Phillies’ Wheeler tops players for Saturday, Aug. 26; Ohtani regains player rankings lead

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

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▪️ 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.
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(An earlier version of this post did not credit Logan Gilbert for winning American League Player of the Day honors and also mistakenly credited Cubs pitcher Jordan Wicks as National League Player of the Day.)

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

Also Saturday, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels regains the Box-Toppers season player rankings lead one day after losing it to Braves pitcher Spencer Strider. In addition, two other players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors—Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta rises to fifth place and Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer rises to sixth.

Player of the Day

Wheeler struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 12-1 win over the Cardinals.

Wheeler earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season, 12th among all players and fifth among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day is Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert.

American League Player of the Day

Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 15-2 win over the Royals.

Gilbert earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, 11th among all players and seventh among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day is Alex Bregman of the Astros.

2023 lead changes

Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.  

Date Player Team BTP
3/30 Dylan Cease chi al 2.0
4/4 Luis Castillo sea al 2.7
4/5 Jesus Luzardo fla nl 3.7
4/7 Bryan Reynolds pit nl 3.7
4/8 Jeffrey Springs tb al 3.7
4/9 Drew Rasmussen tb al 4.0
4/12 Kevin Gausman tor al 4.0
4/16 Gerrit Cole nyy al 4.0
4/17 Jacob deGrom tex al 5.0
4/19 Drew Rasmussen tb al 5.0
4/22 Gerrit Cole nyy al 5.0
4/23 Kevin Gausman tor al 6.0
4/26 Zac Gallen ari nl 6.7
4/28 Jacob deGrom tex al 7.7
5/8 Zac Gallen ari nl  7.7
5/21 Shohei Ohtani ana al 8.4
5/24 Shane McClanahan tb al 8.7
5/30 Zac Gallen ari nl 8.7
5/31 Shohei Ohtani ana al 9.4
6/1 Kevin Gausman tor al 10.0
6/13 Shohei Ohtani ana al 12.9
8/25 Spencer Strider atl nl 19.1
8/26 Shohei Ohtani ana al 19.4
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American League Batter of the Day

Alex Bregman of the Astros homered, hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 9-2 win over the Tigers.

Bregman earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 19th among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day

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 Saturday, Aug. 26.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 19.4
2 Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 19.1
3 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 15.1
4 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 14.7
5 Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 14.7
6 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 14.4
7 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 13.7
8 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 13.4
9 Lopez, Pablo 4028 pi sp min al 13.4
10 Miller, Bryce 4797 pi sp sea al 13.1
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Michael Chavis of the Nationals scored one run as a pinch runner but had no plate appearances in the 3-2 win over the Marlins.

Chavis had a +1.0 Box-Toppers game score, which was the same as teammate Jacob Young (0-0 R 0BI), who also scored a run as a pinch runner and had no plate appearances. Chavis won Player of the Game over Young on a rarely used tiebreaker in which fielders beat designated hitters—Chavis stayed in the game after pinch running to play first base, while Young pinch ran for the designated hitter and remained in that role. On top of this, no other NL batter earned Player of the Game honors in the 15 games played Saturday, which gave Chavis NL Batter of the Day honors, despite his low Box-Toppers game score and lack of actual batting.

Ohtani

Shohei Ohtani of the Angels rises from second to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Ohtani (3B 2B 2-3 2R BI in the 5-3 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 19.4 for the season, passing Braves pitcher Spencer Strider (19.1), who had only taken the lead Friday after Ohtani had led continuously since June 13.

This was Ohtani’s 16th Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of 2023 and his eighth as a designated hitter; he earned the other eight as a starting pitcher. Ohtani now has also earned 9.7 Box-Toppers points as a batter and 9.7 as a starting pitcher.

Earlier this week, Ohtani’s pitching season was shut down when it was learned he had a ligament tear in his pitching elbow. It is unclear if it will require surgery. However, Ohtani is continuing his season as designated hitter, earning his first Player of the Game honor at that spot since he did it July 27. It is also his first Player of the Game honor since Aug. 9, when he did it as a starting pitcher.

Shohei Ohtani of the Angels is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the Mets.

Rankings

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

Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the Padres.

  • Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta (5.1IP 2H 2R 3BB 9K W in the 5-4 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.7 for the season, rising from sixth to fifth place overall and third among NL pitchers, behind Spencer Strider of the Braves (19.1) and Jesus Luzardo of the Marlins (15.1).

  • Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer (7IP 4H 2R BB 10K ND in the 6-2 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising from ninth to sixth place overall and third among AL pitchers, behind Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (19.4) and Kevin Gausman of the Blue Jays (14.7). Scherzer also now has 250.7 career Box-Toppers points, third among all players since player tracking began in 1995, behind Randy Johnson (282.5) and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (269.4). Scherzer ranks second among active NL pitchers in career points behind Kershaw.

Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the Twins.

Notable

Orioles pitcher Kyle Bradish now has 12.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 13th overall and seventh among AL pitchers, after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday (6IP 6H 2R BB 8K W in the 5-4 win over the Rockies).

Cubs pitcher Jordan Wicks is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s win over the Pirates.

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Debut

Cubs pitcher Jordan Wicks made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Wicks (5IP 2H R BB 9K W in the 10-6 win over the Pirates) was also making his Major League debut.

Scoring

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

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

  • Bregman and Chavis each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.

  • All of Saturday’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.

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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).

8/26 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 PHI 12, STL 1 Zack Wheeler (W, 10‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 3 1 1 0 10
AL +9.0 SEA 15, KC 2 Logan Gilbert (W, 12‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 2 1 1 1 7
+9.0 CHC 10, PIT 6 Jordan Wicks (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 2 1 1 1 9
+8.0 `TEX 6, MIN 2 Max Scherzer ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 4 2 2 1 10
+7.0 TB 3, NYY 0 Tyler Glasnow (W, 7‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 1 0 0 2 4
BAT +6.0 HOU 9, DET 2 Alex Bregman 3B 4 3 3 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+6.0 TOR 8, CLE 3 Davis Schneider 2B 3 3 3 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+5.1 MIL 5, SD 4 Freddy Peralta (W, 11‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.1 2 2 2 3 9
+4.0 CHW 6, OAK 2 Touki Toussaint (W, 2‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 2 0 0 3 4
+3.1 `CIN 8, ARI 7 (F/11) Fernando Cruz ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.1 1 1 0 0 4
+3.0 BOS 8, LAD 5 Justin Turner 1B 4 2 3 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 BAL 5, COL 4 Kyle Bradish (W, 9‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 6 2 2 1 8
+2.0 LAA 5, NYM 3 Shohei Ohtani DH 3 2 2 1 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 ATL 7, SF 3 Max Fried (W, 5‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 6 2 2 2 8
BAT +1.0 WSH 3, MIA 2 Michael Chavis PR‑1B 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.
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 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 +/‑
Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh  ana al 19.4 44.1 74.7 74.7 -5.3
Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 14.7 22.1 53.5 53.5 +7.3
Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 14.4 24.4 94.0 250.7 +4.4
Gilbert, Logan 4439 pi sp sea al 12.4 26.5 33.5 33.5 -1.7
Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp phi nl 12.0 26.4 68.2 80.9 -2.4
Bradish, Kyle 4597 pi sp bal al 12.0 18.0 18.0 18.0 +6.0
Glasnow, Tyler 3948 pi sp tb al 9.4 9.4 45.8 45.8 +9.4
Fried, Max 4011 pi sp atl nl 5.0 21.0 49.5 49.5 -11.0
Bregman, Alex 3721 3b hou al 5.0 13.7 34.4 39.4 -3.7
Turner, Justin 2865 1b bos al 4.5 11.0 21.2 35.7 -2.0
Cruz, Fernando 4768 pi mr sp cin nl 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 +3.0
Toussaint, Touki 4110 pi sp chi al 2.0 4.0 8.7 8.7 0.0
Schneider, Davis 4890 2b tor al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
Chavis, Michael 4127 1b pr dc nl 1.5 6.5 11.5 11.5 -3.5
Wicks, Jordan 4912 pi sp chi nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Sunday’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
LAA Canning, Griffin 4134 6.0 6.0 17.7 17.7
NYM Peterson, David 4347 0.0 5.0 10.0 10.0
COL Blach, Ty 3754 1.0 3.0 5.0 9.0
BAL Flaherty, Jack 3971 4.0 5.0 45.3 45.3
LAD Ferguson, Caleb 4006 1.0 1.0 8.0 8.0
BOS Houck, Tanner 4342 0.0 3.0 11.7 11.7
STL Rom, Drew* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
PHI Nola, Aaron 3569 8.0 24.0 73.2 97.7
CHC Assad, Javier 4899 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
PIT Falter, Bailey 4473 2.7 6.7 7.7 7.7
CLE Syndergaard, Noah 3472 0.0 3.0 22.4 52.5
TOR Kikuchi, Yusei 4136 8.0 13.7 25.4 25.4
HOU Verlander, Justin 2112 7.7 33.7 86.3 240.3
DET Faedo, Alex 4612 3.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
NYY Rodon, Carlos 3494 0.0 19.8 37.5 56.6
TB Littell, Zack 4533 1.0 3.0 5.0 5.0
WSH Williams, Trevor 3792 5.7 8.7 24.4 29.4
MIA Chargois, JT 3736 0.0 0.0 2.0 3.0
OAK Blackburn, Paul 3869 4.7 8.7 10.7 11.7
CHW Clevinger, Mike 3707 5.0 11.4 44.5 58.9
SD Wacha, Michael 3276 9.0 17.4 32.5 59.2
MIL Houser, Adrian 4162 1.7 3.4 14.4 14.4
TEX Montgomery, Jordan 3814 8.4 17.8 28.5 34.5
MIN Ober, Bailey 4441 6.7 9.7 16.4 16.4
CIN Ashcraft, Graham 4645 4.0 8.0 8.0 8.0
ARI Cecconi, Slade* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
KC Marsh, Alec* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
SEA Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 11.4 21.4 57.8 66.2
ATL Shuster, Jared 4816 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7
SF Beck, Tristan 4823 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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