuan 3453 1.0 8.7 24.1 50.5
SF Manaea, Sean 3637 0.0 6.0 36.1 50.2
KC Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
SD Darvish, Yu 3003 1.0 17.8 56.4 125.0
LAA Canning, Griffin 4134 0.0 0.0 11.7 11.7
BAL Bradish, Kyle 4597 2.0 8.0 8.0 8.0
WSH Gore, MacKenzie 4582 2.0 6.7 6.7 6.7
MIA Cabrera, Edward 4641 1.0 7.4 7.4 7.4
NYY Cole, Gerrit 3232 6.0 21.4 101.4 144.3
TOR Bassitt, Chris 3413 4.0 15.0 43.8 47.8
SEA Gonzales, Marco 3408 0.0 3.0 32.5 36.5
BOS Bello, Brayan 4727 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
TB Fleming, Josh 4316 1.0 2.0 10.7 10.7
NYM Senga, Kodai 4762 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
MIL Burnes, Corbin 4029 4.7 20.1 48.9 48.9
STL Wainwright, Adam 2150 0.0 10.0 34.8 152.3
ATL Strider, Spencer 4626 5.0 18.4 18.4 18.4
TEX Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 5.7 11.7 39.5 65.3
CHC Smyly, Drew 3009 4.0 12.7 24.7 60.2
HOU France, J.P. 4811 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
CLE Battenfield, Peyton* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
CHW Clevinger, Mike 3707 1.0 7.4 40.5 54.9
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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