Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the fifth player this season with 20 Box-Toppers points.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 14:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.0 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 20.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 20.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 9 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 10 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw earns his first Box-Toppers point in nearly three months and despite not earning points for almost half the season, rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings for 2016.
Player of the Day—Lester pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out eight, in the 7-0 win over the Cardinals.
Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 20.1 for the season. He maintains his rank of fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, fourth among National League pitchers.
This is Lester’s second season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points. In 2010, he had 23.4 points with the Red Sox, leading American League pitchers.
Lester also now has 141.2 career Box-Toppers points, 27th-most among players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 26th-ranked player Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8) on the “all-time” list.
American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 1-0 win over the Red Sox.
Gausman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers point for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 10.8 for the season. He becomes the 40th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 32nd among all players, 13th among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Jean Segura of the Diamondbacks hit two homers and went 5-for-6, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-6 win over the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day—Ian Kinsler of the Tigers tripled, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-6 win over the Twins.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning his first Player of the Game honor Wednesday in nearly three months.
Kershaw (5IP H 0R 0BB 5K ND in the 2-0 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.0 for the season, rising from fourth to second in player rankings. Kershaw trails overall leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.7 Box-Toppers points) by 2.7.
Kershaw’s second-place spot is remarkable since he was on the disabled list for two months with lower back issues and last earned Player of the Game honors June 20. Kershaw held a dominant lead in Box-Toppers points for much of the middle of the season, leading in points from May 7 to Aug. 25, when Scherzer passed him.
Kershaw also now has 180.3 career Box-Toppers points, seventh-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and third-most among all active players, behind Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (184.0) and Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3). (See the homepage for the updated top 20 list of all players since 1995.)
Fernandez—Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez, now ranked third in Box-Toppers player rankings with 20.4 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game in his start Wednesday.
Fernandez (7IP 6H 4R 2BB 3K W in the 7-5 win over the Braves) had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of −6.0. Teammate Marcell Ozuna earned Player of the Game honors (HR 2-4 R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0.
Notable—Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark now has 12.7 Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Roark (7IP 3H 0R 4BB 7K W in the 1-0 win over the Mets) now ranks 18th among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gausman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Segura and Kinsler each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/14 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | CHC 7, STL 0 | Jon Lester (W,17-4) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| AL | 9.0 | BAL 1, BOS 0 | Kevin Gausman (W,8-10) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| 9.0 | `LAD 2, NYY 0 | Clayton Kershaw | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | WSH 1, NYM 0 | Tanner Roark (W,15-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | MIL 7, CIN 0 | Junior Guerra (W,9-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | OAK 8, KC 0 | Sean Manaea (W,6-9) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | ARI 11, COL 6 | Jean Segura, 2B | 6 | 3 | 5 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.1 | SD 3, SF 1 | Luis Perdomo (W,8-9) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | DET 9, MIN 6 | Ian Kinsler, 2B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | TB 8, TOR 1 | Corey Dickerson, LF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | MIA 7, ATL 5 | Marcell Ozuna, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CLE 6, CHW 1 | Coco Crisp, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | PHI 6, PIT 2 | Tommy Joseph, 1B | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 8, TEX 4 | Evan Gattis, C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SEA 2, LAA 1 | Edwin Diaz (S,16) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.0 | 46.7 | 146.8 | 180.3 | -4.7 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 20.1 | 32.1 | 78.3 | 141.2 | 8.1 |
| Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.7 | 13.7 | 28.7 | 28.7 | 11.7 |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | bal al | 10.8 | 16.5 | 24.2 | 24.2 | 5.1 |
| Guerra, Junior 3633 | pi sp | mil nl | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| Diaz, Edwin 3690 | pi cp | sea al | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| Kinsler, Ian 2144 | 2b | det al | 6.0 | 12.5 | 31.7 | 62.1 | -0.5 |
| Ozuna, Marcell 3190 | cf rf | fla nl | 5.0 | 8.0 | 18.5 | 18.5 | 2.0 |
| Dickerson, Corey 3222 | lf | tb al | 4.5 | 7.5 | 16.5 | 16.5 | 1.5 |
| Segura, Jean 3173 | 2b | ari nl | 4.5 | 6.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 2.5 |
| Gattis, Evan 3179 | ca | hou al | 4.0 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 0.0 |
| Crisp, Coco 1876 | lf | cle al | 3.0 | 5.0 | 21.5 | 38.7 | 1.0 |
| Joseph, Tommy 3681 | 1b ph | phi nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Perdomo, Luis D. 3715 | pi sp | sd nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |