(Other duties have put us behind updating Box-Toppers. Playing catch up …)
Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Saturday, Aug. 22.
Donaldson homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 15-3 win over the Angels.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 22.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 19.4 |
| 2 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 17.1 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.7 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.0 |
| 7 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 15.8 |
| 8 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.4 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 |
| 10 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.4 |
Donaldson earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.9 for the season and rises to second among American League batters, behind Mike Trout of the Angels (10.0 Box-Toppers points). Donaldson ranks 28th among all players.
National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Ian Kennedy pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing seven hits, in the 8-0 win over the Cardinals.
National League Batter of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks hit two home runs and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-7 win over the Reds.
Goldschmidt earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season and rises to sixth place among NL batters. He ranks 55th among all players.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Josh Donaldson.
Notable—Two players with more than 10.0 Box-Toppers points on the season earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
- Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rose to 14th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings with 14.0 Box-Toppers points. Cole (7IP 3H R 8K ND in the 3-2 win over the Giants) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Saturday and ranks seventh among NL pitchers.
- Astros pitcher Scott Kazmir rose to 17th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings with 12.7 Box-Toppers points. Kazmir (6IP 6H R 8K W in the 3-1 win over the Dodgers) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Saturday and ranks ninth among AL pitchers.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Yankees pitcher Luis Severino (6IP 3H R 6K W in the 6-2 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut Aug. 5 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,567th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Darnell Sweeney of the Phillies (HR 1-1 R BI in the 4-2 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut Aug. 20 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,568th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Donaldson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kennedy earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Goldschmidt earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/22 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | Blue Jays | Josh Donaldson, 3B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| NL | 8.0 | Padres | Ian Kennedy (W,8-11) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| 8.0 | `Pirates | Gerrit Cole | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Dbacks | Paul Goldschmidt, 1B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Astros | Scott Kazmir (W,7-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | Rays | Alex Colome (W,6-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Nationals | Michael Taylor, CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Yankees | Luis Severino (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | Royals | Yordano Ventura (W,8-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2.1 | Twins | Casey Fien (MR) (W,4-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Mets | Curtis Granderson, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Phillies | Darnell Sweeney, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | Nate Jones (MR) (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Cubs | Hector Rondon (S,23) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Rangers | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||