Phillies’ Wheeler tops players for Friday, July 28; Gausman, Garrett rises in top 10 list

Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler is Friday’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.
▪️ Subscribe to Box-Toppers Email Newsletter.

Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors: Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman rises to third place and Marlins pitcher Braxton Garrett rises to ninth place.

Player of the Day

Wheeler struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Pirates.

Wheeler earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season, 13th among all players and eighth among National League pitchers.

Wheeler becomes the 12th player this season to reach 10.0 Box-Toppers points. It is his fourth season with 10 or more points and his third straight. His largest point total was 2021 when he had 21.1, third overall and second among NL pitchers. In 2022, he had 14.4 points, 11th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day is Bobby Witt Jr. of the Royals.

American League Player of the Day

Bobby Witt Jr. of the Royals hit a walk-off, 10th-inning grand slam, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 8-5, 10-inning win over the Twins.

Witt earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.2 for the season, 21st among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day is Pete Alonso of the Mets.

National League Batter of the Day

Pete Alonso of the Mets hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, in the 5-1 win over the Nationals. Alonso went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs.

Alonso earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.5 for the season, second among NL batters, behind Nolan Gorman of the Cardinals (9.0).

American League Batter of the Day

There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Bobby Witt Jr.

Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s win over the Angels.

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 Friday, July 28.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 dh pi sp ana al 17.4
2 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 13.1
3 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 13.0
4 Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 12.7
5 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 12.4
6 Burnes, Corbin 4029 pi sp mil nl 11.7
7 Bautista, Felix 4668 pi cp bal al 11.0
8 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 10.7
9 Garrett, Braxton 4341 pi sp fla nl 10.7
10 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp nym nl 10.4
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Back to top

Rankings

Two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

  • Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman (6IP 5H R 3BB 9K W in the 4-1 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season, rising from fifth to third place, behind Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (17.4) and Jesus Luzardo of the Marlins (13.1). He ranks second among AL pitchers behind Ohtani.

  • Marlins pitcher Braxton Garrett (6IP 5H R 0ER BB 6K ND in the 6-5 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season, ninth among all players and fifth among NL pitchers. Garrett becomes the 13th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his first season to reach 10 points in his fourth season earning points. His best previous season was 2022 with 5.7 with the Marlins, 57th among NL pitchers.

Marlins pitcher Braxton Garrett is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s win over the Tigers.

NEW: Inbox notification of each post!

Scoring

  • Wheeler earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.

  • Witt earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.

  • Alonso earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day.

  • All of Friday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart) 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.

For additional updates, follow Box-Toppers on Twitter.

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).

7/28 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +11.2 PHI 2, PIT 1 Zack Wheeler (W, 8‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.2 3 1 1 1 11
AL +7.0 KC 8, MIN 5 (F/10) Bobby Witt Jr. SS 5 2 4 6 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+6.2 BOS 3, SF 2 Kutter Crawford (W, 5‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.2 3 1 1 1 7
+5.1 CHC 3, STL 2 Drew Smyly (W, 8‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 4.1 2 1 1 1 6
+5.1 `BAL 1, NYY 0 Grayson Rodriguez ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.1 3 0 0 2 4
BAT +5.0 NYM 5, WSH 1 Pete Alonso 1B 4 2 2 5 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+5.0 TOR 4, LAA 1 Kevin Gausman (W, 8‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 5 1 1 3 9
+5.0 SD 7, TEX 1 Joe Musgrove (W, 10‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 4 0 0 2 5
+5.0 CHW 3, CLE 0 Touki Toussaint (W, 1‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 3 0 0 1 4
+5.0 `MIA 6, DET 5 Braxton Garrett  ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 5 1 0 1 6
+3.0 TB 4, HOU 3 Brandon Lowe 2B 3 1 2 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 OAK 8, COL 5 JP Sears (W, 2‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 4 1 1 1 5
+2.1 ATL 10, MIL 7 Collin McHugh (W, 4‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.1 1 0 0 0 2
+1.1 CIN 6, LAD 5 Alexis Díaz (S, 31) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.1 0 0 0 0 0
+1.0 SEA 5, ARI 2 Paul Sewald (S, 21) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 1 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 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 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 (+/-).
Back to top

Player of the Game Pos Team ’23 ’22‑23 ’18‑23 Career +/‑
Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 13.0 25.7 47.1 82.4 +0.3
Garrett, Braxton 4341 pi sp fla nl 10.7 16.4 18.4 18.4 +5.0
Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp phi nl 10.0 24.4 66.2 78.9 -4.4
Alonso, Pete 4118 1b nym nl 7.5 22.4 33.9 33.9 -7.4
Musgrove, Joe 3705 pi sp sd nl 7.0 24.4 54.5 60.2 -10.4
Smyly, Drew 3009 pi sp chi nl 5.0 13.7 25.7 61.2 -3.7
Sewald, Paul 3940 pi cp sea al 5.0 8.0 12.0 12.0 +2.0
Diaz, Alexis 4613 pi cp cin nl 5.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 +2.0
Witt, Bobby Jr. 4592 ss kc al 4.2 6.2 6.2 6.2 +2.2
Sears, JP 4627 pi sp oak al 3.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 -2.0
Crawford, Kutter 4660 pi sp bos al 3.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 -1.0
McHugh, Collin 3316 pi mr atl nl 3.0 5.0 17.0 52.9 +1.0
Rodriguez, Grayson 4790 pi sp bal al 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 +3.0
Lowe, Brandon 4108 2b dh tb al 2.5 6.0 18.5 18.5 -1.0
Toussaint, Touki 4110 pi sp chi al 1.0 3.0 7.7 7.7 -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 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 2023 (’23), over a two-year period (’22-23), over a six-year period (’18-23) and their career point total.
Back to top

Game Starter ’23 ’22‑23 ’18‑23 Career
LAA Detmers, Reid 4513 5.7 12.7 13.7 13.7
TOR Manoah, Alek 4424 2.0 15.1 25.8 25.8
DET Brieske, Beau 4680 0.0 1.7 1.7 1.7
MIA Cueto, Johnny 2400 0.0 6.4 16.4 118.2
PHI Nola, Aaron 3569 8.0 24.0 73.2 97.7
PIT Priester, Quinn* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
CLE Allen, Logan T. 4789 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7
CHW Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
MIN Ober, Bailey 4441 6.7 9.7 16.4 16.4
KC Lyles, Jordan 3100 0.0 3.7 23.4 31.1
WSH Corbin, Patrick 3027 4.4 8.4 47.5 89.7
NYM Carrasco, Carlos 2885 1.7 11.4 43.2 111.5
BOS Paxton, James 3280 4.0 4.0 35.1 59.9
SF DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 3.7 3.7 30.1 41.8
CHC Taillon, Jameson 3658 1.7 12.4 33.8 47.8
STL Wainwright, Adam 2150 0.0 10.0 34.8 152.3
NYY Schmidt, Clarke 4581 1.0 5.4 5.4 5.4
BAL Wells, Tyler 4428 5.7 9.7 10.7 10.7
TB Bradley, Taj 4780 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
HOU Brown, Hunter 4729 8.4 9.4 9.4 9.4
MIL Teheran, Julio 3176 1.0 1.0 21.7 73.2
ATL Elder, Bryce 4709 6.0 10.7 10.7 10.7
SEA Woo, Bryan 4842 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
ARI Pfaadt, Brandon 4812 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
OAK Blackburn, Paul 3869 2.0 6.0 8.0 9.0
COL Flexen, Chris 4368 0.0 2.0 13.7 13.7
TEX Perez, Martin 3213 2.7 11.8 15.5 32.5
SD Darvish, Yu 3003 5.0 21.8 60.4 129.0
CIN Weaver, Luke 3719 0.0 0.0 16.0 25.7
LAD Sheehan, Emmet* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
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