Brewers’ Woodruff tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 5; Bassitt, Luzardo rise in top 10

Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff 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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Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors: Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt rises to third place and Marlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo rises to fourth place.

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, Sept. 5.

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 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 17.1
4 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 16.1
5 Peralta, Freddy 3965 pi sp mil nl 15.7
6 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 14.7
7 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 14.4
8 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 13.7
9 Lopez, Pablo 4028 pi sp min al 13.4
10 Miller, Bryce 4797 pi sp sea al 13.1
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Player of the Day

Woodruff struck out six over seven scoreless innings,  allowing two hits and two walks, in the 7-3 win over the Pirates.

Woodruff earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, 136th among all players and 44th among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day

Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt struck out seven over eight innings, allowing one run, seven hits and no walks, in the 7-1 win over the Athletics.

Bassitt earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 17.1 for the season, rising from fourth to third in season player rankings, behind Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani (19.4) and Braves pitcher Spencer Strider (19.1). Bassitt ranks second among AL pitchers behind Ohtani.

Bassitt has the most 2023 Box-Toppers points earned by an American League player for pitching. Ohtani has earned 9.7 of his 19.4 points as a pitcher and 9.7 as a batter. Trailing Bassitt among AL players earning their points solely by pitching is teammate Kevin Gausman with 14.7 points, who ranks sixth overall.

American League Player of the Day is Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt.

National League Batter of the Day

Francisco Alvarez of the Mets hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-5 win over the Nationals.

National League Batter of the Day is Francisco Alvarez of the Mets.

American League Batter of the Day

Jose Altuve of the Astros hit three solo homers and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 14-1 win over the Rangers.

Altuve earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.5 for the season, fifth among AL batters.

This is the second straight day Altuve has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He was also Player of the Game in Monday’s 13-6 win over the Rangers (2HR 4-6 3R 2BI). He’s earned 2.5 of his points in the past two days and 4.0 of his points in the past 10 days (also winning AL Batter of the Day honors on Aug. 28).

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

Rankings

Marlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo rises from fifth to fourth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Luzardo (6IP 4H 2R BB 6K ND in the 6-3 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.1 for the season. He ranks second among NL pitchers behind Spencer Strider of the Braves (19.1).

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

Notable

Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole now has 12.0 Box-Toppers points for 2023—13th overall and ninth among AL pitchers—after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday (6IP 8H R 0BB 7K W in the 5-1 win over the Tigers).

Cole also now has 150.3 career Box-Toppers points, 27th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Cole trails 26th-ranked player Barry Bonds (152.2). (It should be noted that Bonds would have a projected 230 career Box-Toppers points if his entire career from 1986 were tracked.) Cole ranks eighth among active players in career points, fifth among active AL pitchers.

Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Tuesday’s win over the Tigers.

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Debut

Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:

  • Seiya Suzuki of the Cubs (HR 2B 4-5 2R 3BI in the 11- 8 win over the Giants) made his Major League debut April 7, 2022, and was playing in his 227th career game.

  • Nick Martini of the Reds (HR 1-1 R 3BI in the 7-6 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut June 6, 2018, and was playing in his 127th career game.

  • Jonathan Aranda of the Rays (3B 1-2 2R BI in the 8-6, 11-inning win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut June 24, 2022, and was playing in his 48th career game.

Scoring

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

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

  • Alvarez and Altuve 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.

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).

9/5 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +9.0 MIL 7, PIT 3 Brandon Woodruff (W, 4‑1) - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 2 6
AL +6.0 TOR 7, OAK 1 Chris Bassitt (W, 14-7) - - - - 8.0 7 1 1 0 7
BAT +5.0 NYM 11, WSH 5 Francisco Alvarez C 3 3 2 3 - - - - - -
+4.0 CHC 11, SF 8 Seiya Suzuki RF 5 2 4 3 - - - - - -
BAT +4.0 HOU 14, TEX 1 Jose Altuve 2B 5 3 3 3 - - - - - -
+4.0 SD 8, PHI 0 Xander Bogaerts SS 4 3 4 1 - - - - - -
+4.0 STL 10, ATL 6 Jordan Walker DH 4 3 3 2 - - - - - -
+4.0 CIN 7, SEA 6 Nick Martini PH-DH 1 1 1 3 - - - - - -
+3.0 NYY 5, DET 1 Gerrit Cole (W, 13-4) - - - - 6.0 8 1 1 0 7
+3.0 BAL 5, LAA 4 (F/10) Shintaro Fujinami (S, 2) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
+3.0 `MIA 6, LAD 3 Jesus Luzardo - - - - 6.0 4 2 2 1 6
+3.0 `COL 3, ARI 2 Jake Bird (H, 11) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
+2.0 KC 7, CHW 6 MJ Melendez LF 3 1 2 2 - - - - - -
+2.0 MIN 8, CLE 3 Christian Vázquez C 2 1 2 1 - - - - - -
+2.0 TB 8, BOS 6 (F/11) Jonathan Aranda DH 2 2 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.
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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 +/‑
Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 17.1 28.1 56.9 60.9 +6.1
Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 16.1 20.1 32.2 32.2 +12.1
Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp nyy al 12.0 27.4 107.4 150.3 -3.4
Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 7.5 11.5 24.0 55.5 +3.5
Woodruff, Brandon 3868 pi sp mil nl 5.0 25.8 58.6 59.6 -15.8
Alvarez, Francisco 4815 ca nym nl 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 +4.0
Bogaerts, Xander 3383 ss sd nl 3.7 10.7 33.9 45.9 -3.3
Melendez, MJ 4615 rf lf ca dh kc al 2.5 7.0 7.0 7.0 -2.0
Walker, Jordan 4918 rf dh stl nl 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 +2.5
Bird, Jake 4744 pi mr col nl 2.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 0.0
Fujinami, Shintaro 4869 pi cp bal al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
Vazquez, Christian 3380 ca min al 1.0 1.0 8.0 17.0 +1.0
Aranda, Jonathan 4926 dh tb al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
Martini, Nick 4925 dh ph cin nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
Suzuki, Seiya 4924 rf chi nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
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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
MIL Peralta, Freddy 3965 15.7 23.1 54.5 54.5
PIT Selby, Colin* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
MIN Ryan, Joe 4539 8.7 23.4 26.1 26.1
CLE Williams, Gavin 4865 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
SF Wood, Alex 3246 3.0 10.0 28.0 63.1
CHC Wicks, Jordan 4912 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
TOR Ryu, Hyun Jin 3139 2.0 3.0 45.5 71.6
OAK Sears, JP 4627 4.0 9.0 9.0 9.0
COL Flexen, Chris 4368 0.0 2.0 13.7 13.7
ARI Davies, Zach 3581 2.0 3.0 16.0 31.7
PHI Wheeler, Zack 3204 12.0 26.4 68.2 80.9
SD Wacha, Michael 3276 9.0 17.4 32.5 59.2
BOS Paxton, James 3280 5.0 5.0 36.1 60.9
TB Glasnow, Tyler 3948 9.4 9.4 45.8 45.8
LAD Lynn, Lance 2992 4.7 14.4 53.9 118.5
MIA Chargois, JT 3736 0.0 0.0 2.0 3.0
SEA Gilbert, Logan 4439 12.4 26.5 33.5 33.5
CIN Richardson, Lyon* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
DET Manning, Matt 4550 4.7 7.7 8.7 8.7
NYY Schmidt, Clarke 4581 2.0 6.4 6.4 6.4
NYM Butto, Jose* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
WSH Adon, Joan 4580 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
STL Hudson, Dakota 4035 1.0 5.0 17.4 17.4
ATL Strider, Spencer 4626 19.1 32.5 32.5 32.5
CHW Toussaint, Touki 4110 2.0 4.0 8.7 8.7
KC Lyles, Jordan 3100 1.0 4.7 24.4 32.1
HOU Verlander, Justin 2112 8.7 34.7 87.3 241.3
TEX Scherzer, Max 2588 14.4 24.4 94.0 250.7
BAL Gibson, Kyle 3312 7.7 16.7 42.2 61.2
LAA Sandoval, Patrick 4357 3.0 11.0 14.0 14.0
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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