Mariners’ Gilbert tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 8; Rangers’ Scherzer rises to 8th

Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert is Tuesday’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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Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, Rangers Pitcher Max Scherzer rises to eighth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day

Gilbert struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Padres.

Gilbert earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season, 11th among all players and seventh among American League pitchers.

Gilbert becomes the 16th player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points. It is his second straight season with 10 or more points. In 2022, he earned 14.1 points with the Mariners, 12th among AL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day is Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon.

National League Player of the Day

Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon struck out seven over seven innings, allowing two runs, three hits and no walks, in the 3-2 win over the Mets.

Taillon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 4.4 for the season, 45th among NL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day is Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies.

National League Batter of the Day

Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, in the 8-4 win over the Nationals. Schwarber went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs.

It is the second time in three days Schwarber has earned NL Batter of the Day honors. He also did it Sunday in the 8-4 win over the Royals (HR 3-4 2R 2BI). He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for each NL Batter of the Day honor and now has 4.0 points for the season—3.0 earned in the last three days—and ranks 32nd among NL batters in 2023 points.

American League Batter of the Day is Kyle Tucker of the Astros.

American League Batter of the Day

Kyle Tucker of the Astros hit a go-ahead, ninth-inning grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 7-6 win over the Orioles.

Tucker earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 9.5 for the season, rising to second place among AL batters, passing Aaron Judge of the Yankees (8.5) and trailing Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (17.4).

Tucker ranks 21st among all players and now has the most 2023 Box-Toppers points earned solely as a batter, passing Pete Alonso of the Mets, whose 9.0 points leads NL batters. While Ohtani leads AL batters with 17.4 points, he’s earned 8.7 of those points as a batter, with the other 8.7 points earned as a starting pitcher.

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

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, Aug. 8.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 dh pi sp ana al 17.4
2 Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 14.4
3 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 13.1
4 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 13.0
5 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 12.4
6 Miller, Bryce 4797 pi sp sea al 12.1
7 Burnes, Corbin 4029 pi sp mil nl 11.7
8 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 11.4
9 Bautista, Felix 4668 pi cp bal al 11.0
10 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 10.7
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Rankings

Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer rises to eighth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

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Scherzer (7IP 3H R 2BB 6K W in the 6-1 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season. He ranks fifth among AL pitchers.

This is the first Box-Toppers point he has earned with the Rangers since being acquired from the New York Mets prior to the Aug. 1 trade deadline.

Scherzer also now has 247.7 career Box-Toppers points, third-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, behind Randy Johnson (282.5) and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (269.4). Scherzer ranks second among active players behind Kershaw and now leads active AL pitchers in career points, ahead of Justin Verlander of the Astros (238.6).

Scoring

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

  • Taillon earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day.

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

  • All of Tuesday’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).

8/8 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +18.0 SEA 2, SD 0 Logan Gilbert (W, 10‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 1 0 0 0 12
+9.0 `TB 4, STL 2 Zach Eflin ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 4 1 1 0 8
NL +7.0 CHC 3, NYM 2 Jameson Taillon (W, 7‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 3 2 2 0 7
+7.0 CLE 1, TOR 0 Tanner Bibee (W, 8‑2) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 6 0 0 0 6
+6.0 TEX 6, OAK 1 Max Scherzer (W, 11‑4) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 3 1 1 2 6
+6.0 LAD 5, ARI 4 Julio Urías (W, 9‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 4 0 0 1 5
+5.1 NYY 7, CHW 1 Clarke Schmidt (W, 8‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.1 4 1 1 1 7
BAT +5.0 PHI 8, WSH 4 Kyle Schwarber DH 4 2 2 5 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
BAT +5.0 HOU 7, BAL 6 Kyle Tucker RF 4 2 2 5 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+5.0 DET 6, MIN 0 Eduardo Rodriguez (W, 8‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 4 0 0 3 5
+3.0 COL 7, MIL 3 (F/10) Nolan Jones LF 4 2 2 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 MIA 3, CIN 2 Jorge Soler DH 3 1 3 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 WSH 5, PHI 4 Jordan Weems (W, 3‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
+2.0 ATL 8, PIT 6 Orlando Arcia SS 5 1 3 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 KC 9, BOS 3 Drew Waters RF 5 2 3 2 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 LAA 7, SF 5 Brandon Drury 2B 5 3 3 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 +/‑
Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 11.4 21.4 91.0 247.7 +1.4
Gilbert, Logan 4439 pi sp sea al 10.7 24.8 31.8 31.8 -3.4
Tucker, Kyle 4277 rf hou al 9.5 14.0 26.2 26.2 +5.0
Eflin, Zach 3679 pi sp tb al 9.0 12.7 35.5 40.5 +5.3
Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 pi sp det al 9.0 9.0 43.8 63.2 +9.0
Urias, Julio 3652 pi sp lad nl 8.0 27.4 53.5 60.2 -11.4
Bibee, Tanner 4792 pi sp cle al 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7 +7.7
Soler, Jorge 3403 rf dh fla nl 5.7 5.7 23.4 30.1 +5.7
Taillon, Jameson 3658 pi sp chi nl 4.4 15.1 36.5 50.5 -6.3
Drury, Brandon 3744 2b 1b dh ana al 4.0 8.5 11.5 17.5 -0.5
Schwarber, Kyle 3536 dh lf phi nl 4.0 6.0 21.0 30.5 +2.0
Arcia, Orlando 3717 ss atl nl 3.0 4.0 12.2 14.7 +2.0
Jones, Nolan 4686 lf col nl 2.5 5.0 5.0 5.0 0.0
Schmidt, Clarke 4581 pi sp mr cp nyy al 2.0 6.4 6.4 6.4 -2.4
Waters, Drew 4721 rf kc al 2.0 4.5 4.5 4.5 -0.5
Weems, Jordan 4866 pi cp mr dc nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
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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
MIA Cueto, Johnny 2400 0.0 6.4 16.4 118.2
CIN Ashcraft, Graham 4645 3.0 7.0 7.0 7.0
COL Flexen, Chris 4368 0.0 2.0 13.7 13.7
MIL Houser, Adrian 4162 1.7 3.4 14.4 14.4
TEX Montgomery, Jordan 3814 6.7 16.1 26.8 32.8
OAK Pruitt, Austin 3773 1.0 1.0 4.7 10.4
MIN Ober, Bailey 4441 6.7 9.7 16.4 16.4
DET Faedo, Alex 4612 3.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
STL Hudson, Dakota 4035 1.0 5.0 17.4 17.4
TB Beeks, Jalen 4047 1.0 2.0 7.7 7.7
WSH Gore, MacKenzie 4582 6.0 10.7 10.7 10.7
PHI Lorenzen, Michael 3479 6.7 10.7 15.2 21.2
HOU Javier, Cristian 4290 5.0 20.7 28.7 28.7
BAL Flaherty, Jack 3971 4.0 5.0 45.3 45.3
ATL Fried, Max 4011 4.0 20.0 48.5 48.5
PIT Priester, Quinn* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
CHC Hendricks, Kyle 3386 3.0 7.7 39.8 71.6
NYM Peterson, David 4347 0.0 5.0 10.0 10.0
KC Lyles, Jordan 3100 0.0 3.7 23.4 31.1
BOS Pivetta, Nick 3825 4.0 11.7 31.4 39.4
TOR Gausman, Kevin 3191 13.0 25.7 47.1 82.4
CLE Allen, Logan T. 4789 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7
NYY Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
CHW Clevinger, Mike 3707 4.0 10.4 43.5 57.9
SF Walker, Ryan* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
LAA Ohtani, Shohei 3933 17.4 42.1 72.7 72.7
LAD Miller, Bobby 4820 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
ARI Kelly, Merrill 4143 8.0 19.0 34.0 34.0
SD Darvish, Yu 3003 7.0 23.8 62.4 131.0
SEA Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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