Giants’ Harrison tops players for Monday, Aug. 28; Braves’ Acuña rises to lead NL batters

Giants pitcher Kyle Harrison is Monday’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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Giants pitcher Kyle Harrison is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Monday, Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves rises to first place among National League batters in 2023 Box-Toppers points after earning NL Batter of the Day honors.

Player of the Day

Harrison struck out 11 over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 4-1 win over the Reds.

Harrison earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. This was his Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor. Harrison made his Major League debut Aug. 22 and was playing in his second career game. His 2.0 Box-Toppers points is 423rd among all players for 2023, 112th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day

Yankees pitcher Luis Severino struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Tigers.

Severino earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season, 55th among AL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day is Yankees pitcher Luis Severino.

National League Batter of the Day

Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in five runs, in the 14-4 win over the Rockies.

Acuna earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 9.2 for the season, rising to first among NL batters, passing previous leader Pete Alonso of the Mets (9.0).

Acuna also has the most 2023 Box-Toppers points among Monday’s 14 Player of the Game winners and ranks 33rd among all players.

National League Batter of the Day is Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day

Jose Altuve of the Astros homered, tripled, doubled and went 4-for-6, scoring four times and driving in four runs, in the 13-5 win over the Red Sox.

Altuve earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 21st among AL batters.

American League Batter of the Day is Jose Altuve of the Astros.

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 Monday, Aug. 28.

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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Notable

Jason Heyward of the Dodgers is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the 7-4 win over the Diamondbacks, winning the honor on a rarely used tiebreaker.

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Heyward (HR 2-3 R 2BI, with a +2.0 Box-Toppers game score) had the same game score and very similar line scores as two of his teammates—Max Muncy and James Outman. Using Box-Toppers tiebreaker rules, Muncy was eliminated from the running as Player of the Game since he struck out once while neither Heyward or Outman did. Heyward beat Outman for Player of the Game since his two-run home run in the sixth inning was deemed more critical, as it was the go-ahead homer, giving the Dodgers a 5-4 lead. Outman’s, which came in the next at bat, was a solo homer that gave the Dodgers a 6-4 lead.

Heyward earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.5 for the season, 12th among NL batters. Outman has 7.7 points, fifth among NL batters and Muncy has 5.0, 20th among NL batters.

Debut

Twins pitcher Kody Funderburk also made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Funderburk (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 10-6 win over the Guardians) was also making his Major League debut.

Scoring

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

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

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

  • All of Monday’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).

8/28 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +12.1 SF 4, CIN 1 Kyle Harrison (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.1 3 0 0 2 11
+10.0 PIT 5, KC 0 Johan Oviedo (W, 8‑13) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 9.0 2 0 0 2 5
AL +10.0 NYY 4, DET 1 Luis Severino (W, 4‑8) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 5 0 0 0 8
+10.0 BAL 9, CHW 0 Grayson Rodriguez (W, 4‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 1 0 0 1 6
+9.0 SD 4, STL 1 Blake Snell (W, 11‑9) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 2 0 0 5 9
BAT +8.0 ATL 14, COL 4 Ronald Acuña Jr. RF 5 4 4 5 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+7.0 SEA 7, OAK 0 Bryan Woo (W, 2‑3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 3 0 0 1 5
BAT +6.0 HOU 13, BOS 5 Jose Altuve 2B 6 4 4 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+5.0 PHI 6, LAA 4 Trea Turner SS 3 3 2 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+5.0 MIN 10, CLE 6 Kody Funderburk (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 2.0 0 0 0 0 3
+4.0 TEX 4, NYM 3 Martín Pérez (W, 9‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 2.0 0 0 0 0 2
+3.0 TOR 6, WSH 3 Danny Jansen C 2 3 1 1 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 LAD 7, ARI 4 Jason Heyward RF 3 1 2 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
0.0 MIL 6, CHC 2 Christian Yelich LF 5 2 2 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.
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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 +/‑
Acuna, Ronald Jr. 3947 rf atl nl 9.2 12.7 28.1 28.1 +5.7
Snell, Blake 3688 pi sp sd nl 8.7 21.8 74.1 83.1 -4.4
Oviedo, Johan 4442 pi sp pit nl 8.7 11.7 12.7 12.7 +5.7
Yelich, Christian 3334 lf mil nl 7.5 11.0 41.2 61.7 +4.0
Heyward, Jason 2695 rf cf lad nl 6.5 6.5 18.2 38.7 +6.5
Woo, Bryan 4842 pi sp sea al 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 +6.0
Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 5.0 9.0 21.5 53.0 +1.0
Turner, Trea 3730 ss phi nl 5.0 5.0 17.5 21.7 +5.0
Rodriguez, Grayson 4790 pi sp bal al 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +5.0
Severino, Luis 3567 pi sp nyy al 4.7 11.4 32.1 58.2 -2.0
Perez, Martin 3213 pi sp mr tex al 3.7 12.8 16.5 33.5 -5.4
Jansen, Danny 4163 ca tor al 2.0 5.5 10.0 10.0 -1.5
Harrison, Kyle 4914 pi sp sf nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
Funderburk, Kody 4915 pi mr min al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Tuesday’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 Anderson, Tyler 3656 1.0 13.7 31.4 36.4
PHI Lorenzen, Michael 3479 8.7 12.7 17.2 23.2
NYY King, Michael 4549 6.0 10.7 11.7 11.7
DET Skubal, Tarik 4414 4.7 15.4 24.1 24.1
TB Civale, Aaron 4173 6.0 11.0 28.4 28.4
MIA Alcantara, Sandy 4061 7.0 28.1 47.2 47.2
CHW Scholtens, Jesse* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
BAL Kremer, Dean 4330 7.7 15.4 19.1 19.1
WSH Gore, MacKenzie 4582 7.0 11.7 11.7 11.7
TOR Berrios, Jose 3791 7.4 16.4 57.3 66.3
HOU France, J.P. 4811 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
BOS Bello, Brayan 4727 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
TEX Heaney, Andrew 3515 8.7 16.7 39.8 44.8
NYM Quintana, Jose 3040 0.0 11.4 32.9 83.1
CLE Williams, Gavin 4865 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
MIN Lopez, Pablo 4028 13.4 24.1 47.2 47.2
SD Lugo, Seth 3729 3.7 5.7 16.7 21.7
STL Thompson, Zach 4437 0.0 2.0 4.0 4.0
MIL Burnes, Corbin 4029 11.7 27.1 55.9 55.9
CHC Steele, Justin 4415 8.1 13.1 16.1 16.1
PIT Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
KC Ragans, Cole 4889 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7
ATL Morton, Charlie 2503 9.0 19.4 67.7 103.1
COL Lambert, Peter 4155 3.0 3.0 5.0 5.0
OAK Waldichuk, Ken 4757 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
SEA Kirby, George 4595 10.7 22.1 22.1 22.1
CIN Williamson, Brandon 4813 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.7
SF Cobb, Alex 2916 8.0 14.7 26.1 65.9
ARI Kelly, Merrill 4143 10.0 21.0 36.0 36.0
LAD Kershaw, Clayton 2494 10.1 20.8 62.6 269.4
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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